Tag: jason statham

Wrath of Man – Marketing Recap

How MGM has sold the latest from director Guy Ritchie.

Jason Statham reteams with director Guy Ritchie for this week’s new release Wrath of Man. In the movie Statham plays the mysteriously-named H, who as the story begins gets a new job at an armored truck security firm. When his truck is targeted by would-be thieves H out of nowhere displays highly-specialized skills to neutralize the attackers, much to the surprise of his coworkers. It turns out H has an agenda all his own as he seeks revenge for a personal tragedy.

Like many of Ritchie’s movies (not counting his…umm…side quest directing Aladdin), this one comes preceded by a marketing push that’s been slick and violent, both hallmarks of his work for decades now. Mostly positive reviews have earned the movie a solid 75% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, so let’s take a look at how it’s been sold.

The Posters

On what seems to be the movie’s only poster (by marketing agency AV Print), released in late March, H is seen looking dapper but serious, his finely-tailored suit contrasting with the bloody, bruised knuckles of his hands and the wounds on his face. There’s no copy, but that visual does a decent job of communicating the basic ideas of the movie to the audience. Helping that is how Ritchie’s name is the same size as Statham’s, showing just how much of a brand the director is himself and how important a role that name recognition plays in capturing an audience.

The Trailers

The first trailer (18.5 million views on YouTube) came out in late March, opening with H being introduced as the newest member of the team and being instructed on how dangerous the job of guarding cash trucks is. A hold-up shows the rest of the team how precise and deadly H really is, and it turns out he has a personal grudge he brings to the job. But which side of the law he’s working on is up in the air, as he seems to be using everyone to exact his long-festering revenge.

Online and Social

It’s not a bad website MGM/United Artists Releasing put up for the movie. There you’ll find a pretty good synopsis as well as a photo gallery and some of the videos, including the trailer, along with information on where you can buy tickets for theatrical showings where they’re available.

There were also social profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that have helped promote the movie online. Short clips shared on social channels offered additional looks at the movie, many of which featured footage not previously seen in the trailers or presenting expanded looks at some of those scenes.

Advertising, Press and Promotions

News and rumors about the film began circulating in 2019, noting that this would reteam Ritchie and Statham for the first time in about 20 years.

We get a little bit more of H’s backstory and motivations in a TV spot released a little after the first trailer came out in March.

A featurette released in April has Ritchie and others talking about the story, including how it might be more violent and bloody and any of the director’s previous films.

Two clips from later in April show H enjoying a night out with the rest of his new team, who are perplexed by his standoffish solitude and talking amongst themselves about their concerns over H’s behavior during the first confrontation with the thieves.

Both AMC and IMAX shared short featurettes that included the cast and crew discussing the story and making the case for seeing the movie on the big screen where they could.

Last week the movie was promoted to gamers when MGM sponsored the Twitch stream of a Call of Duty: Warzone tournament, with actual athletes representing the movie’s branded team.

One final clip features a cameo from musical artist Post Malone, with the footage once more taken from H’s first encounter with the thieves robbing his truck.

Overall

From the majority of the campaign it’s almost impossible to make out what the story is actually about or determine what H’s motives might be. That’s alright, though, since selling a story of any kind isn’t what the marketing is about.

Instead the goal is to position it as a violent escapist revenge fantasy from a director and star known for such things. Ritchie’s name being prominent on all the material – including the stills and other images shared on social media – indicates how much of a draw he’s perceived to be.

But other than his unique visual flair, the campaign offers no indication of whether there’s anything original in what generally seems like the 12,000th variation on Death Wish, not to mention that “deal with your feelings by grabbing a gun” seems like a message out of sync with literally everything right now.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw – Marketing Recap

You can read my full recap of the marketing campaign for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw at The Hollywood Reporter.

Online and Social

Nothing particularly surprising on the movie’s official website, just the usual mix of marketing materials along with links to social profiles.

Media and Press

The two stars were jointly interviewed about the over-the-top story and the continuation of the F&TF franchise.

As the marketing for this film was well underway news broke that producer Neal Moritz, who had been with the franchise since the beginning, was being removed from future films by Universal, their patience with his confrontational style having reached its end. More immediately, it contended he had no standing as producer on this film since it didn’t fall under the terms of his contract because it was a spinoff of the franchise, one the studio needed to cultivate for future expansions and sequels.

A profile of Johnson focused on how this is just the latest in a string of films featuring the actor saving the world in some manner. A couple months later an EW cover story focused on Elba and his addition to the franchise as well as how he and the other two stars meshed during production.

There was also a profile of Elba on his own that covered his career and why he’s made the choices he has, including signing on to this project.

Johnson’s work to present the Samoan siva tau war dance in an authentic way – and the impact it had on him and his family – was the subject of another interview with the actor. Director David Leitch was also profiled, with the focus being on his status as one of Hollywood’s go-to guys for action films.

Late night TV appearances included Elba talking with Colbert as well as Kirby and Johnson on “Fallon.”

Kirby, who (despite a notable age difference) played Statham’s sister and Johnson’s love interest, finally got a profile of her own. Also getting a turn in the spotlight was the stunt and effects team that added their flair to the movie.

More from Leitch on certain secrets of the movie’s story here. The director was also featured in an IMAX promo video while the format company created its own short spot for the movie.

Overall

Picking Up the Spare

Leitch continued to talk about the pressure he felt taking his first stab at the franchise.

Adweek details a Snapchat sponsored AR lens that added some of the movie’s vehicles to people’s surroundings.

The Meg – Marketing Recap

the meg posterMy marketing recap column at The Hollywood Reporter for The Meg is basically one long exercise in not making a Jaws reference every other sentence and you should check that out. At the same time, admire how star Jason Statham isn’t even trying anymore, he’s just going to lean back and have a bit of fun in a bunch of nonsense action/adventure movies, something he seems well-suited for.

Online and Social

The official website for The Meg opens with the trailer, which you can watch again if you’re looking for some cheesy fun. After it plays, the splash page has full-motion video and prompts to buy tickets in all the preferred theatrical formats.

Moving to the top menu bar, “Trailer” and “Synopsis” are pretty standard while “Soundtrack” will take you to where you can stream or purchase the album.

There were also official GIFs available on a Tenor page.

Media and Publicity

Author Steve Alten shared how he wrote the original book and how it’s been sitting in various stages of development in Hollywood for 20 years, give or take. Shortly after that director Jon Turteltaub talked about making the movie and what it was like working on an international co-production as well as the inevitable comparisons to that *other* shark movie.

More here on how the movie has taken a 20-year, fan-fueled journey from the page to the screen.

Setting a land-speed record, star Jason Statham threw the movie under the bus before the movie even hit theaters, saying what wound up coming to theaters wasn’t the gory, horror-themed story he signed up for. That may help explain why he was largely absent from the publicity circuit, while Rainn Wilson and others showed up on late night shows and elsewhere.

IMAX created a short promo for the movie that seems just as over-the-top as what’s come before.

Overall

Yeah, this pretty well sums it up:

PICKING UP THE SPARE

Director Jon Turteltaub and others shared how they wanted to make a fun, exciting and pulse-pounding shark movie. Meanwhile, star Jason Statham continues to complain about how difficult the set was and how this wasn’t the movie he thought he’d be in.

 

Deadline hits many of the points I already covered when discussing the movie’s marketing but adds a few quotes from studio executives as well.
The details of Intel’s promotional partnership with the movie wasn’t clear in advance of release, but there have been more details that have come out since then about how the company contributed to the AI that helped power the digital shark.