Ava – Marketing Recap

How Vertical Entertainment is selling another hyper-efficient assassin drama.

There are a great many movies that should have gotten sequels but didn’t, for any of a variety of reasons. One of those is Salt, the Angelina Jolie spy action drama that was about as tight and well-constructed as they come.

This week’s Ava comes close to filling the gap left by the lack of a Salt sequel. Jessica Chastain stars as the title character, a highly-skilled assassin who has worked for years for a black-ops government agency. When an assignment goes wrong she finds herself on the run and struggling just to survive. That flight includes visits to the family she ran away from almost a decade earlier. At the same time she has to find out who it is that sold her out and now wants her dead.

The movie costars Geena Davis, Colin Farrell, John Malkovich, Common, Jess Wexler and others. Reception so far has not been great, with a paltry 25 percent “Rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. Vertical’s campaign has been heavy on action and light on story, as we’ll see below.

The Posters

In June the first and only domestic poster (by marketing agency Ignition) came out. It shows Ava looking glamorous but deadly, wearing a lovely evening dress and fully made up while also holding a gun and with a bloody gash on her cheek. The title treatment uses a bullseye to communicate the idea she’s an assassin, with the copy below it hinting at the danger by saying “Kill. Or be killed.

The Trailers

The first trailer (371,000 views on YouTube) came out in late June, quickly introducing us to Ava and her lethal skillset. Her abilities are being questioned by some, though, and she becomes a target herself. While her mentor wants to protect her, others want her dead and she has to call on all her abilities and training to get through each day. What we see here promises lots of close-up action and violence with a great cast, making it look more than a little attractive and interesting.

Online and Social

There doesn’t appear to have been a website created for the movie and it received limited support on Vertical’s social brand profiles.

Advertising and Promotions

Chastain posted a fun little video on social media showing her fight training with Farrell, joking about how they never seem to get along on film.

A clip came out recently showing just how deadly Ava is

Media and Press

There had been a bit of controversy around director Matthew Newton regarding past accusations of assault the ultimately led to him being removed from the project. It wasn’t until a while later that a first look photo was released.

Overall

Salt, of course, isn’t the only movie this one can be compared to. There’s more than a little John Wick in here as well, and there have been others that have tried to play in the same space.

This film’s biggest differentiator is Chastain in the lead role, but based on what is laid out above it looks like no one’s heart was really in it. The whole campaign is rather lackluster, not trying very hard to raise a standard action flick to any substantial level. It’s a shame since it’s not a bad premise, and the addition of a life Ava left behind is intriguing. As it is the marketing sells a slick but unexceptional movie.