I don’t care when this drops, I just need to hear Bardem speak this line in this exact intonation…

Saw The Nun 2 In theaters, and they had the first trailer with the new date. I almost cried. :crybaby:No. The SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, they already put out all the new promotional material with the new release date, and most importantly, they forfeited their IMAX screens to The Marvels.
What successful Oscar campaign are they going to get releasing in March?Zendaya alone has almost 200 million followers on Instagram. They have a gigantic cast that they absolutely need to promote the film, to boost both a successful box office and a successful Oscar campaign. They don't exclusively rely on them but it would be a pretty big blow without them like other films have reported this year.
One the other hand it is still going to cost them quite a bit to promote the film again, the IMAX exclusivity is a question mark (though I'm optimistic it will end up having a good deal again) and it hurts both the awards promo and the momentum of the first movie. So to think that they would have moved it regardless of the strike makes pretty much zero sense and undermines the importance of actors in marketing.
The fact that she has a big fanbase doesn't mean that there aren't various types of fans that follow her. Not everyone knows exactly what, where and when she's doing everything. And she was just an example. We are talking about one of the biggest casts for a Hollywood movie. You can't have them sit around and not being able to promote anything or thinking that it won't affect the box office in any significant way.What successful Oscar campaign are they going to get releasing in March?
Zendaya's online presence works against the idea that they need to heavily promote. Those fans would already know it's coming. They're already invested.
Oppenheimer is a front runner pre-award season movies. This has happened multiple times with Nolan. How many Oscars has he walked away with?The fact that she has a big fanbase doesn't mean that there aren't various types of fans that follow her. Not everyone knows exactly what, where and when she's doing everything. And she was just an example. We are talking about one of the biggest casts for a Hollywood movie. You can't have them sit around and not being able to promote anything or thinking that it won't affect the box office in any significant way.
The March date is not good for the awards (like I already said in my post), but it doesn't automatically diminish any chances it has. Oppenheimer wasn't released in awards season either and it's the front-runner for most Oscars this year. Sure, July is much better than March, but what's even worse than March is to try and do an Oscar campaign without any actors to promote it.
I know most of you are bitter for this delay, I am too, and I can understand thinking it's not a good idea, even if I find it more of a necessary evil myself. What I don't understand is where exactly are you basing the fact that the movie's delay has nothing to do with the strike and what it really is about, which you didn't elaborate. Do you believe that it has something to do with the VFX artists that can't finish it on time? What's your thinking behind this? It's an honest question.
This time'll be different, Darth! You'll see!Oppenheimer is a front runner pre-award season movies. This has happened multiple times with Nolan. How many Oscars has he walked away with?
)While true, I do not think it in anyway makes it's chances better. So at best, it's a wash. There is a reason most Oscar contenders come out very late, until the Oscars decide they want to throw a bone to the marginalized. Which thankfully worked out last year.This time'll be different, Darth! You'll see!
(I actually do believe this is his year at least as far as Best Director is concerned, but I digress...)
Another thing to note is that an early in the year release doesn't automatically spell doom for Oscar chances. Everything Everywhere All At Once was released in March, after all. Get Out came out in February 2017 and while the biggest award it won was Best Original Screenplay, it most certainly wasn't forgotten and had a year's worth of momentum going into it.
Oh for sure, the most sensible thing for studios to do is release their Oscar contenders close to or during awards season. It just so happened that cinema in 2022 peaked in March and the Academy didn't argue.While true, I do not think it in anyway makes it's chances better. So at best, it's a wash. There is a reason most Oscar contenders come out very late, until the Oscars decide they want to throw a bone to the marginalized. Which thankfully worked out last year.
While you make some interesting points, I still think you severely underestimate the boost such a big cast would give to the film's marketing. The delay can be both a tactic and a bit of a necessity. One doesn't necessarily negate the other.Oppenheimer is a front runner pre-award season movies. This has happened multiple times with Nolan. How many Oscars has he walked away with?
That said, Oppenheimer is a cultural event Dune is probably not going to be.
I'm not bitter about the delay. I'm excited for The Marvels to get the IMAX screens and not having to deal with Dune. I think the delay have very little to do with the strike because all signs point to it.
1. The strike's only happened because the studios wanted them to. They knew this was coming for a while. It wasn't a suprise. They were still the ones who played hardball.
2. Barbie's and the Nun II's success is exactly why these kind have happened in the past. Shifting a potential money maker to a different year/quarter, is something this studio has done in the past. Different mangement, but still.
3. They are spending more money to promote this again, then they could possibly make up on the back end with "promotion". Think of all the successes that have happened over the last 3 months without promotion, both in theaters and on streaming. During the dead months. It's because all they need to do is show pictures of the actors and run TV spots. That's the formula. Not late night/early morning TV drops.
Social media already knows. That's why they're on social media. They're too involved in what these actors do. Case-in-point, Taylor Swift's concert movie.
4. Blaming the strikes for these delay, was a tactic to try and get the public to turn on the workers. Once that happens, it removes it immediately from the table.
Disney made these threats on multiple occasions, but did not move The Marvels or Wish. Because they need the money.

As far as box office, I think it stands to do better in March than it did in its original slot. I was always kind of iffy about it coming out in November as I made it clear in this thread many times that they should have pushed it up to October to distance itself from The Marvels. Careful what you wish for, I guess.While you make some interesting points, I still think you severely underestimate the boost such a big cast would give to the film's marketing. The delay can be both a tactic and a bit of a necessity. One doesn't necessarily negate the other.
I mean if they only wanted to scare actors they would have moved their entire slate like Sony. Instead they moved only the one big movie we know they care enough to do well for future installments and they left Aquaman, from a dying franchise that they couldn't care less, to rot.
The biggest problems the sequel faces are bigger marketing cost due to the delay and losing a bit of the momentum (ideally it should have been a movie that came one year after Part One, instead it will come after two and a half years).
I still believe that it wouldn't have any serious chance for a solid Oscar campaign without the actors to support it, and even though March generally is not a good month for awards contention, like @Drizzle said it still did wonders for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.
Furthermore competition in March doesn't look as severe as having a big Marvel movie opening one week after this film's premiere. Biggest competition is Snow White and all signs show that it will be delayed too, as will other movies early next year (not that I think it will do serious numbers like Little Mermaid in the US).
As for the IMAX screens I don't see any reason why it won't get another exclusive window if it got one the first time. Even if it gets a smaller one, if the movie is a big hit it will extend like Oppenheimer's.
