Trailer Timing Takes Tribulation

Tis the season to watch trailers. With the upcoming summer blockbuster sleight, the past month has been a sensation of dynamic digital displays, pre-viewing post-release particulars about the styles and plot details.

The major studios have been releasing trailers for their upcoming films with some interesting marketing decisions across the board and some fantastic films to look forward to. Large films such as the massively anticipated Avengers: Endgame has its fans and advocates crawling through every frame of its trailers. You can find an in depth look at how the Avengers: Endgame trailer effected the digital space in a previous blog post of mine. Along side these summer blockbusters come some of the smaller films backed by the large studios vying for everyone’s attention. So how does competing for attention work when it comes to trailers, include spoilers and you give the game away, don’t provide enough insight and you will not generate any interest.

Two films that have successfully threaded this needle, without the support of prequels, sequels and extended-tie-in universes, are Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood and The Dead Don’t Die. Firstly, we have the famed 9th film from the legendary director Tarantino and the trailer shows this. It takes advantage of he’s unique directorial and dialogue style along with some great music to emphasis the time period the film is set in. And the second film, The Dead Don’t Die¸ makes fantastic use of its stellar cast. Not only does it end the trailer by listing each and every A-lister in the film, but it also does a nice job of displaying just how much each actor and actress bring to the film in their suited roles.

Another very interesting case of innovating the film trailer game was from the Seth Rogen lead project Good Boys. A comedic film that plays the coming of age high school film with the foul-mouthed adult humour of some of Seth Rogen’s films. Instead of opening the trailer with a section of the finished film, instead we open with a very funny commentary on how the young actors can swear on camera but cannot legally watch themselves swearing in the film or trailer because of the age restrictions. This was a very clever way to ensure the trailer stood out amongst the sea of new trailers that hit the internet air way in the past mouth or so.                   

UK Weekend Box-office: March 22nd – 24th

One of a films most revered key performance indicator is how much they achieve in the Box-office. With at least 90% of a films marketing campaigns designed to drive up the number of attendances at the opening weekend, it is important to keep track of these numbers

This is the third week that Captain Marvel sits at the top of the chart and it seems that the only release coming out that looks to be able to dethrone it is the next Marvel film, Avengers: Endgame. With Jordan Peele’s new thriller, Us’ new release has jumped straight to the number two position. Coming off the back of his last breakthrough thriller, Jordan Peele has many new projects in the works and it’s no surprise that his new film got a lot of attention. With Fisherman’s Friend still holding a strong position among this pedigree competition. With the comedy and kids films still holding their positions on the chart, it goes to show how these genres hold a timeless cinema run. Unlike the new blockbuster that people rush to see it as soon as possible, so that they can be among the first to see how the overarching story progresses and so they can avoid spoilers. With two more new entries on the chart the first; The White Crow is an interesting entry because it’s a smaller film and a drama coming out right before the beginning of the big spring/summer film season. Number ten on the chart is a teenage drama that could have done better, but the marketing very much targeted an American audience.                 

UK Weekend Box-office: March 15th – 17th

One of a films most revered key performance indicator is how much they achieve in the Box-office. With at least 90% of a films marketing campaigns designed to drive up the number of attendances at the opening weekend, it is important to keep track of these numbers.

This is Captain Marvel second weekend nothing was really released in direct competition with it. That means there is no surprise that it keeps hold of its place at the top of the UK box office. Although a drop of about 50% from last week is quite large for a Marvel film, especially because this is the film that goes directly into the next massive event that is Avengers: Endgame. Next on the chart is a new entry that did very well to get where it is, especially because the third entry was a new comedy film with a large budget from its Hollywood studio. Its probably because what Men What is targeted towards an African American target market. The Lego Movie holds its fourth position and Fighting with My Family drops below it for the first time, this is a good example of how kids’ film can last quite long in the box office because of how children don’t loose interest in going to the cinema as quickly and because of how busy family life can be. How to Train Your Dragon is in a similar boat of having smaller opening but quite a long run. Green Book is still on the chart and that’s probably because it is looking like it will win the best picture Oscar.              

UK Weekend Box-office: March 8th – 10th

One of a films most revered key performance indicator is how much they achieve in the Box-office. With at least 90% of a films marketing campaigns designed to drive up the number of attendances at the opening weekend, it is important to keep track of these numbers.

With this being Captain Marvel’s opening weekend it’s no surprise the next big Marvel hit would top the box office numbers with £12 million. Its no wonder Disney is one of the words largest production studios with this, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man Far From Home all coming out before the end of June. Fighting with My Family has been knocked down from its number one spot but is still holding on to the second spot. The Lego Movie is in a similar position with it only dropping down one spot within the week.  In fact, it is the same fall all the films on the chart, they all dropped down one spot and kicked the foreign film; Kobiety Mafii 2. It’s interesting to how much of a percentage a new Marvel film can take control over the box office.              

Superhero hair halts spoiler scare

Marvel has another global hit on their hands with the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, with a new trailer released yesterday there is nothing but excitement invading social media. Kevin Fiege, the grand-master of Marvel Studios, is often revered for his public relations superpower of speaking in half promises. Somehow managing to generate consumer interest in possible upcoming films, while not at all confirming any definite commitments. Back in January he was quoted saying “I’d call it somewhat accurate. As was the case with a lot of our films this one in particular, you know, being able to generate excitement without giving away any of the many, many, many, many, many,many, many, many secrets would be ideal.” Here he provides insight into the assumption that all marketing for the upcoming Avengers: Endgame will be sourced from the first 15 minutes of the film.

Marketing for films have for a long time used a simple algorithm of showing what you’ll get. In some cases, this has left large twists being spoiled through the marketing, one example being Terminator Genisys, which was not a failure but did not reincarnate the franchise like the executives hoped.

Whether Avengers: Endgame only utilises the first 15 minuets of the film in its marketing or not, the interest of fans will often follow an unexpected tangent, this being the unexpected reveal of Jeremy Renner’s new hair cut for the film. A lack of narrative substance in a film’s marketing usually causes a serge of negative sentiment, but Marvel seen to have the answer in just letting the show be stolen by an awesome mohawk (and the cool new matching Avengers uniforms).                     

Update – As of recently, the Russo Brothers (Directors of Avengers: Endgame) have confirmed suspicions that the newest Endgame trailer has shots that will not be included in the film. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this either, with the Captain America: Civil War Trailer removing Spider-Man from scenes and the Avengers: Infinity War trailer adding the Hulk in scenes where he would actually appear in his Bruce Banner persona. This marketing strategy puts the film directors in control of promotion material allowing them to promote the tone of the film and not spoil any of the twists.            

Rotten Tomatoes reviews its previews to pre-empt predominant provocation

Rotten Tomatoes a leading critical and audience review site has had to adapt their systems for pre-reviewing films, in the wake of seemingly targeted trolling towards Marvels latest blockbuster, Captain Marvel.

Marvels first female led MCU blockbuster hit cinema screen on the 8th of March. Even before it even had a chance to compel opposing conspirators to change their minds, it was bombarded with negative audience scores, loaded with an anti-feminist agender. Therefore, Rotten Tomatoes have removed the ability to rate and review before the film can be appreciated which makes sense. This tactical move also attempts to combat the distribution of fabricated news, that in the case of Captain Marvel lead ill-informed media outlets to outcry about the lacklustre buzz around the film.

However, the issue with film reviews still stand; add too much nuance and the attention fades, create a polarising headline and rake in the viewers. Which leads to another drastic change made by Rotten Tomatoes. They have simplified their systems to only include the percentage of reviews with positive sentiment against those with negative sentiment. As oppose to having a reviewing system that allows for the critic or audience member to creatively expressing their opinion. Other rating websites seem to be operating along the same lines by keeping it simple, which gives the opportunity for people to create and use their own platforms to express their opinions. The issue with this then becomes an overwhelming number of word of mouth opinions falling unnoticed and a general lack of order.  

The detail in critical reviews of film is becoming less and less thoughtful and is propelled in to the divisional society social media has created. Where there is no option but to fight for your life in a battle between people who liked the film and those who did not. A fight where reason has no place. A fight where acceptance in non-existent. Only the demoralising ability to insult each other, not even wins the argument but keeps it alive until the next political issue divides us even further.       

UK Weekend Box-office: March 1st – 3rd

One of a films most revered key performance indicator is how much they achieve in the Box-office. With at least 90% of a films marketing campaigns designed to drive up the number of attendances at the opening weekend, it is important to keep track of these numbers.  

I created this chart to show the UK box office numbers for the week and can be updated to show how the chart evolves throughout the year.

Fighting with my family is a British comedy film. Which would suggest the reasons why its at the top of the box office this week. With just over £2 million its very impressive for a somewhat smaller film. Second on the list is the sequel to the 2014 summer hit The Lego Movie. The first film was very well received so it’s no surprise here that the Second Part achieved over £1 million this week. The third raking film also got past the £1 million mark and also was a comedy. The third and final instalment to the How to Train your Dragon came in fourth, again being a sequel to a popular franchise helps to raise the box office numbers. Green Book an Oscar nominated film had a lot of attention due to the nomination. The Aftermath, a depiction of a war-torn city with the reunion of lovers, British made period pieces also do quite well for themselves in the box office. The Battle Angle finally gets her dues, after being pushed back from its original December release date due to competition, it’s not a surprise this non-franchise starter had a quick burn out. The Kid Who Would be King is a re-imagination of the King Arthur story and a relatively small film that did quite well for itself. Cold Pursuit is another Liam Neeson action thriller that tend to all blend together and perform lucklessly at the box office. Finally, we have a foreign film that made the chart due to a lack of competition.             

Biting the Head Off Cultural Marketing

Different cultures cultivated through a rich contrast of politics, geology and history have fostered the development of diverse interests and preferences. The 1,000,000 Dollar or 6,773,800 Yuan question becomes; How do you market the same film to sparing cultures? Surprisingly the answer hides in the thick goopy guts of Venom.

An unexpected box office hit of 2018 boosted Sony’s confidence in carrying their own duplicitously successful franchise by devouring ground in two of the largest markets; America and China (mostly China). An effective campaign addressing the social media trends and cartoonifying the imagery with an eastern anime art style vastly contrasts with the standard action and comic book referencing trailers released in the west.

With low levels of interest buzzing around the film from its announcement, fans and critics alike publicly sharing their unconfident’s in the film. Therefore, Sony wisely employed a minimalistic marketing strategy, relying of the super-fandom from the followers of the super-character and the super-genre. Its then the support from these advocates after the films release that spread the eWOM, especially about Tom Hardy’s internally conversing, unbalanced portrayal of both the Eddie Brock and Venom personas.

The vastly different marketing campaign emerging from the Chines market makes use of social media trends and provides character insight that is lacking from the film itself. The images touted across the Asian social space waves display Venoms softer side, by visualising how his super-abilities would make for perfect boyfriend material, which is definantly not a focal point in the film what so ever. In fact, there is plenty of evidence of how Venom would steal your man, turn him into a killing machine and save the world.  

Take a look at these fantastic images that give a deeper understanding for how a film can bite the head off cultural marketing. The answer as far as I can tell is to just lie about what to expect from a film.