Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire movie poster from Warner Bros. Pictures
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters this week as the kind of big screen team-up Justice League should have been. Following the events of 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, the two massive creatures are now teaming up to save themselves and humanity from new threats from “Hollow Earth”, the underground kingdom where the impossible thrives.
It is, surprisingly, the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise from Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment. Like the previous movie, this one stars Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Hottle and Brian Tyree Henry, with Dan Stevens joining as another of the humans who try to survive the devastation while pretending that they’re helping. Adam Wingard is also back as director in what is surely a character study focused on telling a coherent story as opposed to being about one group of pixels beating up another group of pixels.
That may sound a bit snarky, but these MonsterVerse films have been mostly fun and enjoyable to date, and there’s nothing quite like a big monster movie, so let’s dive in and see how it’s been sold.
announcement and casting
The movie was essentially announced by Warner Bros. and Legendary when a release date for the then-untitled project was set in June 2022. Stevens was added to the cast as the lead around the same time, with the return of Hall, Henry and Hottle confirmed later that year.
Warner Bros. released a dramatic video while CinemaCon was happening in April 2023 that revealed the official title.
the marketing campaign
The first trailer (31.4m YouTube plays) came out in December of last year, opening by reestablishing that there’s a whole ecosystem below the surface of the planet that until recently humanity was entirely unaware of. There’s a new threat that’s emerged now that Hollow Earth is open for business, one that Kong can’t handle on his own but will need some massive, scaly help with. It ends with the two beasts running alongside each other into battle, which is the whole point of what’s going on here.
Some new photos from the film were shared in Empire Magazine in January. Shortly after that the original mid-April release date was moved up to the end of March.
A new poster was released in early February to celebrate the Lunar New Year, a good choice given Godzilla’s background and the fact that this is the Year of the Dragon.
Wishing happiness and prosperity to all this Lunar New Year. Prepare for the Year of the Dragon! #GodzillaXKong – Only in Theaters March 29. pic.twitter.com/quxXP3mAPr
The evolution and nature of the dynamic between the two monsters was covered in an interview with Wingard, where he talked about how he wanted to create a “buddy cop” style feel to their interactions.
That key image of Godzilla and Kong alongside each other is used on the next poster which came out in mid-February.
Along with that came a new trailer (31m YouTube plays) that establishes the different roles the Titans and Great Apes have played over the centuries. But there’s a new power among the apes that is leading them into war, which necessitates the teamup between the two former adversaries.
Another poster along with an IMAX exclusive one-sheet continue using variations on that pairing to help create a sense of massive scale for the story and characters. Those came out as tickets were going on sale, followed by a look at how characters and places from the film were being integrated into Roblox for players there. Later on Call of Duty added bundles that let players smash their way through the game with movie-inspired skins.
A shorter trailer came out in mid-March that begins with a brief recap of the series so far before showing us how all of that has lead to this story.
Following that was another poster from IMAX as well as one-sheets for Dolby Cinemas (the best of the bunch because it looks like the cover to a new wave band’s greatest hits CD from 1994), RealD 3D and ScreenX.
Wingard was interviewed again, specifically this time about filming a good amount of the fight sequences in IMAX to get the biggest possible spectacle. He also sat down for a video conversation with Takashi Yamazaki, the director of the recent Godzilla Minus One, which got all the good reviews this one hasn’t.
The main cast members appeared together on “GMA” to talk about the movie and working with the massive creatures who weren’t actually there.
Huge promotional displays were created in London that had Kong emerging out of the sidewalk and Godzilla swimming the Thames while in Mumbai the entire side of a high rise was decorated with a mural. Those lead up to the movie’s Hollywood red carpet premiere, with the cast and crew in attendance and talking about how they prepared to work with their virtual costars while Wingard shared how he was influenced by Godzilla Minus One to add a few key moments. Stevens was also interviewed about how he got the part, which was written with him in mind.
Reviews have not been very positive so far, with some questioning the very existence of the movie and others saying the pesky humans are just a distraction to the monster mayhem going on. But tracking surveys estimate an opening weekend box-office of over $50mm, which is pretty good in this day and age.
As for the campaign itself, there’s nothing massively innovative here either in tactics or messages, but that’s to be expected. The entire point of the marketing is to make sure that everyone knows the two legendary beasts are finally teaming up, which is exactly what the audience wants to hear. This isn’t the place for subtlety or subtext, so it delivers what it should.
How Sony Pictures has sold the supernatural sequel
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie poster from Sony Pictures
Three years ago writer/director Jason Reitman brought us Ghostbusters: Afterlife, bringing the franchise up to date and pandering more than a little to the angry individuals who felt that 2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer The Call was a desecration of the only personality trait they’d cultivated over the last three decades. They were wrong, but they were also loud.
Now the story continues in Ghosbusters: Frozen Empire, hitting theaters now. The movie finds Callie, Trevor and Phoebe Spengler (Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace) along with former science teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) moving from Oklahoma to New York City to fully embrace their ghostbusting responsibilities. Once there they connect with the original team of Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) and Ray Stantz (Dan Ackroyd) along with erstwhile support Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) as a new supernatural threat emerges to plague the city.
Whereas the campaign for the first movie pretended that the original cast wasn’t participating, this time around they’re a major component of the marketing effort. Not only that but William Atherton returns as the infamous Walter Peck, now mayor of New York City. Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Conner and Kumail Nanjiani are also along for the ride.
Reitman is still credited as a cowriter on this film along with Gil Kenan, who wrote the first installment and steps into the director’s chair this time around. So with all that setup, let’s look at how it’s been sold.
announcement and casting
Sony announced the movie had been greenlit for production in April 2022 during that year’s CinemaCon.
At a special fan event on Ghostbusters Day in early June of that year, Reitman updated fans that the next movie, codenamed “Firehouse”, was currently being written and would continue the story of the Spengler family. There were also lots of other announcements, including that an animated feature was in development along with a new cartoon series, comic title and more. A December 2023 release was also announced at this time.
Most of the cast from Afterlife confirmed they were returning in late 2022, the same period in which it was revealed Kenan was taking on directorial responsibilities, with Reitman remaining as writer and producers.
The first day of filming was marked in mid-March 2023. A month later more details – including the New York City setting of the story – were shared when some of the cast appeared via video message at CinemaCon.
The return of the original series’ cast was slowly revealed both unofficially and officially in mid-2023. Sony also moved the release date to March 2024 because of the dual strikes impacting not only production but also publicity efforts.
the marketing campaign
Sony kicked off the campaign in earnest in November of last year with the release of the first teaser trailer (2.6mm YouTube plays). It opens with beachgoers being overtaken by a mysterious and deadly cold snap, an event that gets the Ghostbusters both new and old back into action .
Later in November Dark Horse Comics shared more about the tie-in comics series and Sony launched an AR experience for the various social media platforms that cast a ghostly chill over people’s videos.
Toward the end of last year there was a major push involving local Ghostbusters clubs, the people who create their own costumes, proton packs and such. Part of that included toy and food drives around the holidays, part was just about getting them on film doing goofy things involving theater standees for the film. It was a fun effort and nice to see the studio embracing these hardcore fans.
Murray’s involvement was finally double-confirmed for real this time in an Empire interview with Kenan where he talked about what the story was going to be and how much fun it was working with everyone.
The first real teaser poster came out in mid-December and shows the team exiting Ecto-1 onto a New York street that’s completely iced over, with some very intimidating demons and ghouls – and Slimer – coming at them. The design has the new members clearly visible, albeit from behind, while shadowy figures that are of course the old team further away from the camera.
Who you gonna call when the world freezes over? #Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is coming exclusively to movie theaters March 29, 2024. pic.twitter.com/tlcdKBAxJz
More new images were shared by Empire in January along with comments from Reitman, Hudson, Kenan and others.
The official trailer (3m YouTube plays) came out in late January and opens in the greatest way: With Walter Peck berating the assembled Ghostbusters for once again causing havoc in New York and this time endangering minors while engaging in shenanigans. After that a strange item is delivered to Ray at his occult shop, one that may be part of a major evil that’s about to rise and scare everyone in the world to death.
Fandango shared four new posters in late February, some of which show different groupings of the cast and some of which focus on the monsters that the heroes will be fighting.
TV spots also began running at this time, presumably also being used on other platforms. Most don’t show much that’s new, just recutting some of the bigger fan service moments from the trailer.
Another group of new posters came from Collider, including solo one-sheets for one of the mini Marshmallow guys and Slimer.
An exclusive featurette came from Fandango that focused on the connections between the old and the new generations as well as what’s brand new here.
At the beginning of March the final trailer (446k YouTube plays) was released. This one is slightly less interested in nostalgia and is more focused on the threat the heroes have to assemble to fight back against.
Wolfhard had already appeared on “First We Feast” at this point, as more publicity efforts began emerging. That included some collaborations with Adam Savage as he examined, built and tested various props and effects from the movie on his Tested YouTube channel. Later on Rudd appeared on both “Late Night” and “The Late Show” while Murray and Hudson showed up together on “The Tonight Show”. Coon also appeared on “Tonight” while nearly the whole cast came together on “CBS Mornings”.
The first clip came out in early March showing the new Ghostbusters chasing a specter down the streets of New York.
A TV spot with Peyton and Eli Manning donning quarter-zip outfits to fight ghosts was meant to appeal to…I’m honestly not even sure.
Everyone involved hit the red carpet for the New York City premiere a little over a week before release, talking about why they returned, what a good time audiences could expect and how much fun it was to play Ghostbuster again. Some of them also traveled to London for the premiere event there.
Coon was interviewed about the role her character plays in the story while an interview with Kenan had him talking about the pressure of stepping into the shoes of the late Ivan Reitman.
overall
Reviews have been fairly good so far, which is a positive sign given the main criticism of Afterlife is that it was a comedy sequel that showed little to no interest in being funny. And interest seems relatively high, with an opening weekend box-office take of about $45mm projected.
It does feel a bit refreshing that this time around everyone has dropped the pretense of the original cast not being part of the movie. Not only does that allow them to be more actively involved in promoting this one but it also creates a major selling point to communicate to the audience, one that is hammered home repeatedly.
While there is a lot more fun on display here than was seen in the marketing of Afterlife, it also still feels oddly serious. At least it feels like the movie is taking itself very seriously. But I guess that what the groups who were the most vocal about girls being let into the clubhouse wanted and continue to look for, so it’s what is being sold here.
Personally I want more of William Atherton scolding everyone for acting childish. More to the point, I want everyone acting kind of childish, thumbing their nose at the authorities and going out on limbs just because it seems like a cool thing to do.
Millie Bobby Brown stars as Elodie, the title character of Netflix’s new fantasy adventure movie Damsel, hitting the streaming service this week. Elodie is a princess who has agreed to marry Harry (Nick Robinson), a prince from another kingdom. But the marriage is a fraud, with Elodie being offered as a sacrifice to repay a debt that involves her being thrown into a cave and forced to survive all manner of threats – including a fire-breathing dragon – all on her own.
The movie was written by Dan Mazeau and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Ray Winston costars as Elodie’s father the king while Angela Bassett plays her stepmother Lady Bayford. Robin Wright is also along for the ride as Queen Isabelle, Harry’s mother and the one who masterminds the intended sacrifice.
With all that in mind, let’s look at how Netflix has sold it to the streaming public.
announcements and casting
Netflix announced the film with Brown in the leading role in October, 2020. Other members of the cast, including Bassett and Wright, joined in the first half of 2022 as production was getting underway.
A release date along with more details of the story came in January 2023 and was among those included in the sizzle reel promoting the original movies scheduled for that year. But in August, just a couple months before the original October release date, Netflix took the movie off the calendar, one of several release date changes made because of the dual writers/actors strikes impacting Hollywood and its promotional machinery.
the marketing campaign
The teaser trailer (7.3m YouTube plays) was released in November of last year and opens with an extended look at Elodie having to survive the cave she finds herself in. It then flashes back to Queen Isabelle welcoming Elodie to the important role she’s about to play in the history of the kingdom. While that sounds all nice and noble, the footage shown underneath the voiceover makes it clear that role is supposed to involve Elodie dying, which she’s apparently not willing to do.
At the end of that teaser there’s only a vague “Coming in 2024” offered and it wasn’t until a month later that Netflix announced the new March release date. That announcement came with a new poster offering an extreme closeup of a corner of Elodie’s face, the image of a dragon reflected in her eyeball.
Another poster showing a better shot of Elodie with sword in hand as she seemingly fights her way through some kind of inferno was released in early February.
In the final trailer (7.4m YouTube plays), released toward the end of February, the king is explaining to Elodie that he’s arranged a marriage for her. She seems fine with that, despite the warnings of her stepmother, right up to the point her new husband throws her down a pit. As she fights to stay alive we hear more about how the kingdom she married into is based on such sacrifices and has been for generations. Despite that, Elodie is determined to live not just for herself but also for those who have come before.
The first clip offers an extended look at the scene of Elodie meeting her betrothed along with her future in-laws for the first time, including hearing about the vague important role she’s destined to play.
You could cut the tension with a sword.
Damsel premieres March 8. Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Angela Bassett, Robin Wright, Nick Robinson, and Ray Winstone. pic.twitter.com/HpCTTN0elV
That was followed by another showing Elodie’s stepmother warning her against agreeing to the marriage. A third features the wedding itself, including the twist it eventually takes.
Late night and other talk show appearances included Brown on “The Tonight Show” and “GMA” while Wright also stopped by “The Tonight Show”. Those coincided with the movie’s premiere in New York City at the beginning of March.
overall
Netflix has clearly put all its eggs in Brown’s basket for this one, even more than it’s done for movies like Enola Holmes. With a few exceptions she’s the one and only face of the movie for the public, making media appearances, doing all those themed videos and everything else. That makes sense given her general stardom as well as her association with the company and her role here as producer, but it also means the success or failure of the film is almost entirely on her shoulders.
The movie itself looks like it could be more than a little fun, the latest where the traditional role of women in fairy tales has been turned on its head a bit. But the audience’s taste for it will depend largely on their overall inclination toward fantasy stories, as well as whether or not they are fans of Brown.
Dune: Part Two movie poster from Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s been about two and a half years since Dune brought the on-screen drama of House Atreides’ struggle against its rivals over the control of Arrakis and the off-screen drama of Warner Bros. upending the pre-pandemic movie industry paradigm of theatrical releases by sending the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel directly to HBO Max.
Since then, Hollywood has reverted back to bringing most all of its movies to theaters and HBO Max has morphed into Max as Warner Bros. Discovery drastically changed strategies. Some movies have been spiked completely while others have underperformed against expectations. Dune: Part Two hopes to be in the group that has gone on to become box-office successes for the studio.
The movie picks up where the first left off, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) still in hiding with a tribe of Fremen on Arrakis following their betrayal by the rival Harkonnens. Paul and Jessica are caught up in a Fremen prophecy involving water and prosperity returning to the sand planet, with Paul also developing a romantic relationship with Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen warrior. Rumors that they survived the assault on House Atreides persist in the rest of the galaxy as well as various parties continue scheming for more power, seeing control of Arrakis as the key to that power.
Like the original, the sequel is written and directed by Denis Villeneuve. Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista and more return from the first film and are joined by newcomers Christopher Walken, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and others, some of whom had their roles kept secret until very recently.
So with all that established let’s huff a handful of spice and dive into the sandbox that is the studio’s marketing of the sequel.
announcement and casting
Much had been made in the last part of the campaign for the first movie about how Warner Bros. wasn’t going to greenlight the second part unless the first one did well enough at the box office. That always seemed like an odd and maybe slightly disingenuous threat to make given the alternative is to *not* keep a franchise going, which goes against current Hollywood conventional wisdom.
So it wasn’t surprising when, just five days after the first movie came out with a box-office take of around $40 million domestically when Legendary announced Part 2 was officially moving forward. It was made clear at that time that the movie would get a theatrical release.
Villeneuve was interviewed shortly after that news broke about the pressure he felt to hit the 2023 release date, what he had in mind and how an exclusive theatrical release was an essential element in his agreement.
In early 2022 the director teased a much bigger role for Zendaya in this second installment, which makes sense given the progression of the story.
While on a panel at Cannes in May 2022, Bardem teased how he’d read the script for the film and that fans would be surprised by the skillful way the story had been put together.
Walken was cast in May and Florence Pugh was reported to be considered for the sequel as well, with Seydoux also said to be circling a role in June 2022. Nelson joined in January.
The first day of filming was marked in mid-July of that year.
Chalamet praised his costars in an interview from late 2022 and shared a teaser photo a bit after that.
the marketing campaign: phase one
The first trailer debuted exclusively for those in attendance at CinemaCon in April 2023. Chalamet, Zendaya and Villeneuve were in attendance as well to talk about where the characters are as the story picks up and how things are changing in the sequel, all with the goal of getting exhibitors excited about the film.
A Vanity Fair feature story from that period had Villeneuve talking about what was coming up in the sequel along with a handful of first-look stills.
In early May the first one-sheet was released, showing Paul and Chani standing defiantly at the top of a sand dune, the planet’s massive sun dominating the background. Even more impressive than the visuals is how the designers managed to fit so many names from the cast at the top of the poster.
A few weeks after CinemaCon the first trailer (26.3m YouTube plays) was released for public consumption. There’s plenty of action as well as glimpses at characters both returning and new as it offers glimpses into where Paul and the others are in their journeys. But the centerpiece of the footage is Paul’s first attempt at riding one of the giant sandworms of the planet, a rite of passage for the tribe he’s become part of and one that shows to everyone what his destiny among them truly is.
The second trailer (24m YouTube plays) came out at the end of June. This one focuses on how Paul and the Fremen tribe he’s joined have a mutual enemy, even if they remain wary of one another. There are political machinations unfolding across the galaxy and all while Paul continues to have dark visions of his future and what will come to pass for everyone, all leading to a confrontation with those who are conspiring for control of the planet.
Villeneuve was interviewed about not only this movie but his hopes he’ll be allowed to make a third installment and finish the story arc he’s begun.
the marketing campaign: phase two
About the same time in August 2023 Warner Bros. delayed the movie to April 2024, in part because of the actors’ strike that was pushing everything back and keeping talent off the publicity trail.
Chalamet was profiled by GQ in October as part of the buildup to this movie as well as his starring role in Wonka.
In November the studio changed the release date yet again, this time moving it up to the beginning of March.
The director and much of the main cast attended Brazil’s CCXP in December to get fans there excited and talk about the movie’s story. In a Total Film interview from the same time Villeneuve promised audiences there’d be even more action in this installment than the first movie.
As the third trailer (15m YouTube plays) from mid-December opens, Paul has had another of his prophetic, vision-like dreams before explaining how far back his family’s feud with the Harkonnens truly goes, a feud that has now come to Arrakis. There are many changes afoot as Paul becomes more deeply entrenched in the Fremen tribe while the Emperor and others vie for power, which can only be seized once all of House Atreides has been eliminated. All of that involves giant sandworms, massive landscape explosions and more as alliances are formed and broken, prophecies questions and fulfilled and so much more.
Paul along with Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (played by Austin Butler) were added as playable characters to Call of Duty III to try and attract the portion of the audience that has stopped going to movies because they spend all their time and money playing video games.
The first movie returned to IMAX theaters for one night only in January to give fans the chance to see it on the big screen again before the sequel came out.
A couple very short featurettes in mid-January were followed by the first actual TV spots, which came out as tickets were going on sale.
Chani and Paul are still defiant but closer to the camera on the next poster, released at the end of January. Another is a more traditional theatrical one-sheet, with the major characters arranged at the top of the poster while a sandworm erupts from the ground on the bottom half.
IMAX then got fans ready for the action by releasing a poster showing more of the sandworm that touted the expanded aspect ratio it would be presented in as well as announcing early fan screenings of the movie.
One other aspect of the campaign IMAX was integral in was the announcement at the end of January that Christopher Nolan’s TENET was coming back for one week with promotions for Dune: Part Two included in the presentation.
The move was reportedly because Nolan is a fan of Villeneuve and wanted to support him but is also amusing for a couple reasons:
First, both Dune and TENET are Warner Bros. releases, but the studio’s handing of TENET during 2020 caused such a rift between it and Nolan that he took his next film to Universal Pictures.
Second, that next film wound up being Oppenheimer, which has been nominated for a number of Academy Awards.
Third, there may be some altruism in play but it’s hard to believe Warner Bros. isn’t also eager to ride the coattails of Oppenheimer’s buzz to try and recoup a few more dollars on TENET.
Anyway…
The studio released an extended sneak preview that includes new footage, scenes we’ve already become familiar with from earlier trailers and comments from the cast and director about the story and where the characters are in this installment.
A couple more short featurettes came out in mid-February introducing the characters played by Pugh and Butler.
By this time the cast was engaged in the very publicity tour that the earlier SAG-AFTRA strike made impossible, stopping in Mexico City, Paris and London, the last one generating not only overwhelmingly positive reactions from attendees but also serving as the venue for confirmation of rumors Anna-Taylor Joy had filmed a super-secret role. That tour culminated in the U.S. premiere in New York City, where the cast talked about filming the sequel, how great their costars were and similar topics.
While they were in New York many of those cast members made the local talk show rounds as well.
overall
Warner Bros.’ decision to delay release until the actors were available for publicity duties seems to have paid off, at least if the tracking estimates of an opening weekend box-office take of $65-8mm turn out to be accurate.
Their inclusion has also made the campaign as a whole that much better. Chalamet and Zendaya being charming, the reveal of Joy’s participation, the old-man energy of Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin…it all adds up to the campaign having a lot more personality than if they hadn’t been able to participate. While Villeneuve has been selling the story and the spectacle, they’ve been selling themselves, and that’s no small thing.
Aside from that, the marketing of the film has sold exactly what those who enjoyed the first one would expect: Lots more discussion of prophecies, alliances being made and broken and a general emphasis on the *drama* of the story in addition to whatever action has been added this time around. It all comes together in a very nice effort that sells the film well, though it likely won’t do much to bring in any new converts to the cause.
How Sony is selling the latest kinda sorta Spider-Man spinoff
Madame Web movie poster from Sony Pictures
Madame Web, out this week from Sony Pictures, stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Cain, a Manhattan paramedic partnered with Ben Parker (Adam Scott). Cassandra develops psychic abilities allowing her to glimpse the future after being involved in an accident. One day she encounters three young women – Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anna Corazon (Isabela Merced) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor) – all of whom have been targeted by Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), an explorer who gained powers of his own from a spider in the Amazon. Sims believes all three of those women present a future threat to him when they become different incarnations of Spider-Woman. So Cassandra uses her abilities to keep them safe while also dealing with the fact that Sims was one of the last people to see Cain’s mother alive years earlier.
The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character Madame Webb, though this incarnation jettisons some of that character’s mythology while adding some new elements and pulling bits from the various comics’ versions over the years. Along with that it establishes a loose connection to the most recent cinematic Spider-Man played by Tom Holland, setting the story in the early 2000s.
Directed by S. J. Clarkson from a screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (who earlier wrote Morbius), the film also stars Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Kerry Bishé, Zosia Mamet and others. So with all that in mind, let’s look at how Sony Pictures has sold it to the public.
announcement and casting
Sony hired Clarkson to develop an as-yet-unnamed Spider-Man spinoff in mid-2020, with the project confirmed as a Madame Web film in late 2021.
After completing the search for a lead actor, Sony made the movie official in February 2022 with Johnson in the title role. Sweeney joined the cast a month or so later with others, including Rahim and Roberts, coming aboard just before filming began in June of that year.
Sony originally planned for the movie to come out in July 2023 but then pushed that to October before eventually setting the current release date in
the marketing campaign
A featurette was the first shot in the marketing campaign back in November of 2023. In it Johnson talks about how much she loves the character while Clarkson explains more of who Cassie Cain is and what motivates her, along with how she’s connected to some of the others in the story.
A month later the first trailer (3.5mm YouTube plays) came out. It opens by showing Cassie confronting Sims – himself docked out in a very spider-centric costume – in order to protect his three targets. Then it jumps back to show her working as a paramedic, which leads to the accident where she gains her psychic powers, before jumping forward again as we see Cassie explaining what’s going on to her three charges, including her connection to Sims. There’s a bit more action and some slowed down pop music to set the tone, but no real clarity on what Sims’ motivations might be.
“Her web connects them all” the poster released at the same time declares as it shows Cain at the center of a web with Cornwall, Franklin and Corazon along the sides along with Sims. Because they’re all connected, you see. Yeah, you see. Each character’s costumed persona is seen in a small slice of the web alongside them.
A series of mostly black-and-white character posters came out after that. Interestingly, the four women have their faces uncovered, with just the very top of their eventual super hero costumes seen. But Sims has his entire face hidden behind the mask he wears. Must be tough to be Tahar Rahim.
Those posters were accompanied by another featurette that has most of the main cast offering insights into how their characters are connected through Cassie and what that means for the story. Additional featurettes focused on how the story – which is about psychic spider-people – is so grounded in reality, who Ezekiel Sims is and what he’s after in the movie and what each character’s powers are.
Sony sponsored a Spotify feature where Madam Web “unwraps your future playlist”, meaning it shows a handful of songs you’re likely to listen to in the near future.
Exhibitor/format-exclusive one-sheets were created for IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX.
The cast and crew were in attendance at the film’s premiere last weekend, talking about why they got involved in the movie, how the script changed dramatically before filming and more. Clarkson also confirmed there was no post-credits sequence.
overall
It’s hard to get an accurate read on this campaign. Sony needs to keep their extensions of the Spider-Man universe going, all while not directly connecting to Spider-Man himself because of how it currently shares the character with Disney, so it keeps highlighting all sorts of spider-like characters and asking the audience to do the heavy lifting.
The brief glimpses of the various Spider-Woman characters in costume is likely a bit of misdirection, probably pulled from one or two sequences of Sims or Cain glimpsing the future, but here those looks are used by the studio to make sure a good portion of the audience thinks this is a full-fledged super hero movie, not an action drama about a psychic trying to protect three young women with no powers.
Johnson gives her best effort to make it seem she’s really excited about the project but it’s hard to believe most of that, the exception being when she was asked about clunky line of exposition in the trailer going viral and admitted she didn’t know it had happened while also being indignant that one line of dialogue was pulled out for scrutiny free of context. And it turns out that line isn’t even in the finished film.
All of which helps to explain the anemic $20-25mm opening weekend the movie is projected to have.
How Paramount has sold a musical remake of a non-musical comedy
Mean Girls (2024) movie poster from Paramount Pictures
The legacy of 2004’s Mean Girls is not to be underestimated, whether considering the subsequent successful careers of many of its stars or the endless array of dialogue that has lived on as go-to lines/GIFs.
There’s also the fact that, from 2018 to 2020, a successful stage musical ran on Broadway and continues on as a touring production. Now that version of the story, which traces its roots to Rosalind Wiseman’s non-fiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabes”, is coming to theaters in the appropriately if somewhat confusingly titled Mean Girls.
This time around Angourie Rice stars as Cady Heron, who is new to the high school dominated by “Queen Bee” Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and her clique of Plastics, the popular girls who can make or break anyone’s reputation. Cady sets out to infiltrate the Plastics to take them down but winds up becoming one of them. That leads to conflict with her other friends, those at the fringes of the school’s ruling society. And so we get an exaggerated (though not wholly inaccurate) picture of how ruthless the social dynamics of high school can be.
Like the 2004 original, this version is written by Tina Fey, who also returns to star as the school’s math teacher. Also coming back is Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall. They’re joined by newcomers Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillips, Auliʻi Cravalho, Jon Hamm and others. With Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directing, let’s look at how Paramount Pictures has pitched it to audiences.
announcement and casting
Fey teased the development of a film version of the musical in early 2020, just a short while before the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything, including that stage production, down. But she also said that the Broadway cast was not likely to carry over to the movie.
One exception to that was Rapp, who played Regina George on stage and whose return was announced in late 2022 alongside the casting of Jaquel Spivey and others. Others were added in early 2023, including the return of Meadows and the addition of Fischer, Hamm and more.
Originally the movie was planned as a streaming-exclusive release on Paramount+. But in September of last year Paramount shifted it to theaters, just one example of how a number of studios have been reconsidering their streaming strategy after the pandemic-influenced sea change in both corporate and user behavior began wearing off.
the marketing campaign
In an unusual turn, the first real move out of the gate for the marketing campaign came in October of last year when CoffeeMate announced a new movie-inspired flavor. Technically that was for the original film’s 20th anniversary, but since that also was set to take place in January 2024 it was a nice two-for-one.
The *actual* first marketing effort from Paramount was a poster showing Regina George looking straight at the camera as it declares “Plastic is forever.”
The first trailer (9m YouTube plays) came out in November as well. It doesn’t offer a lot of story details but does offer looks at some of the new takes on the original film’s iconic scenes and characters. You get the overall idea, though.
Interestingly, the poster doesn’t make it clear that this is a musical version of the story. And even the trailer doesn’t overtly identify it as such, though the scenes of obviously-choreographed dance sequences do communicate that point even if they’re covered over with pop music.
Many of the original movie’s cast members returned for a Walmart Black Friday commercial – actually a series of spots that featured each character in addition to the main long-form commercial – later in November that once again had the dual purpose of celebrating that film’s 20th anniversary and building up anticipation for this new one. Rachel McAdams, who doesn’t appear in the campaign, later said she wasn’t excited by the offer to do the commercial but also didn’t know at the time everyone else had opted in.
Anyway…
Next up was a short “Regina’s Version” promo video that kind of plays like a TV spot for the movie but it’s too early in the campaign (still November) for that to be a thing so it’s just kind of…there.
At the end of November a batch of character posters, the whole series pink-shaded of course, came out to show the audience that all their favorites were coming back even if most of them were being played by new actors.
Closing out the month was the news a Mean Girls-themed pop up “Experience” featuring high-end cafeteria food along with sets and costumes and lots of merch to buy would hit New York City and Los Angeles in January as the movie was coming out.
The theatrical poster came out at the beginning of December showing many of the main characters arranged like a photo collage against a bright pink background.
In mid-December there was an exclusive one-sheet from Dolby released featuring a photo of the main characters doing their Christmas-themed performance. Another collection of character posters, this one featuring some comment about the character written on the wall behind them, also came out at the time.
Rapp collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion for “Not My Fault” on the movie’s soundtrack and that song was released as well, coinciding with tickets going on sale.
An EW cover story had the cast and crew sharing their love of the first movie and its characters while talking about what fans can expect in this adaptation.
Following that was the first in a series of featurettes beginning with “Plastic is Forever”, which has Fey and others talking about the enduring popularity of the original film and what they tried to update in this new movie. Later on there were behind-the-scenes looks at the choreography for the movie, an introduction to the new cast and then one with that cast praising the work of the directors.
While many of the changes from the stage production had been revealed already the movie’s official lineup of songs was made public in early January, locking in what was coming over from Broadway and what tunes had been cut.
We finally get a look/listen at/of some of the film’s music in the final trailer, released just last week and titled “Revenge Party”. It also features a slightly more detailed overview of the characters and story.
As the campaign wound down the cast appeared either on their own or in groups on “Today”, “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show” and elsewhere.
Many of those media appearances were timed to coordinate with the pink carpet premiere in New York City, with Lindsay Lohan showing up as well to participate in the praising of Fey and everyone else involved in the movie. Oh, and the Empire State Building was lit up in bright pink lights on, of course, Wednesday.
The movie is expected to gross $30 million this weekend, which would be a massive success, falling somewhere between the disappointing $47m for The Marvels and the even more disappointing $28m opening weekend of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
On the plus side for the campaign, it knows exactly who it’s selling the movie to – those who have been raised on the original film but may be interested in an updated story set closer to present day – and so hammers home the connective material from when it launched in October right up to the last trailer and premiere.
But it also, as has been the case with a handful of other recent movies, works hard to not overtly show that it is in fact a musical. Until that last trailer much of the music is hidden from the general public, an indication there might be concern selling it as such would work against audience interest. So it remains to be seen if the reality of the singing and dancing becomes a word of mouth factor after it hits theaters.
How Warner Bros. has sold an aquatic – and chapter closing – sequel
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom movie poster from Warner Bros.
This week’s release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in theaters serves not only as a sequel to 2018’s Aquaman but also as, by many accounts, the final bow of the DC Cinematic Universe that began a decade ago with Man of Steel.
Written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and directed by James Wan, the movie is set several years after the events of the first film and finds Aquaman (Jason Momoa) needing to defend Atlantis – and the rest of the world – from an ancient evil set loose by Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who still bears a personal grudge against Aquaman. With the odds stacked against him, Aquaman has to find help but instead of turning to his pals in the Justice League he seeks out his exiled half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson).
Also returning from the first movie are Amber Heard as Mera, Aquaman’s wife and the new queen of Atlantis, Temura Morrison as Aquaman’s father and Nicole Kidman as his mother and others.
The marketing campaign from Warner Bros. has focused on Momoa’s return to the super hero role but the subtext of a universe being snuffed out of existence has loomed in the background. Let’s take a look.
announcement and casting
Warner Bros. didn’t rush to greenlight a sequel to the first film despite its box-office success. In fact the studio initially announced plans for The Trench, a spinoff movie featuring the underwater hordes seen in the first movie but with none of the main characters or cast. It wasn’t until February 2019 that WB finally put an actual sequel on the calendar for December, 2022.
A couple months after that Peter Safran, who produced the first movie, and others made a few comments about what they tentatively envisioned for the sequel.
During DC Fandome in August 2020, Wan and some of the cast appeared and discussed the more serious and timely story they had in mind for the second installment. In addition to Momoa, Heard, Wilson andAbdul-Mateen II were all confirmed to return by this time.
In a completely ridiculous and absolutely sexist development, a petition was started to have Heard replaced on the film, largely in retaliation for her claims of abuse against former spouse Johnny Depp. Those charges led Warner Bros. to replace him on the next Fantastic Beasts movie, and people weren’t happy, so they decided to attempt to punish – or at least besmirch – the nearest available woman. Safran refuted any reports that they were considering dropping Heard and recasting the role of Mera but Heard herself later stated she’d had to fight to remain part of the project.
Wan announced the movie’s official subtitle on Instagram in June, 2021. Around that time it was confirmed both Morrison and Dolph Lundgren, who plays Mera’s father King Nereus, were returning. The Trench spinoff film was also confirmed to be no longer in development in early 2021.
the marketing dives in
Instagram once again served as the platform of choice for a major reveal, this time with Momoa showing off Aquaman’s new costume in early September 2021.
Abdul-Mateen II talked about returning to the role of Black Manta in an interview that covered a number of projects the actor is in the middle of. Another interview with Momoa during his publicity for season two of “See” had him sharing that this movie had quite a bit of humor he was looking forward to.
Fans were promised their first look at the movie during 2021’s edition of DC Fandome in October. During that event Momoa shared a behind-the-scenes clip accompanied by a bit of concept art to further show off the updated look of the character in the new movie.
Momoa also talked about this film while promoting Dune in late 2021, including how many times he was injured during production. A little bit later Lundgren commented on how he feels the sequel will improve on the original in a number of ways.
A bit more of the movie was included in a DC sizzle reel at the beginning of 2022, when the movie was still scheduled to come out later that year. But just two months later the release date was changed from December, 2022 to March, 2023.
In April 2022 exhibitors and others got a look at the movie when it was part of the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon.
rough waters
There were lots of movie-related revelations that came out of the defamation trial that pitted Heard against ex-husband, most of them seemingly designed to discredit and disgrace Heard. Those revelations included someone claiming the actress had been told she was not to attend DC Fandome and that she was not going to be on the movie’s poster. Also, she claimed DC Films had intentionally diminished her role, seemingly at Depp’s demand, though executive Walter Hamada denied those claims even as he confirmed the role of Mera was nearly recast because of what was felt to be a palpable lack of chemistry between Heard and Momoa.
With all that still circulating there were reports – some coming from Momoa, some from others – that any number of actors would appear in the film as Batman. At one point Michael Keaton was set to reprise his role as the hero while at another point Ben Affleck was said to be continuing as the Caped Crusader, the latter after test audiences were reported to be confused by Keaton’s presence.
WB pushed the movie’s release date from March to December back in August of last year.
A few months later reports emerged Momoa would appear as Aquaman in The Flash, scheduled for release in mid-2023.
Everything went up for grabs in late 2022, though, when James Gunn and Peter Safran were installed as the new heads of DC Studios, the two of them working urgently to try and salvage this movie along with The Flash before they reset the cinematic continuity to cut ties with the past and move forward with something new.
In April of this year WB once again brought this movie along with The Flash and Blue Beetle to CinemaCon, showing off a bit of footage to try and convince exhibitors and others that big things were coming despite lots of chaos, including the Gunn/Safran era beginning at DC Studios, WB’s shelving of the nearly-complete Batgirl as a tax strategy and more.
Wan talked about how he was still finishing the film and more when he was promoting M3GAN in June.
A month later the first in a series of extended reports about the making of the film, which had been underway for years and been overseen by several Warner Bros. management teams, emerged. This one focused on the three rounds of reshoots that had been conducted, each one meant to fix some problem that had surfaced in recent test screenings or meet the expectations of the new studio leadership.
On a more positive note, the new WB/Discovery merger resulted in Momoa being tapped to host installments of Discovery’s popular “Shark Week” programming.
Wan was interviewed in a few outlets about this movie, commenting on how Mera was always going to have a smaller role in this story than she did in the first, how he had to work around the unknowns like whether this movie is or isn’t connected to other DC movies, the reports of extensive reshoots and more.
the marketing wave begins
All of that happened *before* the marketing campaign actually kicked off with the release of the first trailer in early September. That trailer (16m YouTube plays) opens with Arthur explaining how much his life has changed in the last few years. Not only is he king of Atlantis but is also married and a new father. Black Manta is back, though, and seeking revenge for the death of his father. So Aquaman goes to find Orm and we get a lot of history and mythology for Atlantis along with a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance by Mera and a fair amount of the same kind of humor seen in the first movie.
“The tide is turning” we’re told on the poster that came out at the same time, which shows Aquaman looking a bit haggard as he emerges from the ocean onto a beach.
But then another stumbling block emerged with reports around the release of notes from Amber Heard’s therapist that detail trouble on the set, including the actress feeling unsupported by the director and bullied by her costar. Those notes had been part of the earlier defamation trial and had been acquired by Depp supporters looking for dirt on Heard.
At the end of October DC released a tie-in comic special with three stories that fill in some of the gap between films and lead directly into this installment.
Just as the actor’s strike was ending Momoa appeared on “The Tonight Show” to promote the movie.
An extended TV spot was released in mid-November when tickets went on sale that positions this story as “Aquaman’s last stand” while showing more of the fight against Manta and explaining some of how he escaped prison and what he wants.
A new poster also came out that shows Aquaman and Orm standing alongside each other, signaling more of a cooperative relationship, however awkward, this time around.
Rotten Tomatoes got an exclusive featurette that had Wan and the cast talking about the scale of the story, the action and adventure audiences can expect and more.
Momoa, Abdul-Mateen II and Wilson all appeared at CCXP in early December to show off footage and try to get fans excited. That was followed by a publicity stop in London to meet fans.
Movie-themed items, locations and characters were added to Roblox to help attract the game-playing crowd.
Once back in the U.S. Momoa appeared on “The Late Show” before hosting “Saturday Night Live.” He, along with others in the cast, also promoted the film on “GMA” and elsewhere. In an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” Momoa admitted that while he’d love to keep playing the character, changes behind the scenes mean that may not wind up happening.
Things came to an end with a video shot at a special fan event and screening with Momoa being his big, charming self.
overall
This is a campaign that I want to like for various reasons. While I usually try to put all the behind-the-scenes drama to the side and look objectively at the marketing itself, here it’s hard to ignore. Not only because of the long delays in getting the movie made and released but how cynical it all seems to be.
It’s very possible this will be the latest film to fall victim to “super hero fatigue”, with audiences feeling burnt out with big CGI slugfests and virtual reality action. Indeed the fact that initial tracking estimates of a $40-50m opening weekend fell over the last month to a predicted $35-40m indicates there’s little appetite for another Aquaman movie.
But there everyone is, making sure to emphasize how much bigger and more complex this movie is compared to both the first movie and anything else the audience might choose to see, despite that being just the kind of message that no longer appears to resonate with that audience.
Add to that the fact that while no one involved in the movie actively contributed to the disparagement campaign against Amber Heard, the silence on the issue except to say “This was always the plan” is notable and, quite frankly, disappointing.
Finally, we have the general vibe of this not mattering in the slightest, like a TV show airing a series finale two years after the last episode. We’ve moved on, we realize there’s no future for these characters at this time and have just kind of moved on. The Flash tanking badly just a few months ago showed how the audience can safely tune out and it seems the audience that made the first Aquaman a massive hit have chosen to do just that.
How Warner Bros. has sold a chocolatey origin story
Wonka movie poster from Warner Bros.
After being completely ignored in the Gene Wilder-starring classic film and receiving an odd flashback in the Johnny Depp-starring remake, the origins of literature’s most famous chocolatier are more fully explored in this week’s new release Wonka.
In this version Timothée Chalamet stars as a just-starting-out Willy Wonka, who is starting out in the chocolate business and hoping his inventions will bring him acclaim. The town he moves to already has a powerful group of chocolate makers who have the local police and government officials in their pocket, control they exercise to keep Wonka down. But with the help of his new friend Noodle (Calah Lane) and the Oompa-Loompa Lofty (Hugh Grant) he sets out to not only break through and deliver his chocolate to the world but keep others from having the same problems.
Paul King directed the movie and cowrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby. Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and others play supporting characters, some of whom are familiar from previous film incarnations. So with Warner Bros. counting on this to provide a solid year-end box office boost, let’s look at how the movie’s been sold to a public that likely knows the main character but might have to be convinced to see a Year One-type story.
Oh and one more thing: It’s a musical. Let’s dive in.
announcement and casting
Warner Bros. announced the project was moving forward in January, 2021, much to the dismay of many in the audience. A few months later in May, Chalamet was announced as the lead in the film, with Key, Atkinson, Hawkins and Colman added to the cast a few months later in September.
Chalamet shared a first look at himself in costume in October of that year, followed by lots of people dunking on it in various ways.
In April 2022 exhibitors and others got a look at the movie when it was part of the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon. That event also included Chalamet handing out chocolates and other goodies
Over the rest of 2022 the stars would comment on the film from time to time, usually while promoting other projects. So Chalamet talked about how joyous the film and its musical numbers were while doing press for Bones & All, Key praised Chalamet’s presence and performance while promoting “Reboot” and Colman did likewise during the Empire of Light publicity cycle.
Another stop at CinemaCon happened in April of this year, with footage shown to exhibitors that included Wonka singing and dancing and meeting Lofty for the first time. Another profile of Chalamet was published about a month later, just as a new campaign for Chanel featuring the actor was set to launch.
the marketing campaign
Things finally kicked off in June with the release of the first trailer (34m YouTube plays.) It opens with Wonka arriving in a new city with dreams of being a famous chocolatier but quickly finding the Chocolate Cartel that controls the market will work to keep him down. But he has a lot of enthusiasm, a quick imagination and a drive to succeed so keeps on trying. Wonka also has Noodle at his side and eventually his unique confections help to win the day.
The first teaser poster that came out at the same time shows Wonka from behind as he stares up at a wall of bright containers with various candies and sweets in them.
The trailer had a big premiere event in London where King commented on how Grant, who he’d worked with on Paddington 2, was his first choice for the role of Lofty because it required someone who could be sarcastic yet funny. There were also a couple interviews with King where he talked about casting Chalamet, the tons of chocolate that were consumed during production and lots more.
Grant’s role as an Oompa-Loompa brought some controversy, though, especially from actors with dwarfism who complained about casting a non-dwarf actor and then digitally altering their appearance instead of, as had been done for the earlier films, simply casting an actor with dwarfism.
More interviews with King came in September in a Total Film cover story that contained new photos of the film and some additional details about the story.
EXCLUSIVE: Here's a new look at Timothée Chalamet as the legendary chocolatier from the upcoming issue of Total Film 🍫 https://t.co/MaqWgeSwaT
In mid-October a batch of character posters was released that put each one against a colorful background. There’s no copy or further explanation about who they are as this is about selling the look of the movie, not the story.
The second trailer (11m YouTube plays) also came out then, this time beginning with Wonka’s conversation with Lofty. We get a bit more of the Chocolate Cartel’s plans to destroy Wonka but mostly it’s still scenes of him being whimsical and magical as he tries to make a name for himself and achieve his dreams.
Chalamet was profiled again later that month, this time with a look at his career to date and how this is one of several upcoming projects with the actor as he seeks to define a new phase in his career.
Another poster, released appropriately on Halloween, features a more clear look at Wonka as well as the supporting characters, all of whom are placed in a setting of colorful chocolate and other candies. Later on there was an exclusive poster from IMAX.
The end of the actors’ strike that had hampered publicity efforts to date was marked with Chalamet hosting “Saturday Night Live,” where he sang a version of “Pure Imagination” with lyrics talking about that strike and more.
With a month to go before release, TV spots like this one began running that offer a bit of new footage but otherwise continue to sell the movie based on its visual aesthetic.
We get a glimpse of behind-the-scenes production in a featurette along with comments from King and Chalamet about the character of Wonka and the film’s story. A handful of clips started coming out at that time as well, including an extended look at Wonka’s first meeting with Lofty, the introduction of Wonka’s unique chocolates, Noodle trying her first piece of chocolate and more.
Promotional partners for the movie included:
XBox, which ran a sweepstakes giving away a movie-themed console and more
Bloomingdale’s, which launched a collection of movie-inspired candy, apparel and homeware
Chalamet and Grant appeared at the movie’s Tokyo premiere in late November and talked about how much fun the movie is. They were joined by King for a similar event in London.
A movie-decorated float took part in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade® just got all the more magical. ✨ Wonka is joining in on the fun with a float sure to bring you in to a world of pure imagination. #MacysParadepic.twitter.com/ESKddZCINY
Another short featurette from early December has more comments from the cast and King about the story and what audiences can expect from Wonka’s early days.
King was interviewed again, this time about the nods he included to the 1971 version with Gene Wilder and why he chose this project over the third Paddington movie that’s in production.
Both Grant and Chalamet stopped by “The Tonight Show” to talk about the film. Chalamet and Lane also appeared on “GMA” together while Key promoted the movie on “Kimmel.”
overall
Is the movie a musical? King and others have been clear that it is, but the marketing campaign seems uninterested in showing that to the audience, instead including musical sequences but very little of Chalamet or anyone else actually singing and dancing.
While the campaign overall is very nice, showing off Chalamet’s range as an actor and making him appear charming in the title role, the fact that it’s uncomfortable with clearly showing it as a musical is somewhat concerning. Tracking projections estimate a $35-40m opening weekend for the film, with Warner Bros. hoping families in particular keep coming over the holiday period, but word of mouth that there’s a lot of musical numbers could tamp that down.
At the very least it looks better than that cursed version of the story with Johnny Depp. Not a high bar, sure, but it has been cleared.
How Netflix has sold a star-studded end of the world drama
Leave the World Behind movie poster from Netflix
Based on the novel by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind stars Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as Amanda and Clay Sandford, a couple who’s taken their family on vacation on Long Island with the expectation everything will be just fine. That expectation comes to an abrupt end when two strangers – Ruth and G.H. Scott, played by Myha’la and Mahershala Ali – unexpectedly arrive with warnings about an apocalyptic event that’s already underway, one that involves rogue technology.
The movie, directed by Sam Esmail, was released in a small amount of award-qualifying theaters at the end of November but is now available for streaming on Netflix, so let’s see how it’s been sold to the public.
announcements and casting
Roberts and Washington were announced as the stars of the film in July 2020, reteaming the pair that previously appeared opposite each other in The Pelican Brief decades ago. That reunion was cut short when Washington dropped out in late 2021, with Ali brought on to replace him.
Hawke and Myha’la joined the cast in January 2022, just a few months before production began.
In April of last year Higher Ground, the production company run by the Obamas, boarded the project. A short while later both Bacon and Mackenzie were cast in supporting roles.
Footage from the movie was included in Netflix’s 2023 sizzle reel of original movies coming out this year.
the marketing campaign
Netflix’s marketing efforts began in August of this year when news came the movie’s world premiere was scheduled as the opening feature of October’s AFI Fest.
It wasn’t until early October that the first teaser trailer (4.7m YouTube plays) was released. It opens with G.H. and his daughter Ruth arriving at the Sandford’s vacation home with ominous warnings about things going very, very wrong. There aren’t many hints shown as to what that might be aside from a few shots of strange red dust clouds, a tanker ship barreling toward a beach and other strange scenes. It ends with G.H. making it clear there is no going back to how things were.
The official trailer (8m YouTube plays) came out later that month and opens with the Sandfords getting ready to leave on their vacation, with only a few minor tech glitches marring what is otherwise a great getaway. After the Scotts arrive things seem to get worse, leading to national warnings about cyberattacks happening across the country. While the situation is deteriorating outside it’s not much better in the now-shared home, as the Sandfords remain suspicious of what G.H. Scott knows and what role he may be playing in society’s breakdown.
At that time the first teaser poster was also released. It combines a number of images seen in the trailers so far, showing a deer standing in the middle of a road with a fleet of electric cars in the distance as the road literally curves up toward the sky.
As AFI Fest was getting underway – an event that took place while the SAG-AFTRA strike was still going on – Alam was interviewed about what it was like to see his book adapted for film, including conversations with Esmail, visiting the set during production, what small changes were made and more. Esmail was also interviewed at AFI Fest about some of the same topics only from his perspective as well as what working with the Obamas through Higher Ground was like.
Things are starting to malfunction all over in the first clip, released in mid-November.
We get a very condensed look at the story in a final trailer that came out in early December, after the movie was in select theaters but before its release on Netflix.
With the actor’s strike over, both Roberts and Ali appeared on “The Tonight Show” to promote the movie in the last few days. Hawke did likewise on “The Today Show” and all the major stars along with Alam and Esmail were in attendance at the New York City premiere.
Mahershala Ali, Julia Roberts, and Ethan Hawke at the Leave the World Behind premiere. pic.twitter.com/4ZrVJ3AMa6
Four more posters were dropped just as the movie was hitting Netflix, each showing one of thefourmaincharacters in one of the story’s many settings.
overall
There’s not a whole lot in how Netflix has presented the movie to the public that’s particularly striking or original, but that’s not surprising. It’s a solid campaign for a movie that gives (rightly or wrongly) more than a few Shyamalan-esque vibes, only because that director has become so synonymous with stories of massive world-ending events.
A shot in the arm of the marketing was provided when the SAG-AFTRA strike ended and the cast was finally able to hit the publicity trail since these are all charming, well-liked actors and their presence is certainly going to help spread the word. But there’s a lot happening at the moment and whether or not they were actually able to make a difference remains to be seen.
How Netflix has sold the story of a key civil rights leader
Rustin movie poster from Netflix
Colman Domingo stars as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin, out this week on Netflix. Cowritten by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black and directed by George C. Wolfe, the movie follows Rustin as he faces the prejudice common in the 1960s toward both black and gay individuals as he, along with others including Martin Luther King Jr., organized and executed the 1963 March on Washington.
Costarring with Domingo are Chris Rock, CCH Pounder, Jeffrey Wright, Audra McDonald and a host of others who play other activists and individuals involved in the civil rights movement and more.
Netflix gave the movie a limited theatrical release earlier this month so before it comes to streaming subscribers let’s look at how it’s been presented to the general audience.
announcement and casting
The movie was announced in February 2021 as one of the first collaborations between Netflix and the Obamas’ production banner. Wolfe was named the director at that time.
Domingo, Rock, McDonald and others were cast later in the year.
Footage from the movie was included in Netflix’s January 2023 preview of original movies and shows coming out this year.
the marketing campaign
Netflix released the first teaser trailer (342,000 YouTube plays) at the end of August. It immediately establishes that Rustin and others are planning a massive demonstration in Washington, D.C. in just a few weeks’ time but, for various reasons, he’s not everyone’s favorite person in the movement. In fact, the fact he’s a gay man leads many to attempt to push him to the background or cut him out of the plans. But he’s resilient and keeps fighting for what he believes in.
Rustin movie teaser poster from Netflix
A poster showing Rustin out in front of a crowd of demonstrators came out at the same time, the design highlighting both his leadership role and how he is separated from the same movement.
Shortly after that the announcement came that the Telluride Film Festival would host the movie’s world premiere.
The official trailer (166,000 YouTube plays) was released in mid-October and once more focuses on Rustin’s plans for organizing the Washington, D.C. event. We see a bit more here of how the established leadership of the civil rights movement is fearful Rustin’s involvement will taint everyone else, largely because he’s gay.
Like the first poster, the theatrical one-sheet that also came out at this time uses the copy “Own Your Power” but this one features a close-up of Domingo as Rustin, the crowd of demonstrators now seen in the reflection of his glasses.
The New York premiere of the film happened at NewFest a bit later in October. In conjunction with that premiere the organization Native Son held a gathering to discuss Rustin’s legacy and how his role in the movement was important and should be more widely remembered.
A video for Nic Mensa’s original song “No More Tear Drops” mixed clips from the movie with footage of Mensa and his collaborators.
Wolfe was then interviewed about how he wanted to bring Rustin’s story to a wider audience and how he collaborated with the Obamas during production.
Netflix put out a few additional promotional videos ahead of release, including Domingo talking about the roles that have been most important to him, a video diary of Domingo preparing to attend a screening of the movie in Washington, D.C. and one with some of the actual organizers of the 1963 march discussing how they did that and what it meant and continues to mean to them.
Domingo then appeared on “The Tonight Show” to talk about the surreal experience of working with the Obamas and what it was like to tell Rustin’s story.
overall
The campaign itself is solid, the kind of effort we’ve come to expect from Netflix, especially with the releases it considers worthy of eventual awards consideration. Trailers and posters sell the story well and the additional videos provide good background on both Domingo and the events that inspired the movie.
Most importantly, the marketing serves as the jumping off point for more education on Rustin and the impact he had on some of the most important events of the last century. If, like me, you weren’t already familiar with Rustin and the role he played, this is an opportunity to learn some of that and hopefully explore more on your own.
Cinematic Slant 