Superman Returns How do you compare the hype to other summer blockbusters?

[ultimatefan]

Nah Superman wasn't marketed right to beat TPM & Spiderman.

WB's approach was to pretty much keep a low profile on the film until a month out. They took the flood gate approach of showing all these TV spots, trailers and clips 30 days before the movie open date.

I remember Spiderman's hype starting 1 full year before the movie came out. I'm not talking about the hardcore comic fans, but the general public was hyped about it a full year ahead of time.

With Star Wars, CNN was running the trailer for Lucasfilm every 30 minutes in November of 1998. This was FREE advertising to, I would remember seeing it as a part of their news & they did the same thing for the full trailer that March.

Superman has been sprung on the public just within the last few months. It hasn't slowly been built up to the general public over a year or so like SM & SW, I still think it will make over 300 million though.

Some people say that was exactly the problem with the marketing for Batman Begins: they burned too much of the marketing too early and didn´t have enough when the movie was about to open. NOW is the time to flood the market with trailers and spots and clips, when people are gonna be scheduling their moviegoing.

 

[VGPOP]

Well thats part of the problem!

You ever heard of Word of Mouth?

 

[Nivek]

Well thats part of the problem!

Oh, they know it's there. We just come here to talk about it every day so it is a bigger deal with us. this may be just like Spider-man 1 again, no one predicted it would be that big. Or it might just be kinda "Non-Phenominal" like Batman Begins box office was. Given the current state of the Box office, it is hard to tell how things will turn out with the General Public.

 

[Ita-KalEl]

There is an article about this discussion:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/06/superman_concer.php


It seems that people isn't too interested in SR.

 

[ultimatefan]

Oh, they know it's there. We just come here to talk about it every day so it is a bigger deal with us. this may be just like Spider-man 1 again, no one predicted it would be that big. Or it might just be kinda "Non-Phenominal" like Batman Begins box office was. Given the current state of the Box office, it is hard to tell how things will turn out with the General Public.

Yeah, nobody predicted how big Spider-Man was going to be. Before the release of Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2, a lot of "experts" were saying people were a lot less interested in those sequels than the originals...

 

[Nivek]

Um, that reads like a blog, not really an article.

And UF, I dont listen to Box Office "experts". To me they are about as useful as political analysts and weathermen. And about as reliable as well.

 

[VGPOP]

There is an article about this discussion:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/06/superman_concer.php


It seems that people isn't too interested in SR.

well, whoever is doing this tracking didn't ask ME, or my co-workers, or my family, or some friends!

so, I hardly pay attention to these "tracking" since they are never 100% accurate.

Although I do love these reports when movies come out and they say

"it blew past expectations!....not even the most optimistic people predicted this!"

 

[ultimatefan]

There is an article about this discussion:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/06/superman_concer.php


It seems that people isn't too interested in SR.

That kinda article doesn´t consider the word-of-mouth factor, which I believe will play in SR´s favor.

 

[retconned]

You ever heard of Word of Mouth?

Yes, I have indeed heard of the Word of Mouth concept. Im saying that it's lacking, along with bad marketing. When I mention the movie to people, they say....

........What, there is a new Superman coming out? Who is playing Superman? Who is that guy? Who is he fighting? What is the storyline? Is it a sequel? Who else is in it? Kevin Spacey is awesome, I wanna tap Kate Bosworth. Get my drift.

 

[Weadazoid]

Yes, I have indeed heard of the Word of Mouth concept. Im saying that it's lacking, along with bad marketing. When I mention the movie to people, they say....

........What, there is a new Superman coming out? Who is playing Superman? Who is that guy? Who is he fighting? What is the storyline? Is it a sequel? Who else is in it? Kevin Spacey is awesome, I wanna tap Kate Bosworth. Get my drift.

exactly there has been too much of that.

And when I ask some friends what their plans are for the July 4rth weekend.


Well... most aren't saying I definatly gotta check out Superman Returns.


Which is what I expected by this point.

But then again this doesn't really feel like a huge Holiday weekend, mostly because the 4rth doesn't fall on the weekend it falls on a tuesday... and that kinda takes some of the shibang and big holdiay weekend feel away from this weekend.

 

[retconned]

exactly there has been too much of that.

And when I ask some friends what their plans are for the July 4rth weekend.


Well... most aren't saying I definatly gotta check out Superman Returns. Which is what I expected by this point.

But then again this doesn't really feel like a huge Holiday weekend, mostly because the 4rth doesn't fall on the weekend it falls on a tuesday... and that kinda takes some of the shibang and big holdiay weekend feel away from this weekend.

I agree, when holidays like the 4th fall on weekdays, it takes the fun out of getting sh1tfaced.

 

[Steelsheen]

what i'd like to find out is if the "floodgate" approach is more effective than the traditional "all year" marketing, because i seen the floodgate trend happening since LOTR: TTT.

 

[Excel]

It's hype in the states i svery similar to that of war of the worlds, maybe a tad bigger. the tv spots need to start airing every though.but im not seeing enough though.

 

[ultimatefan]

It's hype in the states i svery similar to that of war of the worlds, maybe a tad bigger. the tv spots need to start airing every though.but im not seeing enough though.

Well, WOTW had a huge opening. It lacked a bit in the word of mouth department, though, that´s where I see SR´s advantage.

 

[Ita-KalEl]

IMO the only great problem is the Opening Weekend.

 

[covenant]

It looks like WB is counting on Word of Mouth for this movie, much like BB. Which is a good thing. Means they think they have a winner on their hands and they dont need to beat it into the ground like Fox did with X-3.

I believe that both BB2 in 2008 and SR2 in 2009 will be marketed to high heaven as both characters will have been reestablished to be quality products after B&R and S4 drove the nail into the proverbial coffin.

And I think 250mil is WBs goal for this flick. For them its not just the BO, its the revitalization of everything with and S on it.

 

[Carp Man]

There is an article about this discussion:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/06/superman_concer.php


It seems that people isn't too interested in SR.

I agree with what he says. It should be tracking bigger. Whatever SR makes will be IMO, more then halfed by POTC. WB ***** when it comes to marketing. What the heck is Click ? Never heard of it.

Comments

Even with the gas crisis, people travel during the 4th of July weekend. If Warners really wanted to, they could have released the film next Friday. No one wants to see Click, except for some stupid fratboys. The studio has gotten too fat and lazy off all their Harry Potter money to make better marketing decisions.

I agree. Move it up to June 23rd. 2 weeks before POTC 2. Even thou I agree with the up 2 days, it would have made more sense to push it up to June 23rd .

 

[Excel]

the release dates not the problem. nothing is the problem. the films may and june marketing as thus far bee incrdible and thats what it needed. i dont wanna hear w.b. sucks at marketing cause lookaround! superman returns is everywhere! i cant watch tv without seeing a spot, i cant come online without seeing an ad, i cant go to grocery store without seeing his picture everywhere, i cant go the gas station without seeing him on the all the food. i cant go to a convience store without seein gton sof superman toys and merchandise, all the good stuff gone too.


what more do you people want? yes there need to more t spots but im confident that problem will be fixed. weve also got another theatrical trailer coming with cars.

 

[ultimatefan]

I agree with what he says. It should be tracking bigger. Whatever SR makes will be IMO, more then halfed by POTC. WB ***** when it comes to marketing. What the heck is Click ? Never heard of it.

Comments

Even with the gas crisis, people travel during the 4th of July weekend. If Warners really wanted to, they could have released the film next Friday. No one wants to see Click, except for some stupid fratboys. The studio has gotten too fat and lazy off all their Harry Potter money to make better marketing decisions.

I agree. Move it up to June 23rd. 2 weeks before POTC 2. Even thou I agree with the up 2 days, it would have made more sense to push it up to June 23rd .

What gives me hope in some ways is nothing really really clicked big time with the USA audience this summer so far. MI III was a disappointment. Poseidon was a flop. Da Vinci Code and XM TLS are doing well, but their success in US is more hype than anything else. Cars is doing fine too, but it didn´t generate as much interest as other recent Pixar movies. No movie this summer has reached the 250m mark in USA yet and we don´t have many big holidays releases like HP4 and Narnia this year.

 

[Cosmic]

I don't often hear people talking about Superman Returns, nor does anyone have anything to say about it when I bring it up in casual conversation, but I do believe it will be huge, like X3. What I find is that most people have basically no knowledge of new releases until the weekend when they finally hit theaters, at best. I meet (or eavesdrop) people almost every day, talking about how they're planning to go see X3 for the first time. Advertising for movies is overrated. I think timing is more important. When we saw X3 on opening weekend, it was THE movie to see. I know a number of people who saw it twice that weekend, because they liked it enough the first time, and they didn't really care to see anything else that was showing. I think Superman Returns will have similar results.

 

[ultimatefan]

I don't often hear people talking about Superman Returns, nor does anyone have anything to say about it when I bring it up in casual conversation, but I do believe it will be huge, like X3. What I find is that most people have basically no knowledge of new releases until the weekend when they finally hit theaters, at best. I meet (or eavesdrop) people almost every day, talking about how they're planning to go see X3 for the first time. Advertising for movies is overrated. I think timing is more important. When we saw X3 on opening weekend, it was THE movie to see. I know a number of people who saw it twice that weekend, because they liked it enough the first time, and they didn't really care to see anything else that was showing. I think Superman Returns will have similar results.

Yeah, we forget that casual moviegoers often make their decision in the eleventh hour.

 

[retconned]

the release dates not the problem. nothing is the problem. the films may and june marketing as thus far bee incrdible and thats what it needed. i dont wanna hear w.b. sucks at marketing cause lookaround! superman returns is everywhere! i cant watch tv without seeing a spot, i cant come online without seeing an ad, i cant go to grocery store without seeing his picture everywhere, i cant go the gas station without seeing him on the all the food. i cant go to a convience store without seein gton sof superman toys and merchandise, all the good stuff gone too.


what more do you people want? yes there need to more t spots but im confident that problem will be fixed. weve also got another theatrical trailer coming with cars.

W.B. sucks at marketing

 

[hitmanyr2k]

Nah Superman wasn't marketed right to beat TPM & Spiderman.

WB's approach was to pretty much keep a low profile on the film until a month out. They took the flood gate approach of showing all these TV spots, trailers and clips 30 days before the movie open date.

I remember Spiderman's hype starting 1 full year before the movie came out. I'm not talking about the hardcore comic fans, but the general public was hyped about it a full year ahead of time.

I agree...Spider-man and Star Wars hype is like nothing I've seen. Those kind of movies just have year-round buzz going for it. Spider-man 3 doesn't come out for another year and I think it still has more buzz than SR right now with all the villains/Venom talk.

The capper was today though. I was just out with my family for Father's day and I asked my father (a casual Superman fan like myself) if he wanted skip a half day of work to see Superman a little earlier in the day when it was released. He had no idea the movie was even coming out. No one in my family (young and old) knew anything about this movie coming out

 

[kytrigger]

Everyone keeps saying that they didn't build the hype up for it like Spiderman 2 or SW3 or even X3, but that's because this is a new series (basically). While we have an interest in Superman because we are fans, teh general audience doesn't. They're hyped for Spiderman 2 because they saw Spiderman only a couple of years ago, it's still fresh in their minds. WB is marketing this movie (and BB) fine. No matter what they do, it would be almost impossible for either of the films to get the hype of SW3 no matter what their marketing tactics were.

Now I do think that for BB2 and the SR sequel that will eventually come that WB should market them more aggressively.

 

[Ita-KalEl]

Everyone keeps saying that they didn't build the hype up for it like Spiderman 2 or SW3 or even X3, but that's because this is a new series (basically). While we have an interest in Superman because we are fans, teh general audience doesn't. They're hyped for Spiderman 2 because they saw Spiderman only a couple of years ago, it's still fresh in their minds. WB is marketing this movie (and BB) fine. No matter what they do, it would be almost impossible for either of the films to get the hype of SW3 no matter what their marketing tactics were.

Now I do think that for BB2 and the SR sequel that will eventually come that WB should market them more aggressively.

Perfect
Infact the hype around the first POTC was ZERO.
Even this board was full of doubters last week. But reviews afrer reviews the hype is rising.