Tag: knives out

random thoughts on: glass onion: a knives out mystery

The first Knives Out movie from writer/director Rian Johnson was such a breath of fresh air back in 2019 it became an immediate sensation for a variety of reasons, including its incredibly meme-able dialogue and settings and the A+ sweater game from costume designer Jenny Eagan.

It was so good it was hard to imagine what a sequel might look or feel like. Thankfully Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, released late last year on Netflix, lived up to the reputation of the first movie and, now that I’ve watched it a couple times to fully appreciate how good it is, I have a handful of random thoughts.

Here we go…

Eagan’s commitment to putting Daniel Craig in an ascot should be awarded in and of itself and I’m only surprised it hasn’t led to a clear and unmistakable uptick in their adoption as a men’s fashion item.

Confused Janelle Monae GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

It makes so much sense that Kate Hudson’s performance caught everyone’s attention as she’s terrific as a societally-oblivious pseudo-celebrity, but what really makes it incredible is that all of her reactions to what’s happening around her are so stagey. It’s as if her character has absolutely zero experience in anything not involving mugging for the camera.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Kathryn Hahn’s gubernatorial candidate, who has such genuine reactions to everything, from Duke shooting his gun by the pool to her husband trying to be his own man to the revelation at the end that those reactions nearly become a character of their own.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

I know the movie – and The Menu – caught some flack for not going far enough in exploring its “the rich are terrible people” theme but come on. If Edward Norton’s Miles Bron had actually faced some kind of on-screen legal repercussions for his irresponsible actions it would have been written off as frothy wish-fulfillment. As it is he’s set up to be exposed as a massive fraud, which is much more realistic without dipping into fantasy.

Besides, Benoit Blanc spends the last 20 minutes of the movie just repeatedly calling him dumb, which is cathartic enough for the audience.

And Blanc immediately dismisses Birdy when she tries to spin Bron’s actions as “so dumb it’s just brilliant” by clarifying “No, it’s just dumb!” Now if only our technology and political press would be similarly truthful instead of continually succumbing to the myth of the genius.

Excuse Me What GIF by Regal - Find & Share on GIPHY

At least Derol made it out of all that with his chill intact.

If there is an element of the story that isn’t explored enough for my personal liking it’s that Bron’s success is nearly entirely dependent on being a white dude who takes all the credit for a Black woman’s ideas and work and that feels like the most relevant theme especially given [gestures broadly at so many many things].

And, on that note, I very much dug Janelle Monáe’s performance as twin sisters, beginning when she’s introduced smashing the puzzle box and right through to her vengefully breaking all of Bron’s glass sculptures.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

Someone give me a Leslie Odom Jr. / Kathryn Hahn buddy comedy STAT or I *will* riot.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

Back to a point above, we all believed Norton’s performance as the not-at-all brilliant “genius” because we kind of suspect Norton’s not quite as bright as we’ve been led to believe over the years, right? Not that he’s not a smart guy, but…you get it.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

A brief ranking of current big name wrestlers-turned actors:

1. John Cena

2. Dave Bautista

….

…

25. Dwayne Johnson

Excited Janelle Monae GIF by Regal - Find & Share on GIPHY

This whole brief sequence with characters looking in the middle distance as shadows pass over them hit me right where I live, evoking all those classic murder mystery noir films I was first exposed to watching “Family Classics” on WGN-TV on Sunday afternoons in the 80s.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

Let’s take a moment and recognize how his brief appearance as Efficient Man ranks in the top five of Ethan Hawke’s performances.

It’s been such a long time since I watched a movie where the whole cast looked like they were having a good time. Too often the casts of the big super hero and similar movies look visibly miserable going through the paces and acting against tennis balls held on sticks in place of characters to be added later, it was genuinely relaxing to see an ensemble that appeared to be enjoying themselves and the project they were working on.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

Sorry, I’m laughing again at Johnson blowing up his own movie by having Blanc solve the contrived murder mystery five minutes in to Bron explaining how the weekend is supposed to work.

Dinner Table Glass Onion GIF by Regal - Find & Share on GIPHY

Everyone else yelled “A SCHOONER IS A SAILBOAT” (even if it was just in their heads) when Lionel was working the stereogram on the puzzle box, right? Right?

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

In a movie filled with committed performances from talented actors Madelyn Cline’s performance as Dallas is near the top of the rankings and I will absolutely die on this hill. It’s so good and shows not only her talent as an actor but Johnson’s ability to make the audience invest in and care about characters that are clearly secondary but still important.

Janelle Monae Glass Onion GIF by NETFLIX - Find & Share on GIPHY

Same goes for Jessica Henwick’s put-upon assistant Peg. If you don’t feel her disappointment and frustration when Birdy reveals she has a secret phone and her resignation when she says “…Did you think a sweatshop is where they make sweatpants?” I’m not sure movies are really your thing.

Oh, along with the Odom Jr. / Hahn buddy comedy I want a direct spinoff where Dallas and Peg team up and create the next big socially-conscious lifestyle goods brand and have all kinds of wacky adventures while doing so.

glass onion: a knives out mystery – marketing recap

How Netflix has sold the return of everyone’s favorite dashing gentleman detective

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery movie poster from Netflix
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery movie poster from Netflix

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery arrives on Netflix this week, a sequel to 2019’s Knives Out. Once again written and directed by Rian Johnson, the only connection to the first movie is the return of private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). Blanc is crashing an invitation-only gathering of friends organized by billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) at his private island estate. Those friends have been assembled for an extended murder mystery party, the twist being they need to solve Bron’s own murder, though he’s not actually dead.

Playing the various friends, whom Bron terms his “fellow disruptors”, are such talented individuals as Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Jessica Henwick.

So with such a high powered cast and a writer/director known for creating intricate yet easily-followed storylines that actually earn emotional moments and payoff their setups, let’s take a look at how it’s been sold.

announcements and casting

As the original neared the threshold of bringing in over $300 million worldwide, speculation Johnson was working on a sequel became more frequent. That speculation was confirmed by the writer/director when he was interviewed on the red carpet of the 2020 Academy Awards, where he was nominated for, but didn’t eventually win, Best Original Screenplay.

In March 2021, news came that Netflix had outbid Lionsgate and others for not just this film but an additional sequel as well. Or, as Johnson put it,

Additional details came out later saying Johnson, Craig and producer Ram Bergman would make $100 million each from the deal.

In mid-May of 2021 a slew of casting announcements came, each more exciting than the last. Bautista, Norton, Monae, Hahn and others coming aboard all got people eager for the movie to finally arrive. Bautista was interviewed about being cast and his anticipation over working with Johnson. Odom Jr. and Hudson joined the cast a bit later.

Production began in late June, marked with a photo from Johnson.

Henwick talked briefly about the project while promoting other things in 2021.

Footage from the film was included in Netflix’s 2022 feature film preview.

In June 2022 Johnson and Netflix released a video announcing the movie’s official title as well as showing off the impressive cast list.

Later that month news came the movie’s world premiere was scheduled for the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It was then slated to close the BFI Film Festival in London.

Netflix *finally* set a release date in late August while also announcing the movie would receive a limited theatrical release in advance of streaming at the end of December.

Empire Magazine talked with Johnson and the cast about what the audience could expect in this new installment in an issue that featured a couple exclusive images as cover photos. There were also more new stills in the story.

the marketing campaign

The first teaser trailer (13.1m YouTube views) was released in early September. Understandably it doesn’t offer much of the story but does promise some kind of murder mystery Benoit Blanc has to solve with an impressive cast all of whom seem to be having a lot of fun wearing outrageous outfits and lounging around magnificent pools.

A poster showing Blanc standing authoritatively above one of those pools came out at the same time.

Also released in early September was a puzzle website where, by solving the puzzles, you could unlock clues and other material about the movie.

The cast and Johnson assembled for the TIFF premiere, which included a Q&A and interviews where Johnson warned against sharing spoilers and teased his enthusiasm for making more Knives Out mysteries with Craig.

Later in September Johnson introduced the first clip while also offering a bit more of an explanation as to what the movie’s story is.

In early October the details of the theatrical release were revealed. Specifically, that the movie would play in theaters for ONE WEEK ONLY, VASILY around Thanksgiving. To the surprise of many industry watchers, all the major exhibitor chains – including those that had steadfastly refused to play any of Netflix’s major titles – agreed to the limited engagement, obviously smelling money.

Tickets for that engagement went on sale accompanied by a TV spot.

Later in October it was named the opening selection of the Miami Film Festival.

At BFI the cast and crew were back together for another screening that only added more positive reviews and buzz to the movie’s publicity

At the end of the month another poster came out that has the entire cast arranged along the side of the pool we saw in the first one-sheet.

The full official trailer (12.2m YouTube views) was released at the beginning of November. After showing all the characters arriving on his island, Miles explains they’ve been invited there to participate in a game where they have to solve his murder. Blanc is the wildcard in the group and when things turn from playful to actually dangerous he gets very serious about finding out who’s responsible. There’s lots of great footage of the various characters acting in outrageous ways both toward each other and the situation in general and, once again, this just looks like a lot of fun.

Netflix then put out a video of the cast reacting to the trailer.

An EW feature story had Johnson sharing how he developed the story and what he wanted to accomplish with a sequel along with comments from Craig about his character and accent and from others in the cast about the experience of shooting the movie, how quickly they signed on to the project and more.

Composer Nathan Johnson (Rian’s cousin) debuted parts of his score for the movie at a Netflix event focused on music. A week or so later snippets of that score were released for public consumption.

The L.A. premiere red carpet was held in mid-November, timed to be just before the movie hit theaters. At the premiere everyone talked more about how much fun they had while filming, the outfits they all sport and lots more.

That was followed by the announcement of the Glass Onion Experience. Set up in L.A. and running through December, people could attend and as a group try and solve a series of mysteries, like an escape room.

A set of character posters once more used the pool setting to show off the beautiful location and cast.

Just before the movie came to theaters another clip of Miles explaining the weekend to his guests – and Blanc being slightly confused as to the point of this all – came out.

a brief digression about the theatrical release…

The success of the theatrical engagement resulted in no small amount of hand-wringing among entertainment insiders and commentators. Had Netflix left tens of millions of dollars on the table by limiting release to just one week? Was it a mistake to have it play in theaters so far in advance of it debuting on streaming?

Those questions are interesting in an academic sense but also tended to overlook the fact that many of the answers went counter to Netflix’s business model.

Asking if Netflix should have kept Glass Onion in theaters longer, or if it should put more of its movies in theaters to begin with, is akin to asking if McDonald’s should sell more frozen hamburgers in grocery stores. Sure, the numbers will likely go up, but the goal of most all advertising by McDonald’s is to get people to visit its restaurants. So the end result is a weakened business.

There’s also the fact that all the prognostications about how this movie could have cleared $100mm at the box office is supported by almost nothing. None of the movies on the list of 2022’s top 10 opening weekends are this weird. They’re all very safe franchise entries, not the next chapter in a loosely-connected anthology series of high-concept murder mysteries.

back to the campaign…

The cast appeared in a video where they guessed what some Southern phrases actually meant in a nod to Craig’s accent. Later on Hudson and Hahn had some fun guessing which of three “facts” about their costars was the lie.

Online ads that began running in early December directed visitors to a site with information about screenings and events along with other press and promotional material.

At Brazil Comic-Con a behind the scenes featurette debuted showing some of the movie being filmed along with comments from the cast and director.

Another set of character posters put each one behind one of the letters in the movie’s title.

Talk show appearances by the cast included

And more, I’m sure.

At a moment when there were lots of profiles of Monae and attention paid to her performance Netflix released a featurette focusing on her role in the film and how much her collaborators enjoyed working with her. Another featurette focused on the production design of the film.

A bit later there were also a handful of profiles like this of Cline and others for Henwick.

What started out seeming to be a gag turned out to be real when Outback Steakhouse debuted the Bloomin’ Glass Onion, a special version of their signature dish, and supported it with an extended TV spot that kind of has to be seen to be believed.

The movie also got some promotional support from the video game Among Us, which introduced a Benoit Blanc character skin. And ice cream brand Van Leeuwen created a movie-inspired flavor. White Claw did likewise but for their style of drink while Zillow created a listing for Miles’ island house.

overall

Regardless of my feelings about the campaign (I love it, btw) it should be pointed out that the official Knives Out Twitter account remains undefeated.

There also seemed to be some A+ trolling of Twitter Owner, who the character of Miles Bron is based in part on, with photos from the film that seemed to be expert subtweets of current news.

So it’s a win all around. There is no quirkier or more entertaining campaign I’ve seen this year.

The Nine Most Compelling Movie Campaigns of 2019’s Second Half

From Once Upon a Time In Hollywood to The Rise of Skywalker and everything in between.

The second half of 2019 ahs seen a number of notable movie releases from some of the biggest names in filmmaking. Downton Abbey was revived for the big screen and new entries in the Zombieland, Rambo and Terminator series hit theaters to varying degrees of success.

Major releases like The Lion King, Frozen 2 and others dominated the mainstream cultural conversation as well as the box office in the last six months thanks to their massive marketing efforts, there are a number of films where the campaigns were even more interesting and noteworthy. Sometimes those campaigns featured a particularly creative execution, sometimes they represented something new being done to reach an interested audience.

So, to follow up on my list of the most compelling movie campaigns from the first half of 2019, here’s the nine that seemed most interesting or innovative to me in the year’s second half.

Hustlers

There have been a number of movies in the last couple years about women determined to exact some pound of flesh from the world that has wronged them. Hustlers is among the most successful of that genre, thanks in part to the lead performance by Jennifer Lopez. What the movie’s marketing campaign did was out Oceans the Oceans movie, especially the recent Ocean’s 8. From the first moment of the campaign, the audience was presented with a neon bright brand that combined women owning their sexuality as exotic dancers with a social message of making the 1% pay for exploiting the poor.

The Hunt

No, the movie has not actually come out. Universal’s curtailed marketing campaign isn’t worth calling out, mostly because it was that campaign that lead to the studio pulling the movie from its release schedule. The planned August release was initially delayed in reaction to the mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso following concerns the ads were insensitive to the news at the time. But at about the same time the campaign came to the attention of right wing media, which felt the story of wealthy elites kidnapping poor people for sport was terribly offensive. That conclusion was reached by ignoring the class warfare story and focusing on how the hunted were demographically more likely to be conservative voters than the rich people doing the hunting. To date there have been no updates on the movie’s status.

Ready Or Not

Released at the same time The Hunt was being nixed, Ready Or Not wound up being one of the year’s surprise box office hits. The movie is about a young bride who, on the night she marries into a family that made its fortune making and selling games, finds out that family is going to hunt her. Only if she survives the night will she be deemed worthy of becoming one of them. The marketing sold it as a ridiculously fun horror outing, filled with slapstick humor and more, all while maintaining a brand identity rooted in dark hardwood tones and gothic symbolism.

Joker

Warner Bros. seems to have finally found some kind of groove with its DC-related films following the release of Wonder Woman, Shazam, Aquaman and, most recently, Joker. The movie, one of the most successful of the year so far, was the subject of some of the most intense pre-release debates and conversations in recent memory. That’s largely because of the campaign, with trailers that seemed to present Joker’s backstory as startlingly similar to that of so many of the mass shooters that have plagued society. Before taking on the Joker persona, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is shown as a marginalized struggling comedian angry at the ways the people in his life have failed him. If the movie weren’t set in the 80s he’s the kind of guy who would frequent men’s rights forums. Post-release, it’s made the Bronx staircase Joker dances down a hot spot for Instagrammers, which itself is a statement about the power of the campaign.

Between Two Ferns

between two ferns posterNetflix has released a number of noteworthy films this year (more on that later), but the revival of Zach Galifinakis’ Funny Or Die celebrity interviews as a feature deserves mention not for the undeniable quality of the movie (though it is very funny) but because of the teaser poster. Designed by marketing agency Works Advertising, there’s so much going on with the one sheet it’s hard to keep track.

  1. All the lines of copy, even those right next to each other, are all at slightly different angles.
  2. The “www” in the URL for Netflix is a style that hasn’t been widely used in 15 years or more.
  3. The typeface for the release date and web address are laughably simple, a default style in Microsoft PowerPoint, and not one meant to convey any sort of impact.
  4. The two ferns are obviously the same fern copied and pasted on each side of Galifinakis’ head.
  5. The photo of Galifinakis still bears the Netflix watermark, like it was pulled from a press site and slapped onto the poster.

Overall it conveys a sense of “sure, fine, whatever,” which is completely on-brand for the Between Two Ferns series. It’s so sloppy and one of the best of the year.

The Lighthouse

How do you sell a black and white movie about two men left alone together on a remote New England lighthouse, isolated from the rest of the world and stuck with their own secrets and baggage? By going completely bonkers. The trailer has singing, dancing, axes, mermaids, terror, and Willem Dafoe repeating “Why don’t you spill your beans?” over and over again. With Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as the leads, it says something when a pelican is the only character that gets its own poster. In a move usually reserved for franchises and sequels, A24 also released an iMessage emoji pack so people could add images of angry lighthouse keepers and various sea creatures to their messages.

Knives Out

I truly believe no one had more fun selling their movie this year than director Rian Johnson. After making The Last Jedi, objectively the best Star Wars movie ever, Johnson assembled an all-star cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig and others for Knives Out, an old-fashioned murder mystery. The story is set on a wealthy family’s estate as investigators try to solve the murder of the patriarch, and the campaign not only played up the cast but also the breezy nature of the film. In interviews for the film, Johnson frequently evoked his love of classic movies based on Agatha Christie and other stories. That love was evident in the “A Rian Johnson whodunit” branding featured throughout the campaign and especially in one of the final videos, where the director personally invites audiences to see the movie, a move reminiscent of similar appeals by Hitchcock and other classic filmmakers.

The Irishman

After snagging new films from directors like Joel and Ethan Coen, Steven Soderbergh, Tamara Jenkins and other big names, producing a three hour epic from Martin Scorsese represents Netflix’s biggest conquest to date. To celebrate that milestone the studio/streamer ran a campaign that broke new ground for its original releases, including over a dozen featurettes on every aspect of the film, from the cast to hair and makeup to set design and everything in between. Not only were there teasers but there were trailers timed for the movie’s limited theatrical release and then again for just before it became available for streaming. This is very much the moment Netflix adopted tactics similar to how traditional studios sell movies while still supporting its non-traditional business model.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

It would be negligent to omit Disney’s massive, 8-month long campaign for what has been sold at every turn as the final installment in the Skywalker saga that began 42 years ago. The movie has been positioned as the conclusion to the story that began the first moment Qui-Gon Jinn laid eyes on a young Anakin Skywalker. Along the way the studio has had to thread various needles, appealing to older audiences that remember seeing the Tantive IV being chased by a Star Destroyer on the big screen in 1977 and those whose first experience might have been Poe landing on Jakku as the Resistance searched for a missing Luke Skywalker. With seven key promotional partners all producing their own commercials and campaigns along with other companies doing their own thing, there’s been no avoiding the idea that this is the ultimate event film, one audiences would be negligent in missing.

Honorable Mention: Every Ryan Reynolds Movie

He went method for the Pokemon: Detective Pikachu campaign earlier this year and then managed to put an ad for Aviation Gin inside an ad for his new movie 6 Underground that was inside an ad for Samsung. He’s already selling upcoming projects with the same knowing humor, showing he’s one of the strongest marketing brands around.

Knives Out – Marketing Recap

A good old-fashioned whodunit with an all-star cast comes to theaters hoping for success.

knives out poster13The $25 million tracking estimates for the opening weekend of Knives Out may not seem massive. Such a box office total would signal failure for most movies. While that number indicates audiences might be recovering from seeing Frozen 2 last weekend and saving their movie-going dollars for Star Wars next month, it might still be enough to not only win the weekend but show there’s life in the concept of a non-franchise movie featuring a sprawling ensemble of popular actors.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the movie stars Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Laketh Stanfeild, Daniel Craig and quite a few others. Craig and Stanfeild play investigators summoned to the mansion of Harlan Thrombey (Plummer) after his mysterious death, which just so happened to occur at his birthday party for which the entire family had gathered. All under suspicion and each with their own motives as well as alibis, the sometimes ungrateful children must remain in the home while the killer among them is rooted out.

As Johnson has made clear in numerous interviews, it’s a throwback to the kind of murder mystery films from the 50s and 60s that became staples of broacast television reruns in the 70s and 80s. And while the predictions may indicate some weakness in terms of audience appetite, the 95 percent “Fresh” rating it sports on Rotten Tomatoes shows critics have roundly embraced its entertaining eccentricity.

The Posters

knives out posterA magnifying glass with a knife for a handle sits atop the title treatment on the first poster (by marketing agency LA, as are the rest of the posters), released in July. The cast list is presented below along with the copy “Everyone has a motive. No one has a clue.” All those elements, along with the “whodunnit” at the top along with the typeface used combine to sell a classic mystery movie, one where everyone will be suspected at some point and is working against the others as the police try to solve the crime.

“Nothing brings a family together like murder” we’re told on the series of character posters released in September. Each one presents the character in question in a different part of the house where the action takes place and presents them with a description of their role in the family or the investigation, very much in the vein of an Agatha Christie story.

The entire cast is assembled on the theatrical poster from October, with the Harlan’s children and others arranged behind him. This time the tagline betrays a much more playful attitude, reading “Hell, any of them could have done it.” It’s a great way to upend audience expectations and communicate the fact that this is a fun time at the theater, not a scary horror film of any sort.

The Trailers

The first trailer (12.4 million views on YouTube) was released in early July and establishes the premise right away, that Thrombey family patriarch Harlan was killed following a party celebrating his 85th birthday. The detectives sent to the estate to investigate understandably suspect an attendee is responsible and so ask everyone to stay put until they find who did it. From there it’s all about the mystery as we see the Thrombey’s aren’t exactly a tight, loving family and each could have their own reasons for not only killing the old man but wanting those around them to go down for the murder.

Everyone’s “waiting for the big reveal” in the second trailer (6.5 million views on YouTube), released in September. This one is even more loose and fun than the first, focusing on the infighting of the family members as Blanc and the other investigators seek to uncover who killed Harlan and why. The whole cast gets a turn to shine as the movie is presented as a breezy and entertaining whodunit with a house full of suspects and motives.

The final trailer (388,000 views on YouTube), released in October, is short but to the point. Specifically, it sells the movie not on the story but on the positive reviews that have come out so far, positioning it as a rip-roaring good time and the most entertaining film of the year with a top-notch cast.

Online and Social

In contrast to many recent efforts, the movie’s official website features good information that heightens anticipation of the film. In addition to the usual marketing content, the front page of the site lets you click on the faces of the main characters, allowing you to see the poster they’re featured on along with a bit more background and some photos to download. It’s not much, but it’s something and a nice element to include given the cast. In acknowledgement of the film coming out around Thanksgiving there are also place cards with each character and their defining trait that can be printed out for your holiday table, including one with Johnson labeled “The murder mystery master.” Last month there were pumpkin design stencils available as well.

Advertising and Publicity

While there had been plenty of press coverage around casting and other production updates, the first real promotion came when Lionsgate brought Johnson and members of the cast to CinemaCon in March to get the ball rolling. An extended scene was shown two months later at CineEurope.

In July it was named among the films screening at the Toronto Film Festival as part of the “Special Presentations” lineup, a screening that brought almost universal praise for the story, direction and performances. Later it was named the London Film Festival’s Gala movie and had a Fantastic Fest screening announced in August. In October it screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, with appearances by Johnson and Shannon.

The Get Your Cut contest was announced in September, encouraging fans to hunt for clues and hidden messages scattered throughout the posters and trailers in an effort to win $250,000, positioned here as part of Harlan’s fortune he put aside for fans. A later message from Harlan’s personal attorney (played by Frank Oz) and a recording from Harlan himself continued promoting the contest.

TV advertising started in mid-October with a deluge of spots – a dozen at first with more coming after that – highlighting different aspects of the family, their motivations, the search for Harlan’s killer and more. While they take slightly different approaches, the commercials reinforce the impression from the trailers that this is a fun star-studded whodunit.

AMC Theaters offered an exclusive interview with Johnson where he talked about the story and working with the impressive cast.

In early November Lionsgate released a series of videos inviting you to “Meet the Thrombeys.” Each one was created to be a promotional video of sorts for that family member’s business. So Joni is selling Flam – which also has a website -, her lifestyle brand, Walt is selling Blood Like Wine Publishing – which also got its own website – and announcing his promotion to CEO and Linda is selling her real estate business, which also has a site. Each one is filled with “slashing” puns to reinforce the nature of the movie.

The first clip, released in early November, shows Ransom arriving at the family mansion and blowing off the investigators already on the scene. A second clip shows the assembled family being asked to stick around while the investigators find the guilty party while a third has Linda confronting Blanc.

knives out online adOnline ads used some combination of the key theatrical art and images from the character posters along with video clips in various units.

The positive reviews the movie had received were used in a final TV commercial that pegged it as a fun experience for audiences.

Johnson extended a “personal invitation…to murder” to the audience in a video designed to play like an old-fashioned movie trailer, the kind that has directors like Alfred Hitchcock. In fact you can see just the kind of thing being referenced in the trailer for Hitchcock’s Psycho. It’s another way Johnson is paying homage to the films that inspired him.

Outdoor billboards (by marketing agency Art Machine) used the same art of the assembled family seen in the theatrical one-sheet and outdoor ads. Notably, an alternate version of the billboard design showed the family from the back, each clutching a knife in their hands as if they’re ready to use it on each other at a moment’s notice.

knives out billboardknives out billboard2

Media and Press

An interview with Johnson during the Toronto screening allowed him to talk about his love of the murder mystery genre, what it was like working with such a big-name cast and transitioning from the massive spectacle of Star Wars to the smaller scale of this film. The cast offered their comments on how the movie provided some good alternative to family dinners during its Thanksgiving release window.

In a couple interviews from Toronto, Johnson even started speculating there could be more movies if this one does well. He also spoke with Curtis about how the movie’s story is intentional commentary on issues of wealth and privilege.

The cast shared one of their favorite moments from the few scenes they were all in together. A brief interview with just Evans had him talking about his inspiration, wardrobe and more.

Talk show appearances included Evans and Shannon on “The Tonight Show,” Johnson on “Kimmel,” Craig on “The Late Show,” Curtin on “Today” and more.

de Armes was part of THR’s “Next Gen Talent” feature in November, with the actress talking about her reluctance to join the film as well as how the script is what won her over.

An interview with Johnson had him talking about how this film was just as important to him as his franchise work and how it fits into his overall filmography.

At the movie’s premiere Johnson and the cast talked about their love of murder mysteries and how such stories can be reflections of the current political climate. An interview with the director had him talking about how hard he worked to get the movie made in the time available, how some fortunate coincidences allowed him to assemble the cast he wanted and more. Another had him sharing his mystery genre influences.

EW hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner with Rian and the cast talking about the movie and having a generally good time.

Curtis and costar Katherine Langford appeared on stage to present an award at the recent American Music Awards ceremony.

There were two feature profiles of Ana de Armas, spotlighting her as a breakout star in this movie who is poised for even more fame in the coming months with other projects coming out.

Overall

I’m hooked. As if I wasn’t a big enough Rian Johnson fan after his previous films – including what’s objectively the best Star Wars movie in the series – the way he conveys the fun he had in crafting this movie from beginning to end is infectious. That’s helped, in my own case, by recognizing exactly the type of movies he was inspired by and wanted to recreate here. They’re just the kind that were shown on “Family Classics” on WGN-TV in Chicago in the 80s on Sunday afternoons, the kind your parents would turn on after church while everyone is relaxing.

Everything about the campaign is just fun, showing you don’t need to make every mystery story into some deep, dark examination of the twisted nature of the human soul. Instead, as early reviews have indicated, it’s a lighthearted examination of the twisted nature of the human soul, including elements of class privilege both real and imagined.

Without a recognizable brand for the film’s marketing to latch on to, Johnson has become that brand hook, putting himself front and center throughout the campaign to act as the public face of the movie. That’s summed up nicely in the throwback trailer released last week but it’s seen in all the interviews he’s done and in the way the cast has praised his directorial style and work ethic on set.