It's 2015, Let the Studio Bombs Commence!

Freya Black · February 10, 2015

Seventh Son doesn't seem to have an obvious marketing angle unlike Jupiter.

I'm surprised it has done as well as it has. Even now I don't have a clear idea what the movie is... beyond some kind of fantasy movie.

Freya

Bill DiPietra · February 10, 2015

Strange, I've only seen one trailer for each of those films and they gave me no sense of what the stories are about.

That's mostly what I see in the trailers for today's movies that wind up being rather nonsensical. The studio knows if it were to reveal more than explosions, SFX & and a soundtrack so loud that it's virtually inaudible, it wouldn't appeal to anyone. Marketing it that way, at least they get the video game generation of today. Which is pretty big.

I just watched the trailer for Jupiter Ascending and I have to say, I've seen far worse. But, regarding story, just take a look at the trailer for a film like The Imitation Game. There is no comparison.

February 10, 2015

Jupiter Ascending would need a 525M gross just to break even. Following the 3X production budget rule.

Hollywood only reports GROSS ticket sales. No where near that amount of money actually ends up in the hands of the studio once the theatre chains and overseas distributors all take their cut.

R,

February 10, 2015

That's mostly what I see in the trailers for today's movies that wind up being rather nonsensical. The studio knows if it were to reveal more than explosions, SFX & and a soundtrack so loud that it's virtually inaudible, it wouldn't appeal to anyone. Marketing it that way, at least they get the video game generation of today. Which is pretty big.

It's now legendary how Hollywood promotes comedies. All the funniest "bits" go into the trailer, done. After seeing these gags a hundred times in the trailer and TV spots, they really aren't funny when you see them in the actual movie you just paid to see.

Then again, trailers only have one mission, put a**es in the seats. If the trailer does that, it's a successful trailer, period.

R,

Bill DiPietra · February 10, 2015

Then again, trailers only have one mission, put a**es in the seats. If the trailer does that, it's a successful trailer, period.

I completely agree, Richard. But there was a time (not so long ago) that they accurately sold the films. What you saw in the trailer really was just a teaser of what wound up being an astounding experience.

Rakesh Malik · February 24, 2015

I completely agree, Richard. But there was a time (not so long ago) that they accurately sold the films. What you saw in the trailer really was just a teaser of what wound up being an astounding experience.

When you're making a trailer for a film that isn't particularly inspiring, I suppose you have to settle for putting booties in seats instead of marketing a great film.

The more money the studio throw at their films, the less creativity they show. I suppose that's why we're seeing so many remakes and reboots; the execs with the checkbooks aren't looking for good ideas, they're just trying to repeat past successes.

Emphasis on the "repeat" of course. I don't think that many of the studio execs have put much thought into what made previous movies successful or not, they just see the glitz and explosions and a-list actors and think that they have a winning formula because it worked the last time, even though audiences are clearly tired of it.

I was listening to Kenneth Duran's (not sure about the spelling, since it was a radio show :)) weekend review of the summer lacklusters, and it was comical, to say the least. He described the four biggest action films that were in the theaters that weekend, one after the other. His plot synopses were nigh identical, the only difference being the lead's profession (a cop who doesn't play by the rules... a firefighter who doesn't play by the rules... etc).

Sadly, the hollywood movie scene seems only to be getting worse.