Some of the biggest blockbusters of all time (“Avatar”, “Titanic”, “The Dark Knight”) has enjoyed immense publicity through the effective uses of marketing (be it the media frenzy, the attention on the leading actors and actresses.) An excellent story line or unbelieveable technology are only starting points; what is more important at times is…how marketers take advantage (or even exploit) these speical selling points is the key. Each blockbuster has its selling point (“Avatar” = mindblowing technology; “Titanic” = most romantic movie of all time; “The Dark Knight” = the late Heath Ledger’s last movie and best performance to date) Marketers will use these sellings points and blow them up on their advertisements (eg. posters, website) Furthermore, the trailer is another marketing tools. Some movies have 4 or 5 different versions of trailers; while some movie might not even have one. No matter how many trailers a movie has, the important thing to keep in mind is that they must be enticing. Sometimes even a bad movie (with an excellent trailer) can entice some audience.
Of course, there are times when an excellent, excellent movie (that gets little publicity) can still do well. Take, for instance, A Single Man directed by fashion designer Tom Ford, starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, and Nicholas Houlte. A Single Man only played in a limited number of theaters in the U.S., and in Vancouver it only played in Fifth Avenue Theatre. The two times that I went to see it, there were about 20 people each time; most of them were elders. However, it still enjoys a worldwide box office of $24,9191,346. Not a bad number for a movie that was shot in 21 days with a $7,000,000 budget. It also received great reception as it was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, where Colin Firth won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor. He also won a BAFTA for his performance, while being nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscars. These were probably its selling points…the achievements the film attained within short period of time since its release. And I must applaud on the aesthetics of the film; it was truly stunning. The trailer below will give you a sense of how the film is.
