Paramount's 'An Inconvenient Truth' Marketing Taps Current Events
 With the brutal heat wave making headlines across the country, the marketing team behind ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ have spun current events into a creative series of advertisements, according to the “Marketplace Report” broadcast yesterday on American Public Media:
Global warming might seem like counter-intuitive programming for folks trying to escape the heat, but the new ad campaign for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" has used the toasty weather to its advantage.
Newspaper ads for the film now list scorching temperatures in several US cities.
"It's kind of unusual in the 7th, 8th week of release to have fresh ad campaigns going out to keep a film in the public eye. I think it's been pretty effective." The film has grossed just under $19 million through July 24th (very impressive for such a "didactic" documentary), and the platform release up to the current peak of 560+ theaters has been handled exceptionally well by the Paramount team. Keeping a film"fresh" during a long roll-out is one of the biggest challenges in film marketing, and tying into current events on both the publicity and advertising fronts is a smart approach to achieve that end.
The film is likely on track to gross in the $20-22 million dollar range, and has a good chance of usurping ‘Bowling for Columbine’ for the number three spot on the list of top-grossing documentaries of all time (‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ holds the top spot at $119 million, and ‘March of the Penguins’ is at #2 with $77.4 million).
Sony to Bow 'Spider-Man 3' IMAX Release Day and Date with Theatrical Run
Sony and IMAX announced today that ‘Spider-Man 3’ will be simultaneously be released at both conventional and IMAX theaters when the film debuts next year on May 4th, 2007.
According to IMAX co-chairman Richard Gelfond, the film will be available on at least 100 screens, a significant increase from the 63 screens that ‘Spider-Man 2’ debuted on during its IMAX run. This is the third IMAX release announced by Sony Pictures, with the third being the animated film ‘Open Season,’ which will bow in IMAX on September 29th this year.
In addition to adding valuable screens and significant revenue to a film’s launch, IMAX launches have also become an excellent marketing tool for the studios due to high-level of word-of-mouth that the format generates. For example, the IMAX release of ‘The Polar Express’ was widely credited with reviving the non-IMAX version’s fortunes in late 2004, which boosted theatrical revenues above $100 million and helped the title to become a smash hit on DVD.
Last year, the latest installment of the ‘Harry Potter’ series earned over $16 million in its IMAX run, and ‘Batman Begins’ grossed $15.9 million, according to the-numbers.com.
New Line Decides Against Critics' Screenings for 'Snakes on a Plane'
According to Variety, New Line has decided to forgo any pre-release screenings of their upcoming horror film 'Snakes on A Plane.'
In a move calculated to reduce the chances of any poor critical reviews or buzz-killing word of mouth, the earliest the public and critics alike will be able to see the film is Thursday night on August 17th. No press screenings or sneaks will be available.
Holding back press screenings for genre and action fare has become a common practice lately, mostly because the films' core audience is typically made up of genre fans who don’t read newspaper reviews. However, for the rest of the public, a lack of early reviews is starting to be interpreted as "this film sucks." New Line is spinning this move as “a chance for fans to see the film first.” However, if you look at past films that have withheld press screenings, it doesn’t bode well for the quality of 'Snakes.'
Recent films that have withheld press screenings include: 'Aeon Flux,' 'Cursed,' 'Phat Girlz,' 'Scary Movie 4,' 'See no Evil', 'The Benchwarmers,' 'The Fog,' 'The Hills Have Eyes,' 'Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,' 'Ultraviolet,' 'Underworld: Evolution', and 'When a Stranger Calls.'
If we've missed any, please add them in the comments.
Lionsgate Announces Nationwide Public Word of Mouth Screening Event for 'The Descent'
 Lionsgate has teamed up with in-theater ad & promo outfit National CineMedia and Horror rag Fangoria Magazine to launch a one-night-only advance screening event for the upcoming horror thriller 'The Descent.' The special screening will take place next week on July 26th at 8:00 p.m. - nine days ahead of the film's August 4th wide release. The event will be held at 47 participating Regal, United Artists, Edwards, and Cinemark around the country in key markets including New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami and Atlanta, among others (a full list of markets is available here). A regular admission charge will be in effect, and tickets can be purchased either online or at the box office the day of the screening.
The producers of the film have created exclusive behind-the-scenes content created especially for the event, and Fangoria has created a microsite to promote the screenings as well. Lionsgate has also linked to the advance ticket sales site from the film’s homepage.
Based on the numerous positive early reviews from fan boy and genre sites such as AICN, Joblo.com and bloodydisgusting.com, the potential for good word of mouth arising from this effort are high, especially since the structure of the event is designed to cater to the "mavens" of the horror genre – Fangoria readers eager to see both the previously-unseen U.S. cut as well as the exclusive extras. Collateral for the film has also been exceptional, with one of the most compelling one-sheets, trailer and web sites of 2006.
This isn't National CineMedia's first foray into movie marketing promotions – Last year, they conducted advance screenings to promote MGM’s 'North Country', as well as a one day re-release of New Line's 'The Wedding Crashers' earlier this year in support of the DVD release. Both screenings also had "special features," including a live satellite Q&A for 'North Country' and exclusive "uncorked" extras for 'Wedding Crashers.'
HD DVD Group Announces $150 Million Marketing Push
This week at the annual VSDA conference, The North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced an ambitious $150 million marketing and advertising blitz to build consumer awareness, Video Business reports.
The campaign will push the high definition format in print, TV, online, cable and outdoor channels, with a six month minimum commitment. The campaign’s theme is “The Look and Sound of Perfect,” and a corresponding website featuring hi-def trailers launched at lookandsoundofperfect.com as well.
Another component planned includes a ten city tour featuring an 18-wheeler truck covered with HD DVD promotional signage, hi-resolution screens and filled with sample products. The campaign is being coordinated by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the ad agency famous for the “Got Milk?” campaign.
Initial adoption of HD DVD has been slow so far, with only 20,000 players sold to date. However, sales of software have done extremely well given those numbers, and the article notes that hundreds of titles are being planned for the next several quarters. Additionally, players from other manufacturers will be available in stores for the holiday season.
In addition to the ad blitz, the promotional group has also established a task force to address in-store merchandising concerns regarding HD DVD products, including incorrectly calibrated displays, poor in-store display locations, under-educated sales staff, and misracked product.
Paramount Vantage and the Sierra Club Promo 'An Inconvenient Truth' with Robo-calls
According to Variety, last week Paramount Vantage and The Sierra Club teamed up to promote the release of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ with “robo-calls” – the same sort of prerecorded telephone calls that are usually used to promote political candidates.
On July 7th, approximately 300,000 of the automated calls were placed in New York and four other key markets. The call was a 38 second message from Al gore urging the listener to get out and see his film about global warming, which began like this: "Hi, I'm Al Gore. The fight against global warming is not about right vs. left, it's about right vs. wrong. That's why the Sierra Club and I are asking you to see my film, 'An Inconvenient Truth,' this weekend.” According to the article, this is the first time this technique has been used to promote a film, and at least one studio executive believes that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The real question is if people will consider this sort of "push" advertising as an intrusion or not. If done well and correctly targeted, it may work for certain genres of films -- political documentaries and comedies come to mind. And If this technique could be paired with Moviefone-like ticketing capabilities, the ROI tracking capabilities would be a huge boon to movie marketers.
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ has grossed $15.6 million since its release in late May.
The Weinstein Co. to Back New Urban Entertainment Company
The Weinstein Company and Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, are close to announcing a deal to create a new urban entertainment venture, The New York Times reports.
According to the article, the venture would produce content for multiple distribution channels, including film, television, and the web. Initial plans call for the creation of lower-budgeted fare for the urban market, which has been a profitable niche both theatrically and on home video in recent years.
The deal is being negotiated during investment bank Allen & Company’s annual conference, where entertainment czars frequently meet to broker major mergers and partnerships. Johnson is no stranger to big deals, having sold BET to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion.
Warner Independent Releases First 24 Minutes of 'A Scanner Darkly' on IGN
Warner Independent Pictures has made the first 24 minutes of 'A Scanner Darkly' available as an online exclusive at IGN FilmForce. You can watch the extended preview, - nearly the first quarter of the film - at this link.
While the studios have been releasing clips under ten minutes on a fairly regular basis, this is without a doubt the longest preview released by a studio or specialty division to date. This shrewd marketing move is undoubtedly meant to drum up interest preceding the film's expansion onto 190 screens this weekend, up from 17 during the opening weekend. In its first weekend of limited release, 'A Scanner Darkly' earned over $392K, averaging just over $23K per screen.
MPAA Launches Online Consumer Market Research Panel
 The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced the launch of a new online consumer panel called “My Movie Muse” today. According to their release, the site will allow interested, qualified consumers to register so that they can participate in online surveys on issues affecting the organization’s member companies, including topics such as theater attendance, home video rental, advertisements, and piracy. The site plans on commissioning quarterly generalized surveys, and will also conduct “one-off” surveys that relate to specific demographic groups as the need arises.
The My Movie Muse site plans on enrolling 7,500 participants this year, and plans on doubling that figure in 2007. An international version of the site is also in the works.
Registration is currently open to the public at mymoviemuse.com, although it appears that studio employees or individuals involved in the market research of movies are ineligible to participate.
Report: Consumers Slow to Adopt Mobile Video
According to a new study released by market research firm Knowledge Networks today, much of the buzz surrounding mobile video content is currently little more than marketing hype.
The company's research discovered that more than half of the subscribers of mobile video services such as Verizon’s VCast don’t bother to actually view any video content, and thirty percent of Video iPod owners have never used the device to view videos. However, among laptop users, more than 90 percent use their device to watch video content. The study also showed a growing acceptance for ad-supported content in the form of pre-rolls.
Knowledge Networks derived their data by surveying 2,400 consumers between ages 13 and 54 who owned devices capable of accessing mobile content, and also held individual interview sessions to gain deeper insights on individual consumer behavior.
The bottom line for movie marketers: Unless your film is highly targeted to the same demographic as consumers of video content on cell phones, the user base and consumption habits don’t warrant the investment in video-based marketing content – at least not yet. Producing content for video iPods is advisable, however, simply because the costs for encoding the content alongside the encoding costs for web streaming are marginal. In fact, if movie marketing video content is uploaded to popular video sharing sites like Google Video or Guba, their software will convert the content automatically.
Fandango Teams with PointRoll to Sell Movie Tickets via Online Ads
 According to a joint release, Fandango, the web’s largest online movie ticketing site, has been selected as a Preferred Partner by rich media ad developer PointRoll. The partnership will enable Fandango to serve dynamic, location-targeted rollover ads that will enable users to search for and purchase movie tickets within the ad, when the consumer’s intent to purchase is at its highest.
PointRoll has been a major developer and ad server of rollover and other highly interactive flash-based ads for the film industry since 2000, and with the steady increase in broadband penetration, they are now delivering up to six billion ad impressions yearly on top-tier destinations like Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. The partnership comes amidst a robust growth period in the online movie ticketing business, which, according to Jupiter Research, is projected to grow at nearly twenty percent a year for the next three years.
With the advanced tracking capabilities of the PointRoll system, studio movie marketers will be able to measure the actual return on investment for their rich media campaigns, which will give them similar tracking capabilities to text-based advertising systems like Google Adwords.
Tags: movie marketing, online advertising
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