Movies that may have been screwed by their marketing

[TheDreamMaster]

So I've been thinking about this for a while, and I see it more and more these days. What I mean is, watching the first trailer for White House Down, it looks super serious, like a lot of action films, and didn't really do much to distinguish itself from others, especially Olympus Has Fallen. But then another trailer came out painting as being a lot more light hearted and funny. This could be an out of context trailer, or could be how the movie will be, we don't know.

So what movies did the marketing really sell it to the wrong crowd. The most recent I can think of was Magic Mike. not a movie I originally intended to see, but my girlfriend convinced me to go. I was totally sold it was a comedy about male strippers and it would be just one of those types of movies for women, but it was actually a deeper film, that went to rather dark places and the lighthearted/comedic moments were kept mostly to the first 30 minutes of the film. I was surprised, and came out liking it a little more than I expected, while I heard so many people complain that it wasn't like the previews showed at all.

 

[warhorse78]

Uh, lets see. Probably Drive. I was expecting a movie about a man who is a hollywood stunt driver by day and a kickass getaway driver for bank robbers at night. It doesn't mention that 3/4 of the movie is dragged down by a boring girl and her kid.

 

[ThePhantasm]

John Carter

 

[Snow Queen]

Dredd. The movie is awesome but that marketing campaign (especially the music they used) was so annoying it put me off the film entirely until the Blu Ray came out.

 

[MadVillainy]

I think Pain and Gain had bad marketing. The movie still made some money but they advertised it as a fun romp where these Robin Hood type guys steal from a criminal. But in reality the guys in the movie are actually very sadistic and possibly psycotic

Watchmen had a teaser trailer that is cool to people who know the source material but really alienated people who didnt know the novel. Same with John Carter

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

 

[MadVillainy]

i think Scott Pilgrim was advertised well for what it was. It was clear with the movies' style and plot. I just dont think the style and plot interested people to see it in theaters

 

[Max J Power]

Watchmen had a teaser trailer that is cool to people who know the source material but really alienated people who didnt know the novel. Same with John Carter

Definitely. The ads for both movies made it seem like wide audiences would know who the characters were, but actually, the source material was only familiar to viewers who were big comic and science fiction fans.

The first movie I thought of when I read the thread title was Pleasantville. The previews made it seem like a light-hearted, kind of goofy comedy when it was really more of a drama. Based on the ads, modern audiences probably thought the movie was going to be too old-fashioned.

Another one I thought of was The Spirit. In a move of great stupidity, the studio pushed its release from early 2009 (a good time for not-so-good movies to have financial success) to Christmas 2008 (a very competitive time for the box office). And, from what I remember, this move was made for the sole purpose of doing a "Christmas Spirit" promotional campaign, which doesn't make much sense for a movie that wasn't about Christmas at all. I'm sure the movie's poor reviews didn't help, but the marketing for it was so bad you can't blame it all on reception.

 

[bullets]

I think Pain and Gain had ad marketing. The movie still made some money but they advertised it as a fun romp where these Robin Hood type guys steal from a criminal. But in reality the guys in the movie are actually very sadistic and possibly psycotic

I remember people laughing in the theater at everything for almost half an hour then it started getting quiet and awkward.

 

[Lex Luthor]

Ang Lee's 2003 HULK film comes to mind.

With all the trailers, promotional tie-in's, and merchandise surrounding the film's opening, the general assumption was that HULK would essentially follow a similar path in tone like that of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man from the previous year. Needless to say, Ang's direction wasn't exactly what audiences was expecting, and the film suffered the consequences at the box office shortly thereafter.

 

[TheIrishAvenger]

The Amazing Spider-Man

A film which was promoted with the title "The Untold Story", which ended up being untold.

 

[metaphysician]

John Carter. Dredd.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Hancock, the trailers for it made it seem more comedic that I thought it would be how Hancock didn't want to be a superhero and the movie would deal with all his goofy follies, basically I was expecting another Blankman type of comedy.

But then they threw in the twist of Charlize Theron also having powers.

 

[jonathancrane]

-John Carter

I agree with the assessment of Dredd, but, to an extent: there was one magnificent trailer where they had La Roux's "In for the Kill," and a nice selection of video that formed a terrific summary of the film: stylized violence, trippy slow-mo, electronic music, and Karl Urban's awesome gravelly voice.

 

[Teelie]

After Earth hasn't been mentioned yet? Dredd, Hancock, John Carter, I agree on. There are a number of movies that are mis-marketed or just poorly marketed, period.

I don't know which is worse, the misleading bait-and-switch movie that typically is overhyped and disappoints or the movie that gets no marketing, is good but the PR couldn't put out the effort to promote it.

 

[MadVillainy]

What was bad about After Earth's marketing. I thought it was pretty straight forward?

 

[Rowsdower!]

Better marketing wouldn't have saved John Carter or Dredd. The former was a mess of a film that failed on multiple levels, and the latter was a comic book character that simply not enough people care about.

 

[Teelie]

What was bad about After Earth's marketing. I thought it was pretty straight forward?

From what I've heard it's far more boring and uninteresting than the marketing would have you believe. It promised action and adventure and instead I've seen it was anything but. I haven't seen it myself yet but the majority who have seem to agree with that assesment.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Well yeah, of course they would advertise it like that...they want it to make money.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Dredd was the first one that came STRAIGHT to mind. Not saying it would have been a smash, but it definately would have made more with much better marketing.

Hulk and Serenity also come quite close behind as well.

 

[Gort Baringa]

I remember years ago that The Right Stuff was marketed as a serious documentary movie and did not show some of the great characterizations and humor that was in the film. This great film was a box office let down because of this as I understand.

 

[Gold Samurai]

Green Lantern

Bad reception at Comic Con which leads to the studio's getting cold feet and wanting to pull out of Comic Con promotion all together.


The trailers went in all directions. You had one showcasing "Iron Man" lighter tone. Then another trailer which tried to sell "Green Lantern" as a space epic



John Carter- The 200 million dollar bomb.

The director didn't have the best shots ready in time for the trailer so we got a lackluster trailer.

Also the movie wasn't advertised that well

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Hancock, the trailers for it made it seem more comedic that I thought it would be how Hancock didn't want to be a superhero and the movie would deal with all his goofy follies, basically I was expecting another Blankman type of comedy.

But then they threw in the twist of Charlize Theron also having powers.

Wow I forgot about Hancock. I wish they'd kept that movie like the first 30 or so minutes instead of going the direction they did. However, I did read the original script "Tonight, He Comes" and it was always intended to have some sort of serious tone, so I guess I'm not as surprised anymore.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Trance earlier this year.


And in a different way Amazing Spider-Man. Considering they spoiled the after credits scene in the trailer. -_-

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Better marketing wouldn't have saved John Carter or Dredd. The former was a mess of a film that failed on multiple levels, and the latter was a comic book character that simply not enough people care about.

Eh... John Carter could have been better salvaged. The advertising for the movie wasn't that appealing at all. From how they were cut and presented to the music used. Stanton cut the trailers as people knew who John Carter was, and it blew up in him and Disney's faces.

i think Scott Pilgrim was advertised well for what it was. It was clear with the movies' style and plot. I just dont think the style and plot interested people to see it in theaters

Agreed. The advertising for Scott Pilgrim was pretty straightforward the movie with a lot of action and romance in the commericals as well as the trailer. It was also pretty widely advertised. People just didn't want to see it and others would have rather seen The Expendables as it came out the same weekend.

Uh, lets see. Probably Drive. I was expecting a movie about a man who is a hollywood stunt driver by day and a kickass getaway driver for bank robbers at night. It doesn't mention that 3/4 of the movie is dragged down by a boring girl and her kid.

That's pretty much the only way to advertise in order to get people to watch the movie. If you actually marketed it the other way, it would have made even less.