How Netflix has sold its young adult mystery sequel
Enola Holmes 2 movie poster from Netflix
Millie Bobby Brown returns in the title role in Enola Holmes 2, out this week on Netflix. In the sequel to the surprise 2020 hit and still based on Nancy Springer’s series of books, Enola has decided to hang out her own shingle as a detective for hire. She’s enlisted by a young girl who works in a matchstick factory to find her missing sister. Soon Enola discovers she’s working on a different part of the same case being investigated by her older brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill).
Louis Partridge returns as Viscount Tewkesbury, a young man Enola frequently encounters and sometimes needs help from in her adventures around London. Helena Bonham Carter is also back as Eudora Holmes, who disappeared years ago but who trained Enola for the day she’d be on her own. Others from the first movie are back as well, as is director Harry Bradbeer.
Let’s recap the campaign Netflix has run.
announcement and casting
Netflix announced the sequel to much acclaim, especially because both Brown and Cavill were slated to return, in May 2021. In September during that year;s TUDUM virtual event it revealed Louis Partridge would be back as Tewkesbury.
The end of filming was marked in January, 2022 when Netflix shared a short video.
Footage from the film was included in Netflix’s 2022 feature film preview back in February.
the marketing campaign
Things kicked off in August when a batch of stills was released.
Brown took part in this year’s TUDUM event to hype the film and introduce the first trailer (5.4m YouTube views). It starts with Enola being chased by the police before stopping to explain what’s happening. We see how she’s started her own agency and gets involved in the case of the missing girl and from there things get crazy as she once more defies everyone’s expectations for how she should act in order to make her own life as well as solve the mystery.
We see Enola standing and looking quite pleased with herself behind the door of her agency on the poster that came out at the same time.
The second trailer (2.1m YouTube views) came out in early October. It uses different footage but sells the same basic idea, that Enola is once again in over her head but refuses to give in or give up despite everyone telling her to do just that. We see a bit more of her working with Sherlock and enlisting the help of Tewkesbury as it again sells a high-energy, fast-moving and funny good time.
The poster that accompanied that trailer uses the same collage style as the one-sheet for the first movie, placing cutouts of the main characters against a pasted-together backdrop of the London skyline with a few codes and maps thrown in to add to the sense of mystery.
A clip showing Enola reluctantly convincing Tewksbury to teach her to dance came out a couple weeks later.
Shortly after that came a series of posters showing all the main characters, all of which also feature some form of pun or other play on words as part of describing that character.
Meet the Holmeses—again! Enola, Sherlock, and Eudoria return for another captivating mystery with bigger, bolder stakes in Enola Holmes 2. pic.twitter.com/P3IcGLro4O
Brown appeared on “Kimmel” to promote the film and engage in some hijinks with her “Stranger Things” costar Noah Schnapp.
Netflix brought the cast and crew out for the premiere at the end of October. At that premiere the stars commented on the story of the movie, how they worked out having Enola break the fourth wall, the unique place these stories hold in the overall Holmes landscape and more.
overall
Like the campaign for the first movie, this marketing push is just a lot of fun. There’s a light entertaining attitude and vibe throughout the campaign that makes it look like it will be just as enjoyable as the first one was. And it maintains much of the branding established in the first campaign, creating a nice sense of continuity for the audience.
Much of that attitude comes from the stars. Brown is *so* much more fun and charming when she’s not weighed down by the pressures of “Stranger Things” where she can’t discuss plot details or get too casual lest something be spoiled. And as much as Cavill was sidetracked by discussion of his returning as Superman in Black Adam recently, he’s infinitely more engaging here (and elsewhere) when not constrained by the demands of the DC Universe.
How Warner Bros. has sold a showdown that has nothing to do with justice dawning.
Hollywood is, if nothing else, certainly an interesting place. Take, for example, this week’s Godzilla vs. Kong, which has a couple things going on.
First, this is the fourth and latest film in Warner Bros.’ MonsterVerse franchise, which started in 2014 with Godzilla, continued in 2017 with Kong: Skull Island and most recently was seen in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It’s notable, though, that GvK was greenlit all the way back in 2015 and moved into production, before Skull Island was released, with the assumption the series would be enormously successful and each installment highly anticipated.
In reality each installment has experienced diminishing returns from the one prior, at least domestically in the U.S. Godzilla’s $200.7m box office has fallen to a mere $110.5 for King of the Monsters. But a ship of this size isn’t easy to stop (though it might get stuck), so we’re just going to keep going because the international box office is still fairly strong.
Second, the movie is being viewed as the latest test of whether the U.S. audience is ready to return to theaters. Originally scheduled for November 2020, it comes this week to both HBO Max and over 90% of U.S. screens, the highest number available since many closed a year ago. While estimates for opening weekend are relatively paltry at less than $30 million, that would still be the most of any film since the Covid-19 pandemic shut most everything down.
So we find ourselves with the two monsters – known in-universe as “Titans” – finally coming face to face. The reasons why aren’t necessarily important, as the title does double duty as a synopsis of the story, such as it is. Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown return from King of the Monsters, joined this time by Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Hottle, Bryan Tyree Henry and others, who will be offering exposition and acting as scale references so we know just how massive the two Titans are.
Warner Bros.’ campaign for the movie, helmed by mumblehorror director and noted fetish porn blogger Adam Wingard, is…well…it’s exactly what you might assume it is given the premise.
The Posters
The first poster (by marketing agency BOND), came out in January, immediately establishing the campaign’s red and blue color palette while showing Kong standing among the skyscrapers while Kong’s dorsal plates can be seen poking above the ocean surface as he advances toward that same skyline.
Godzilla has made landfall on the second poster (by marketing agency Concept Arts), released toward the end of February, as we see him walking through the city toward Kong.
Another poster from early March has the two Titans facing off like boxers, with a design seemingly inspired by Vegas promotional art, their faces close together and seen within the transparent letters of “Vs.”
We get different perspectives on two posters (by agency Little Giant Studios) that came out just a short while later. One shows Kong from Godzilla’s point of view and the other shows Godzilla from Kong’s, each one again emphasizing their massive size as compared to the buildings they’re walking between and through.
Two kings, one crown. #GodzillaVsKong in theaters and streaming exclusively on @HBOMax* March 31.
One more theatrical poster hit the red/blue Kong/Godzilla clash one more time, with the two shown to be so tall their heads poke above the clouds.
Exhibitor-specific artwork included one-sheets for IMAX, which has the two monsters falling into one another like this is a 90’s erotic thriller from Paul Verhoven, RealD 3D, which offers a variation on the previous imagery of the Titans lunging at each other, and Dolby, which is a bit more original in showing Kong climbing a skyscraper above the cartoonishly round world below.
The Trailers
A series of teasers were released on social media in advance of the first trailer, which was finally released at the end of January. As it begins, someone is talking about how much humanity needs Kong, who is being transported across the ocean. The threat, it turns out, is Godzilla, but no one knows why he’s attacking. Amid all the subsequent fighting it’s revealed this may not be the first time the two – and others like them – have faced off.
A second, shorter trailer came out in mid-February. Whatever story there was in the first spot, it’s excised in this one as it cuts straight to the action as Kong and Godzilla punch each other and rampage through cities, destroying countless buildings as they do so.
Online and Social
There’s not much on the movie’s official website, but you will find a few trailers as well as details on how to watch the film in the way of your choosing, assuming you either subscribe to HBO Max or live near one of the theaters it’s playing at.
AR lenses for Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook allowed people to put themselves in the middle of the showdown between the two titans.
I have to hand it to the WB team on Twitter, which seemingly had the latitude to share fan memes and other fun content via the official account. That’s made scrolling through the account’s updates a lot more interesting as it is less about amplifying only adoration and praise and more about reflecting how the internet really reacts to things. A similar attitude can be found the movie’s official Giphy channel, which has not only straight GIFs but also a bunch of goofier, meme versions.
They even shared an image from a *very* current meme and got onto the NFT bandwagon with exclusive artwork available there.
While the movie was initially scheduled to open in early 2020, less than a year after King of the Monsters, that title’s lackluster performance at the box office had Warner Bros. pushing this one back to later in the year to tighten things up and perhaps even do some more drastic reworking. Despite that delay, the movie was among those included in the studio’s CineEurope presentation to exhibitors in June of 2109. Another delay moved it from March to November 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic pushed it even farther out to May, 2021.
Rumors last December that Legendary was shopping the film to Netflix or other streaming services came and went but were followed by WB’s official announcement that it like the rest of their 2021 slate would be released to both theaters and HBO Max. Legendary was none too thrilled, threatening some sort of action.
One of the first, albeit very brief, looks at the movie came via an HBO Max promo touting the same day theatrical/streaming availability of WB’s 2021 lineup.
The release date was later moved up to March, 2021.
Short promospots were released online in the build up to the movie’s debut.
Warner Bros. signed a deal with exhibition company CineWorld that would make this movie the first to play in CineWorld’s reopening Regal Cinemas.
Featurettes released in the lead-up to release included one that had the cast and crew introducing the idea of #TeamKong vs. #TeamGodzilla and talking about the scale of the action. That match-up was extended to social media, where people were asked to choose sides. Later on a map of the U.S. was shared showing how the majority of people in each state had voted.
More TV spots started coming out just in the last couple weeks and, like this one, largely played like cut-down versions of the trailers, working to set up the conflict. Longer spots went a bit more in-depth, but still focused on the big action of the story.
An IMAX-specific spot was pretty short but got the point across that people should see this huge movie on a huge screen. RealD 3D got a similar promo. For its part, Dolby shared a handful of interviews with the cast talking about the story and their characters.
Promotional partners for the movie included:
Snickers, which released a spot tying into the Kong vs. Godzilla fan voting.
Roblox, which hosted a movie-themed event in the popular virtual world where players could unlock exclusive rewards.
Legendary also announced a handful of publishing tie-ins just a bit before the movie came out.
Warner Bros. sponsored a TikTok challenge that involved a number of influencers on that platform.
A handful of longer featurettes, originally released on home video editions of the previous movies, were published by WB to YouTube over the last several weeks as a way of making sure the audience was familiar with what had come before. Those included:
Landscape artwork acted as both online ads and likely were used for outdoor ads also.
Media and Publicity
Bichir was interviewed about the movie, saying he enjoys the freedom to take different kinds of parts in movies of various sizes.
An interview with Wingard had the director talking about creating the massive monster battles and more of the action that everyone hopes fans are looking for. Another had him sharing the kinds of showdowns he envisioned and how he wanted to pattern the action after some of his favorite ‘80s action movies.
Overall
There’s a great deal that’s very good about the campaign, even when you overlook how it’s supporting a movie that, based on the shrinking box-office returns for the previous films, may not have a huge audience pool to pull from. It has a very nice visual brand that’s consistent from start to finish and it sells a simple message over and over again, counting on repetition being key to both engagement and interest.
When it comes down to it, that simple message is best summed up in a single GIF that, despite the lack of hyperbole or any other pitch, shows exactly what Warner Bros. hopes the audience will either come out to theaters for or use their parents’ HBO Max login to watch.
How Netflix has sold a quirky addition to the Sherlock Holmes franchise.
There have been countless adaptations and updates to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes over the years. Most recently, Warner Bros. put to movies in theaters with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law playing Holmes and Watson, respectively. On TV, the BBC’s “Sherlock” brought the character into the modern era and was itself adapted for U.S. audiences in the form of “Elementary.”
Enola Holmes, out today on Netflix and based on a series of books by author Nancy Springer, puts Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and his brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) in supporting roles while their younger sister Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) takes the lead. On Enola’s 16th birthday their mother (Helena Bonham Carter) suddenly disappears, with Enola left behind to piece together whatever clues there might be in an attempt to find her. Her brothers want her to follow a more traditional path for a 18th century young lady and go to finishing school, but Enola is determined to keep going, even when she winds up becoming entangled in a much larger mystery in London.
Though the story’s setting is in-line with the original stories, the marketing campaign from Netflix has definitely taken a more modern, irreverent approach.
The Posters
The first and primary poster (by marketing agency Concept Arts) came out in August and sets the tone of the film very well with Victorian dresses and suits mixed with bright colors and a title treatment that looks like it was put together with text ripped from magazines.
A series of colorful, slightly pulpy character posters came out just last week, all featuring the same title treatment with each individual placed against a different landmark, location or building that’s featured in the story.
dashing poses: just one of *many* Holmes family talents
Meet Enola, Sherlock, Mycroft & Eudoria in ENOLA HOLMES, coming to Netflix 23 September. pic.twitter.com/aPgaotmtPY
The trailer (7.3 million views on YouTube), released in late August, sells a movie that’s as fun and mischievous as it is filled with mystery. Enola is, we see, completely devoted to her mother, with whom she has a special bond. When she disappears, Enola enlists the aid of her two older brothers to help track her down, but their attempts to civilize Enola aren’t enough for the girl’s spirit. She sets out on her own to find their mother, proving she’s more than capable of holding her own no matter what society expected of most young women at the time.
Online and Social
No stand-alone site for the movie but it has received plenty of support on Netflix’s various brand social channels.
Advertising and Promotions
In production from Legendary, Netflix acquired rights to the movie in April.
Unfortunately a few months later the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyal filed a lawsuit claiming the story violated their copyright on the characters depicted, something it has attempted previously with limited success.
In the weeks leading up to release Netflix put out a number of promotional videos and featurettes. That included the cast explaining the characters and story, Brown reading excerpts from one of the books, an overview of Victorian-era slang and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film that also offers an introduction to the character of Enola and her world.
There was also a more traditional TV spot-esque promo showing how Enola keeps one-upping her famous brothers and refusing to fall into what’s deemed to be her place.
Media and Press
The focus here has been largely on Brown, which makes sense given not only her lead role here but also her popularity on “Stranger Things.” That focus has included a profile on how she got ready for the period role and a joint interview with director Harry Bradbeer about exploring the character and making an action movie with a young woman at the core.
Overall
The campaign is just a lot of fun. With Enola breaking the fourth wall to share her thoughts and frustrations with the audience, her attempts to break away from the path her brothers and society would like her to follow and her determination to find her mother, a great sense of humor and attitude permeates the various marketing assets on display here.
The trailer is great, but the posters are also very important in establishing the movie’s brand for the audience. How the designs evoke the poppiest of pop culture, reminiscent of movies like Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, which had the same attitude on display.
More than all that, it’s a chance for Brown to really breakout from her breakout role and show the kind of range she’s capable of.
Picking Up The Spare
Lots more on Brown and how well she fit into the title role.
There was also a profile of the movie’s production team and how they achieved the story’s look and feel.
Cinematic Slant 