Tag: mary shelley

Picking Up the Spare – Deadpool 2, On Chesi Beach and More

Deadpool 2

Fox has extended the social media presence of Peter, the non-powered member of the team Deadpool assembles, adding a LinkedIn profile that the studio has been advertising on Twitter to get people’s attention. He’s even been writing blog posts.

The constant stream of Green Lantern cracks in this and the first movie have finally prompted Warner Bros. to (jokingly) ask for the ring back, to which Ryan Reynolds had a thoroughly appropriate response.

Seems at least one British movie critic got a Royal Wedding-themed invitation to see the movie, which is a nice touch.

Kristina Monllos at Adweek adds her own recap of the movie’s campaign to the growing list. And Ashley Rodriguez has one at Quartz.

I’m not linking to them because there are a lot of spoilers, but there’s a whole series of stories that have come out in the last week that have not only gone in-depth on some cameos in the film but talked about how the cast and crew intentionally shot scenes for the trailers that weren’t going to be in the movie. The point of the latter was to run what amounts to a fake out campaign to throw people off the scent of the actual story and I’m honestly not sure how I feel about that.

Rebecca Rubin at THR is wondering out loud if the movie’s success will lead to more R-rated super hero movies. I maintain the same position I did last year that this is something that may be experimented with from time to time but won’t become “normal” and certainly won’t be adopted by Marvel Studios or even WB/DC.

There wasn’t much of a focus on Julian Dennison, the actor that plays Rusty in this movie and who broke out in The Hunt For The Wilderpeople a few years ago, but that’s changed with a few talk show appearances and this feature profile where he talks about coming into a super hero film and his young career to date. Also, this look at how his casting represents a solid move into diversity for the genre.

Artist boneface took to Twitter to show off some poster art he’d been commissioned by Fox to create, though he admitted he wasn’t sure what the studio ultimately had in mind for his work.

Finally, the team shared a “thank you” video to fans recutting footage from the movie as a sitcom opening montage using the music of “The Golden Girls” because of course.

On Chesil Beach

More here about how this isn’t the first time Saoirse Ronan has shown up in a movie based on an Ian McEwan book as the two talk about finding themselves on the same project again.

First Reformed

A solid feature profile of writer director Paul Schrader at GQ in which he talks about not just this movie but his extensive and noteworthy career as a whole.

You Were Never Really Here

Amazon Studios put out a short promo video acknowledging this was one of two movies starring Joaquin Phoenix-starring movies it was distributing this year.

Life of the Party

Adria Arjona, who plays Melissa McCarthy’s daughter in the film, talks more here about working with the veteran actor and what she learned just by being in the room with her.

Mary Shelley

Director Haifaa al-Mansour finally got a profile of her own where she talks about getting involved in the story and how she broke into the industry.

Avengers: Infinity War

Moviebill, the company that put those AR-enhanced magazines in the hands of opening week moviegoers at Regal Cinemas, is reporting that with 1 million copies distributed there were 2 million scans that weekend, meaning at least some people were repeatedly going back to the Regal app to view additional material.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

It’s the most wonderful time of the year because Matt Singer at ScreenCrush chronicled his day spent eating the entire movie-themed menu at Denny’s, as did Heather Mason at SyfyWire.

The Chicago Tribune profiles local native Bradford Young about how his upbringing in the city influenced the style and attitude he brought to his work as cinematographer on the movie.

While it’s not specific to the movie, both The Hollywood Reporter and Film School Rejects use the occasion to talk with Perry King, who gave voice to Han Solo in the NPR-produced radio drama adaptations of all three of the Original Trilogy movies.

Super Troopers 2

I think I missed this earlier, but Vice talks about the crowdfunding that got the movie made and the subsequent data that went into the marketing.

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer and content strategist who lives in the Chicago suburbs.

Mary Shelley – Marketing Recap

mary shelley posterThe second of two Elle Fanning movies coming out this week has her starring as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in Mary Shelley. She plays the author as she’s on the cusp of writing her best known work, Frankenstein, something society at the time isn’t ready to fully accept came from a female writer.

Not only that but she’s involved in a tumultuous love affair with the poet Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth). Her experience with that romance as well as her fascination with the world around her and her determination to make an impression on the world drive her to do something different and memorable with her life, much to the chagrin of her lover, parents and others.

The Posters

The movie is billed here as “The life that inspired Frankenstein,” making the parallels between the personal and the literary part of the audience’s expectations for the movie. A close up of half of Fanning’s face is the only graphic element here, though the entire thing is doused in a drab, brownish-grey color palette that lends a somber Victorian air to the brand.

The Trailers

Immediately the trailer establishes Mary as someone filled with ambition but stifled by the expectations and norms of the society she lives in. She meets Percy, her future husband, and the two begin a romance while she’s only 16. The relationship isn’t a hit with her friends and family. Her imagination is sparked when she sees a demonstration claiming the dead can be returned to life. Cut to her at the fateful meeting with other writers where each is challenged to write a ghost story and while those around her love it, some question whether she is indeed the author.

What comes through clearly here is how Mary’s life of struggle with love and the rigors of society all informed the book she’s most famous for. At every turn the trailer draws a connection between her personal life and the work of fiction she creates. Fanning looks wonderful as the title character, infusing her with deep sadness and an iron will.

Online and Social

There’s just a single page of basic information that IFC Films created for the movie at the same time it provided a bit of support on social channels.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nope, nothing here.

Media and Publicity

A first-look still provided an early glimpse at Fanning as the title character. The movie was announced as one of those that would screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, a screening that resulted in relatively positive buzz and word-of-mouth. While there the star and director talked about how they wanted to reclaim the story for Shelley after it’s become so associated over the years with male stars, directors and others involved in various adaptations.

The movie was eventually picked up for distribution by IFC. Later on it kept going on the festival circuit, including a stop at the Tribeca Film Festival. While there weren’t any (apparent) corporate ties that facilitated it, an installment of Nat Geo’s “Genius” series focused on Shelley seemed timed to ride the wave of conversation about the author and had the side benefit of also contributing to awareness of that resurgence.

Fanning and the rest of the cast admitted that they didn’t know much about the author before they started filming, opening their eyes to just how radical and innovative she was.

Overall

It’s a nice, moody campaign IFC put together here but it’s not going to amount to much, I don’t think. There have been a number of these gothic-tinged movies about female writers struggling to overcome the norms of the society they’re shackled to recently but none have caught any fire. Fanning is about the strongest draw in the whole thing.

That being said, it’s good that these stories keep being told and weren’t completely shut down by the entire industry just because one didn’t connect with audiences. It’s still important that more people here and see he story behind the story and learn how independent, unconventional women have been breaking societal boundaries for a long, long time now.

PICKING UP THE SPARE

Director Haifaa al-Mansour finally got a profile of her own where she talks about getting involved in the story and how she broke into the industry.