Bizarre Product Placement: James Bond to Drive a Fiat Econobox

According to an article on Bloomberg, James Bond will slip behind the wheel of, ahem, a Fiat Panda:

The Fiat Panda, one of Fiat SpA's cheapest models, will make its screen debut in the next James Bond film due in 2006, replacing the luxury cars typically used by the secret agent such as Aston Martin's V12 Vanquish.

The Panda, which is priced from 12,490 euros ($15,379), 21 times less than the Vanquish, will have cinema's most famous secret agent behind the wheel in ``Casino Royale,'' the latest installment of the James Bond saga.

Sony Releases Extended 'Stealth' Preview for TiVo Users

According to Jaffe Juice, Joseph Jaffe recently discovered the first four minutes of 'Stealth' waiting for him in his "My TiVo" showcase:

My TiVo showcase offered me the opportunity to watch the first 4 minutes of the just released action movie, Stealth. Obviously the idea here is to show a bit of skin to the audience (and what better way than an action-packed opening sequence...remember Saving Private Ryan?) and have them salivating at the mouth wanting more....

Scarlett Johansson Digitally Enhanced for 'The Island' Ads

On a lighter Friday note, Scarlett Johansson was recently shocked to discover her digitally-enhanced cleavage on a billboard promoting 'The Island' in Los Angeles:

The Lost in Translation actress slammed on the brakes when confronted with a giant advert of herself in Hollywood, according to the Daily Record. And the 20-year-old hinted that the picture of her chest had been digitally altered to promote new movie, The Island.

he said: "I was driving through Los Angeles and I look up and see the biggest photo of me I have ever seen in my life on a massive ad space.

"I screamed and slammed on the brakes. I couldn't believe it.

"It's very strange to see my cleavage the size of a brontosaurus. My breasts were huge.

Vets Upset over 'Wedding Crashers' Purple Heart Promo

According to Adrants, a tongue-in-cheek viral game for 'The Wedding Crashers' urging the use of the Purple Heart medal to score chicks has angered Veterans' groups:

Part of the promotional website for the Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn movie Wedding Crashers and a scene within the movie makes reference to the Purple Heart, a military medal of honor. The movie, which, remember, is a movie and not real life, pokes fun at the medal by claiming it gets a guy attention if he wears one with the line, "Carrying a Purple Heart in your jacket guarantees you attention, admiration and plenty of free booze."

Wearing, manufacturing, buying, selling or trading a Medal of Honor is a crime. [Congressman] Salazar's Stolen Valor Act, introduced Friday, would expand the law to include more medals and would allow prosecution of anyone who falsely claims to have earned a military medal or a Purple Heart.

His office drew attention to the Web site. On Monday, he claimed victory.

"If any movie-goers take the advice of the 'Wedding Crashers' and try to use fake Purple Hearts to get girls, they may wind up picking up an FBI agent instead."

Kinda harsh. New Line did the right thing by pulling the section though. Given the lack of vets working in private industry these days, its not hard to see how something like this could slip by without a proper vetting. Adrants does make a point that in a time of war, sensitivities are indeed higher, and an extra level of scrutiny needs to be applied to all things military-related.

[Via Adrants]

Did Excessive Product Placement Help Sink 'The Island'?

Jeff Greefield makes an interesting point over at Product Placement News today: As product placement becomes more ubiquitous, film critics are much more likely to seize on films that take it too far -- especially when they don't like a film anyways. They list many examples of this point in action -- here's an especially vicious attack:

Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press: Bay also goes along with perhaps the crassest product placement in movie history — a perfume commercial so blatant that it pulls you out of the movie — and follows that up with a love scene that makes no sense and a character reversal so unmotivated that it may make you want to pull yourself out of the movie.

That's just a sample -- visit Rotten Tomatoes and read a few of the reviews -- you'll see just how often the critics bash the product placement in the film.

Other recent films that have gorged on product placements recently include the Herbie flick and even Bad News Bears -- I would have expected an even greater backlash against these films given their positioning as family fare.

[Via Product Placement News]

Pathe Promos New Horror Film with PlayStation Portable Downloads

According to Netimperative, French film company Pathe is promoting their latest horror flick 'The Descent' by creating special trailers for use on the PlayStation Portable:

Anna Butler, marketing director at Pathe, said: “We wanted to try something new with out trailer downloads, we already commit a substantial amount of work to promoting each film digitally and this seemed like a natural progression.

"PSPs are an exciting development and we wanted to start using this new medium.”

Anchor Bay Joins Growing List of UMD Distributors

According to Home Media Retailing, Anchor Bay Entertainment will become the latest indie retailer to release titles for the UMD format:

Anchor Bay, known chiefly for its large library of horror films, will begin its rollout Aug. 23 with six titles on the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format: Halloween, Evil Dead, Time Bandits, Blood the Last Vampire, Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll. Each title will be priced at $19.98.

Ray Gagnon, SVP of sales for Anchor Bay, says all six films appeal primarily to PSP’s target young-male demographic. He said Anchor Bay was prompted to take the plunge because there’s so much support among big retailers.

Based on their release slate, Anchor Bay's approach looks like it will initially focus on proven back catalog titles, as opposed to new releases.

Every major distributor besides Warner is now on board, with over 100 titles available by the holiday shopping season. PSPs will likely be a hot commodity this christmas, which may be what prompts the smaller retailers currently on the sidelines into the game (especially in the Anime arena).

[Via Home Media Retailing]

Fox to Bow DVD premiere of 'Family Guy' Movie with Massive Marketing Push

According to Video Business, Fox announced this week that they will launch a DVD premiere for their 'Family Guy' franchise titled 'Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story!' on September 27th, and will back it with a massive marketing campaign:

In addition to synergy cross-promotions across most Fox broadcast and media outlets and licensing units, the studio's multi-million dollar marketing campaign on the title will include national print and television advertising and a major grassroots college campaign targeting co-eds at bars, clubs, fraternity parties and via special screening events.

If you're wondering why Fox is pushing the title so aggressively, it because the 'Family Guy' franchise has been enormously lucrative -- Having sold-through over 1.35 million units, the franchise is second only 'The Chapelle Show' in units sold, but because of the set's higher SRP is more profitable.

If anyone knows who Fox's college marketing partner will be, please send us an email.


[Via Video Business Online]

Warner Brothers promotes 'Batman Begins' with Yahoo Takeover Ads

Warner Brothers has purchased massive takeover ads on the Yahoo homepage, which includes heavy flash animated bats and sound effects. If anyone else spots a major 'Batman Begins' online ad buy, post where you saw it as a comment.


[Thanks to Adrants]

Poll: Audiences Prefer Watching Movies at Home

According to an AP-AOL Poll, 73 percent of adults said that they prefer watching movies at home on DVD and VOD over going to the theater. One portion of the poll doesn't bode well for this summer's theatrical prospects:

Just 22 percent said they would rather see films in a theater, according to the poll conducted by Ipsos for The Associated Press and AOL News. One-fourth said they had not been to a movie theater in the past year.

However, rather than take the same "sky is falling" approach to this year's lackluster box office as we've seen in other media outlets, the AP explores the notion that perhaps the poor attendence so far this year is merely product-driven:

"I think this slump is product-driven," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. "That to me is a much less chilling problem than some sort of cultural shift in people's moviegoing habits. A cultural shift takes longer than 16 weekends of down box office."

Box office revenues have been down every weekend since late February. "Batman Begins," which opened Wednesday, could snap the streak this weekend. But if business is off again, Hollywood would match a 1985 downturn of 17 weekends, the longest recorded slump since analysts began keeping detailed box-office figures.

The 1985 slide came with similar dire predictions that movies on videocassette would devastate the theater business, Dergarabedian said. Box-office grosses were stagnant into the late 1980s, then rebounded strongly.

In the 1950s, some analysts foresaw the demise of movie theaters as people stayed home to watch television. While business plummeted from 4 billion or more admissions a year in Hollywood's glory days, movies remained a prime entertainment choice.

One interesting thing from the poll they mentioned was that DVD users, downloaders and gamers are more frequent moviegoers than the rest of the population. This young, male and tech-savvy audience is the veritable sweet spot of movie marketing, and coming up with initiatives that feed this symbiosis will become even more important than it already is now.

[AP Wire via Kansas.com]

NY Post Distributes Free 'Batman Begins' Comic Book

Fast Company alerted us to another Batman Begins promo and giveaway -- basically, the New York Post is giving away free copies of a special 'Batman' comic book with each newspaper. As Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner owns D.C. Comics, this isn't surprising. Fast Company notes that there's a saturation level of outdoor advertising on the streets of Gotham, and we're battening down the hatches for the maelstrom of 'Batman Begins' TV ads this week.

Seems that the MSM has pegged Batman as the last hope for a decent theatrical take at the box office this season. If the early reviews are any indication, that won't be a problem.

[Via Fast Company Now]

Dreamworks Animation to Release Movies for Nintendo Gameboy

Dreamworks announced that they will be releasing their animated titles for the Gameboy Advanced in a pact with New Jersey-based Majesco:

Majesco will release the toon studio's Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shark Tale later this summer in its proprietary Game Boy Video format with a price expected around $20.
The game publisher has in the past year released TV content from Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network, but didn't have the capacity to put a full feature film on one Game Boy cartridge.

20th Century Fox Jumps on the UMD Bandwagon

Per Retail Merchandiser, 20th Century Fox has announced a slate of five UMD titles to bow this Summer:

Targeting the platform's core demo of men ages 18-34, the first five titles to be released by the studio include 'I, Robot,' 'Napoleon Dynamite,' 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,' 'Super Troopers,' and 'Predator.' The initial wave of titles will hit retail shelves in July, with a catalog of releases immediately scheduled for subsequent waves.

No prebook, street date, or SRP were announced, but they will more than likely be in-line with other studio's offerings. This Announcement comes on the heels of Universal's announcement yesterday. How long before we see the independents join the game? That's dependent on how rich the licensing scheme with Sony is -- right now, it might not pay to release titles that won't move 50-75K units. However, I think that an independent could really clean up by releasing martial arts and extreme sports content (skateboarding, snowboarding, motorcycle racing).


[Via Retail Merchandiser]

Studios Clamoring For Trailer Slots in Front of 'Star Wars: Episode III'

According to the Los Angeles Times, the highly-anticipated 'Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith' is bowing in 3,700 theaters, and movie marketing executives are jockeying for coveted trailer slots. Further exacerbating the demand is Lucas' demand that no more than five trailers bow before his feature. Given how lackluster the box office has been so far this year, many films are banking on this added push to help get butts in seats:

Others in the mix, according to another studio: New Line's 'Wedding Crashers,' DreamWorks' 'The Island,' Universal's 'Cinderella Man' and Warner Bros.' 'Batman Begins.' And some studios are also sending trailers for other films directly to exhibitors in hopes of screening with 'Revenge of the Sith.' Sony, for example, is distributing a new "teaser" trailer for 'The Da Vinci Code,' even though the movie doesn't come out for a year

The article mentions that the only film guaranteed placement is 'The Fantastic Four.' Of all of these films, the films that probably need the marketing boost most are New Line's 'Wedding Crashers,' and Universal's 'Cinderella Man.'


[Via the Los Angeles Times]

Universal to Release Six UMD Titles for the PlayStation Portable

According to a press release issued today, Universal announced that they plan to release six titles in the new UMD format for the PlayStation Portable: "Assault on Precinct 13," "The Rundown," "Van Helsing," "Dawn of the Dead: Unrated Director's Cut," "The Chronicles of Riddick: Unrated Director's Cut" and "The Fast and the Furious." The titles have a street date of July 26, 2005 and a SRP of $19.98 (except for "Assault on Precinct 13," which will bow with an SRP of $29.98). Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, shed some light into their decision to enter the market:

"The PSP offers consumers an exciting opportunity to expand their entertainment experience beyond the living room," said Mr. Kornblau. "In selecting the first wave of films to be released on UMD, we have chosen films targeting young male consumers who, not surprisingly, are the early adopters of the multimedia device," Mr. Kornblau added.

Universal joins Sony (the company behind the UMD format), Disney and Lions Gate as early providers of the format. As more sales data becomes available (many retailers have miscategorized UMD titles as games) we should have a better idea of the sales potential. Not including Universals titles, there are now over 50 UMD titles available for sale or pre-purchase on Amazon right now.

[Via PR Newswire]

Warner Bros. to promo 'Batman Begins' during 'Smallville' Finale

According to Brand Republic, Warner Brothers will promote the upcoming release of 'Batman Begins' during the season finale of the hit series Smallville.

The finale, which will air on May 18th, will be showing an exclusive clip at some point during the show:

The eight minutes of footage will air within the 90-minute season finale of 'Smallville'. The two [Batman and Superman] have always been linked in comic book fiction and bringing the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight together is designed to further explore the relationship on the screen of two most popular superheroes in the history of American pop culture.

We've seen the broadcast of exclusive clips become an integral part of the movie marketing process over the past year, but none have been so topically on the mark as this one.

Batman begins is due out in theaters on June 17th.


[Via Brand Republic]

Marketing Preview: Superman Returns

Super Hero Hype is giving a brief overview of the advance marketing strategy behind the upcoming Superman Returns movie. Even though its coming from "anonymous sources," it looks in line with what we would expect from Warner Brothers:

The marketing will begin over a year in advance-starting with the teaser trailer that is now scheduled to air with Batman Begins, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Word is Sony Pictures Imageworks is about to start work on about 10 special fx shots that will be featured in the trailer. The official website is also scheduled to be activated around this time, as well, a teaser poster. Then in November, the second trailer will be released with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Rumor is W.B. wants to have the same trailer with King Kong as well. W.B. is also currently shopping for movie tie ins and product placement, and it comes as no surprise that the companies are lining up.

That's nearly 12 months of constant PR and marketing activities leading up to the theatrical, and almost 18 for the DVD release.

Superman Hype! - The latest Superman news and rumors

Sony Will Release Four Movies for the PlayStation Portable

According to CIO Today, Sony has announced that they will release four movies in the UMD format. The titles will street on April 19th following the PlayStation Portable's release in late March.

According to the article, Sony will use UMD-formatted movies to expand the adoption of the PlayStation Portable beyond young males. However, the initial slate doesn't look like it will deviate from their device's core user base:

The movies the company has chosen, however, may not do much to expand that demographic out of the gate. The four titles -- "XXX," "Hellboy," "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" -- have a fairly limited appeal. They do add to the device's reputation as a viable video viewer, though.

Sony already has announced that it intends to include a copy of "Spider-Man 2" in the first one million PSP units to be sold in the U.S. There is no word on whether or not the movie will be available for separate purchase.

CIO Today - Worldwide Technology - Sony To Release PSP-Compatible Movies