You can read all about the marketing of Mission: Impossible – Fallout over at The Hollywood Reporter.
Media and Publicity
Until just a few days prior to the movie’s release there wasn’t a whole lot of earned media activity outside of what resulted from the distribution of official featurettes and other content.
That didn’t change until just recently as Tom Cruise stopped by “Kimmel” to engage in some pranks and talk some more about the injuries he sustained filming the stunts in the movie. Henry Cavill also showed up on “GMA” to talk about the movie in general.
It’s not terribly surprising there wouldn’t be a whole lot of these kinds of press appearances. Cavill has a history of putting his foot in his mouth during interviews and I don’t think anyone wants Cruise speaking in a non-monitored environment. Plus, owned channels were utilized sufficiently to get the word out, especially how widely and frequently that content was amplified by the press.
There have also been a few new IMAX-related promotions that continue to emphasize how big the movie is and how you need to see it on the biggest screen possible to fully enjoy it. Those include a look at how such a screen was constructed for the Paris premiere and members of the cast talking about what they would do with 26% more of various objects.
Overall
It’s almost as if it’s being sold as the anti-comic book movie. The characters may likewise regularly survive situations that the average person wouldn’t, but the studio and star are telling us the stakes are far higher because they’re very, very real.
PICKING UP THE SPARE
The popular Battlegrounds Mobile video game is getting a movie-themed level.
There’s some good points made in this story about how the M:I franchise is the rare movie sold on its star and not an IP brand. I don’t, though, think it goes far enough to look at how the marketing relied on the combination of Tom Cruise’s name recognition and the promise of mind-blowing stunt work *is* a brand. If Cruise was actually still a market-driver on his own, Edge of Oblivion 2 would already be in production.
A new TV spot has been released emphasizing the incredibly high marks the movie has received from critics.
Lots more official featurettes have been released, including an IMAX Q&A with director Christopher McQuarrie, and character-specific profiles of Simon Pegg, Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett.
Bassett also joined Tom Cruise on “The Late Late Show” while Cavill popped up on “Kimmel” to talk about stunts and other aspects of making the movie. Meanwhile costar Vanessa Kirby, who wasn’t a huge part of the main campaign, was interviewed about the stunts (of course) and her decision to join the franchise.
A location-based VR experience has been developed by VRWERX and Nomadic that allows participants to interact with objects and environments from the film.
Two new featurettes came in early December, one showing how members of the press were taken for a helicopter ride and one about how those same journalists and producers were taken for a spin on BMW’s stunt test track. Both of those still find time to mention how hard Cruise worked to master the needed skills.
Cinematic Slant 
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