Eight pricey movie commercials were telecast in NBC Television’s Super Bowl with NBC’s corporate sibling Universal Pictures behind six of the films. The rate-card for in-game commercials is $4.5 million. Movies are typically a big category taking 4-10 of the 60+ Super Bowl slots. It looks like NBC Universal—which is owned by diversified cable TV conglomerate Comcast—piled in … [Read more...] about Uni Pix Helps Sibling With Bowl Buy Binge
expenses
Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
The $12.3 billion-revenue Warner Bros. movie studio revealed it spends $2 billion a year on marketing, which studio chief Kevin Tsujihara promised to trim during a Wall Street conference. Studio parent Time Warner Inc. wants to slash that expenditure by $200 million, as part of a broader plan to goose up its stock price. This comes after refusing a buyout offer from Rupert … [Read more...] about Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
Fandango Buys Movieclips
Online film ticketing outfit Fandango agreed to buy Movieclips for an undisclosed price in a bid to expand from commerce to becoming a broader movie content destination. Movieclips collects revenue from advertising around its YouTube video, which relies heavily on film distributor-supplied content. “The entire network encompasses a catalog of 45,000 curated film clips, … [Read more...] about Fandango Buys Movieclips
Theaters Take Control of Fathom for Alternative Content
Three of the largest movie theater circuits will take operational control of alternative cinema content provider Fathom Events, which they say will expand its offerings. Fathom projects on cinema screens Broadway shows, music concerts, sports events, unique TV programing and other non-theatrical content. The circuits AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Regal Cinema … [Read more...] about Theaters Take Control of Fathom for Alternative Content
Critic: Political Correctness Topples Movies
While Hollywood frets that an unprecedented number of big budget films have flopped this year, an opinion article in the New York Post by Kyle Smith purports to answer why: two of the big disappointments so far injected Hollywood’s “political correctness.” The big-budget flops are Walt Disney Studios’ “The Lone Ranger” ($250 million production cost) and Sony Pictures’ “White … [Read more...] about Critic: Political Correctness Topples Movies
Brad Pitt’s ‘War Z’ Undergoes Reshoots
Hollywood has a pretty good track record of avoiding box office catastrophes with big-budget movies—meaning production budgets of $120 mil. or more--and Paramount is determined that its “World War Z” doesn’t get added to that short list. A "Hollywood Reporter" article recounts how Paramount Pictures engaged in a late revamp of its Brad Pitt apocalyptic yarn “World War Z” … [Read more...] about Brad Pitt’s ‘War Z’ Undergoes Reshoots
Lionsgate Consolidates Ads at Mindshare
Lionsgate consolidated its estimated $400 million domestic film advertising account with WPP’s Mindshare media buying agency, which handled Summit Entertainment that Lionsgate acquired a year ago. Interpublic’s Initiative unit—which bought adverising for Lionsgate pre-merger—is dropped. The assignment covers theatrical and home video ad spending. Kantar Media puts … [Read more...] about Lionsgate Consolidates Ads at Mindshare
‘Oogieloves’ Bust
Ouch! The toddler movie “The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure” posted what is among the worst openings ever for a wide release movie. The $20 million production grossed just $47 per screen on its opening day on Wednesday, which works out to a paltry $104,564 total from 2,160 screens, according to BoxOfficeMojo. “Apparently, there’s not much love for the … [Read more...] about ‘Oogieloves’ Bust
Movies Take Hefty Eight Super Bowl Ads
A sizeable eight movie ads appeared in the Super Bowl, as Hollywood shows no lack of confidence the theatrical distribution business. Another handful of movie ads were in pre-game and half-time adjacencies in the telecast of the professional football championship. Last year, just six movie commercials ran and the year before that nine films took 11 commercial slots. This … [Read more...] about Movies Take Hefty Eight Super Bowl Ads
‘Narnia’ Revamps Marketing Focus
The third “Narnia” fantasy film, which 20th Century Fox is scheduled to open Friday, aims to get the mystical family franchise back to profitability, after the second installment under-performed. The “Narnia” series, which its producers hope will keep going like the seven title “Harry Potter” film franchise at Warner Bros., is an example of how marketing considerations shape … [Read more...] about ‘Narnia’ Revamps Marketing Focus