The Avengers What sort of MARKETING does THE AVENGERS need to bring in the GA that are not fans?

[g corner book]

Getting away from fantasy movies...

The greatest ensemble movie for me was the The Greatest Escape. It was the GREATEST Bromance ACTION movie of ALL TIME. It had everything, it was an action movie, drama, suspense, comedy, tragedy. It worked without any love interests or female leads.

Granted it was a compelling story because it was based on true events during WWII, the Avengers can steal some movie ideas that worked.

Josh Whedon is known for ensembles, and funny one-liners, and he'll have to use all his magic to make it work. To me, that's just first level and basic requirement for film as huge as this. To take to next level...

First they need a seminal moment in film like Steve McQueen's bike ride against the Germans. It encapsulated the rebellious spirit of escaping the prison camp at it's core. Fighting against all odds, against a villain they cannot defeat. 20 years from now, that's scene you want remembered. I hope they can do something similar with Iron Man. RDJ is your biggest star just like Steve McQueen was also the "the king of cool" back in day. They need a defining scene with it's biggest star.

The Avengers could also use a team building scene like 4th of July when the Americans made moonshine. It was funny, riveting, and tragic all at same time. How is Whedon gonna do it?

Of course, the Avengers is a heavily CG comic book movie so it's not gonna be apples to apples. The tragedy was also many of prisoners never made out, or died, and that won't happen in Avengers. Maybe Cap getting jacked up with Thor coming to rescue is as far as goes, but we need scenes like that. Thing is, the Avengers should be kicking ass from get-go and will be interesting to see how build up.

Steve McQueen "Cooler King" = RDJ
James Garner "The Scrounger" = Chris Evans
Richard Attenborough "Big X" = Samuel L. Jackson
Charles Bronson "Tunnel King" = Mark Rufullo (dealing with demons)
David McCallum "Dispersal" = Jeremyy Renner

You also had James Coburn "The Manufacturer" and Donald Pleasance "The Forger". Not sure how Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson fit into that. It was an extremely strong cast and performances.

 

[Shadowlord X]

I agree that the trailers will need to play up the alien invasion/disaster movie aspect; but we've been led down the primrose path before on movies that promised great fx and delivered little else (Green Lantern, 2012, Cowboys & Aliens, etc.)

While the visuals will be a large part of the sell in the trailers, the saving grace will be the human aspects. There's no doubt that Whedon is great at writing ensembles, and the trailer should play up that camaraderie with all the one-liners.

The trailers and marketing should promise not only ooh-aah fx, but also just a damn fun adventure that doesn't take itself so seriously that it forgets to laugh at itself once in awhile. From what I've seen of the dialogue so far in the teaser, I have no worries at all on that front.

This I agree with. I definitely don't want a movie with all flash but no substance. So looking at overall opinions here's what I think the trailer needs:

- A couple action money shots with mindblowing VFX (ala toppling building in TF3), preferably at least one with THE HULK looking real.
- RDJ as Tony Stark/IRON MAN at the forefront with his trademarked witty banter; the "We have a HULK" line is gold IMO.
- Scenes that emphasize the epic scale of the invasion.
- Scenes that play up the coming together of several franchises into one grand scale franchise.
- Scenes that show a bit of rivalry and bromance between the main characters.

 

[Shadowlord X]

Getting away from fantasy movies...

The greatest ensemble movie for me was the The Greatest Escape. It was the GREATEST Bromance ACTION movie of ALL TIME. It had everything, it was an action movie, drama, suspense, comedy, tragedy. It worked without any love interests or female leads.

Granted it was a compelling story because it was based on true events during WWII, the Avengers can steal some movie ideas that worked.

Josh Whedon is known for ensembles, and funny one-liners, and he'll have to use all his magic to make it work. To me, that's just first level and basic requirement for film as huge as this. To take to next level...

First they need a seminal moment in film like Steve McQueen's bike ride against the Germans. It encapsulated the rebellious spirit of escaping the prison camp at it's core. Fighting against all odds, against a villain they cannot defeat. 20 years from now, that's scene you want remembered. I hope they can do something similar with Iron Man. RDJ is your biggest star just like Steve McQueen was also the "the king of cool" back in day. They need a defining scene with it's biggest star.

The Avengers could also use a team building scene like 4th of July when the Americans made moonshine. It was funny, riveting, and tragic all at same time. How is Whedon gonna do it?

Of course, the Avengers is a heavily CG comic book movie so it's not gonna be apples to apples. The tragedy was also many of prisoners never made out, or died, and that won't happen in Avengers. Maybe Cap getting jacked up with Thor coming to rescue is as far as goes, but we need scenes like that. Thing is, the Avengers should be kicking ass from get-go and will be interesting to see how build up.

Steve McQueen "Cooler King" = RDJ
James Garner "The Scrounger" = Chris Evans
Richard Attenborough "Big X" = Samuel L. Jackson
Charles Bronson "Tunnel King" = Mark Rufullo (dealing with demons)
David McCallum "Dispersal" = Jeremyy Renner

You also had James Coburn "The Manufacturer" and Donald Pleasance "The Forger". Not sure how Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson fit into that. It was an extremely strong cast and performances.

Interesting idea. I have to say I'm not opposed to borrowing concepts from well done successful movies.

 

[UnkillableMick]

As I said in the trailer thread, I'd like to see something similar to this.

BLACKNESS

FURY: Mr Stark!

Smash cut to Tony Stark's house (scene from Iron Man). Nick Fury appears from the shadows.

STARK: Who the hell are you?

FURY: Nick Fury. Director of SHIELD.

SHIELD base (scene from Iron Man 2). Stark looks at a folder marked "AVENGERS INITIATIVE."

FURY (V.O.): I want to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.

DISNEY LOGO

A bar (scene from The Incredible Hulk). Stark approaches General Ross.

STARK: What if I told you we were putting a team together?

ROSS: Who's "we?"

Several quick shots of the Avengers cast.

New Mexico (scene from Thor). Thor speaks to Agent Coulson.

THOR: You may consider me an ally.

Several quick shots of the Avengers cast.

New York City (scene from Captain America: The First Avenger). Nick Fury approaches Captain America.

FURY: You've been asleep Cap. For almost 70 years.

MARVEL STUDIOS LOGO.

The Helicarrier. Fury addresses Stark, Cap, Hawkeye and Widow.

FURY: I've brought you here because earth is facing its greatest threat yet.

An image of Skrull crafts appears on a screen behind Fury. Stark snorts.

STARK: Little green men?

FURY: That's hardly an accurate statement, Tony.

Stark looks serious for a moment. Then, Fury smirks.

FURY: They're the same size as us.

A few quick shots of Skrulls in action.

The Helicarrier. The four leave the room.

HAWKEYE: So who's gonna lead this little expedition?

Cap and Stark share a glance.

A couple of quick shots of the four (in costume) infiltrating a facility.

A large room. Dozens of Skrulls are gathered working on various things. On a walkway above, the four Avengers look down, flabbergaster.

STARK: We're gonna need a bigger boat.

A small town. A figure in a hood and cap walks away from the camera.

FURY (V.O.): How 'bout a bigger man?

Widow approaches the figure?

WIDOW: Dr Banner?

The figure turns around to reveal that it is Bruce Banner.

A quick shot of the Hulk roaring and pounding his fists pretty much straight into the camera.

The Helicarrier. Cap (in costume) looks at Iron Man.

CAP: If we can't stop them... no one can.

A montage (with dramatic music) begins to play as we are introduced to our principal cast - ROBERT DOWNEY JR, CHRIS EVANS, CHRIS HEMSWORTH, SCARLETT JOHANSSON, JEREMY RENNER, MARK RUFFALO and SAMUEL L JACKSON. Interspersed with this are shots of Loki looking evil, Coulson in danger and whatever small cameo Pepper Potts may have.

The montage ends with Iron Man firing his arc reactor directly at the screen.

THE AVENGERS LOGO.

Smash cut to dozens of Skrulls running at the six Avengers, bunched tightly together. Cap readies his shield, Hawkeye readies his bow and Widow pulls out two pistols. Iron Man's chest RT begins to glow and Mjolnir begins to crackle with electricity, while Banner's eyes turn green. Thor thrust Mjolnir outwards and lightning fills the screen, which goes blinding white.

CREDITS SCREEN.

I think it will show the GA how the previous films are linked, and give them enough of an idea of what The Avengers will bring in terms of uniqueness.

 

[cherokeesam]

As I said in the trailer thread, I'd like to see something similar to this.



I think it will show the GA how the previous films are linked, and give them enough of an idea of what The Avengers will bring in terms of uniqueness.

It's good for a 30-second teaser, but you need some action. Not just seeing the heroes *prepping* for action. The theatrical, as Shadowlord said, is going to need to bring a LOT of boom-goes-the-dynamite to the table. No more teases, no more glimpses, no more "get ready for the Avengers".....it's time to *show* the Avengers doing what they do.

Also, kinda doubting now that the Skrulls have any role in this movie at all. Most of the leaks were getting are saying squarely that there's no Skrulls.

 

[nogap87]

We are pretty much guaranteed posters of each major player in the film but if Marvel wants to sell this as a disaster/invasion movie than they need to use the TF3 approach and have the posters depict the heroes as if they just participated in a major battle. Thor made it through his movie without getting a speck of dirt on his cape, Cap was the cleanest WW2 movie I've ever seen and Black Widow never even cracked a sweat. The Avengers need to put the heroes through the wringer if they are going to grab the GA's attention. "Battle damaged" posters are a easy way to show the audience that these guys mean business.

 

[Shadowlord X]

Ummm, CA:TFA's teaser poster is the grimiest I've ever seen.

 

[Lord]

For the trailer they need to show the heroes and their names so that people know they weren't dreaming by seeing all their heroes together.
Then they have show the explosions and action, ending with the one liners

 

[Mysteryman]

Forget all this " Big Event" business and just convince the GA that Superhero fans or not they are going to have a GREAT time.
Emphasize action, humor and scenes that give a across a feelling of "Fun".

 

[nogap87]

Ummm, CA:TFA's teaser poster is the grimiest I've ever seen.

But his face looked like he stepped out of a Men's Health magazine cover. And, he made it through his movie with his costume intact.

The Spider-Man trilogy handled battle damage pretty well. It helped sell the fact that Parker was in serious danger.

 

[cherokeesam]

But his face looked like he stepped out of a Men's Health magazine cover. And, he made it through his movie with his costume intact.

The Spider-Man trilogy handled battle damage pretty well. It helped sell the fact that Parker was in serious danger.

I think the set photos from Cleveland and New York show a pretty good bit of battle damage and fatigue. The Thor and Cap team-up, in particular, looks like Cap gets put through the wringer.

 

[GhostPoet]

What they need to do is make a 5 minute trailer of RDJ drinking some starbucks and saying "You know...i'm in this movie. You should see it."

 

[Ash Talon]

Walmart is considering giving Avengers premium store presence. They're locked in for Batman and Spider-Man. And currently considering Avengers. I'm sure Disney will push them into climbing aboard the Avengers train. They'll obviously be carrying merchandise, but I'm talking about putting Avengers adverts in other areas of the store.

Regarding how to promote the movie. They need to show the interaction between Iron Man, Thor, and Cap. Some actual on-screen interaction. Having these distinct properties crossover has never really been done before, so let the general audience be aware of this. And of course some shots of the carnage would be fantastic.

I imagine that even though they've only just finished shooting, I'm sure they've been working on the effects for a while. If they can get it looking good enough, I think they should end the trailer with some shots of carnage and the Avengers getting knocked around. And then Hulk shows up. End trailer.

 

[nogap87]

I think the set photos from Cleveland and New York show a pretty good bit of battle damage and fatigue. The Thor and Cap team-up, in particular, looks like Cap gets put through the wringer.

Yea, Cap looks like he'll get tossed around a bit. Hopefully Thor will follow suit sometime during the movie (against Hulk maybe?)

Either way, I just want to see these guys get pushed to their limit.

 

[dony2012]

I agree that alone the fans still made these movies do well but together!

"With your powers combined I........AM CAPTAIN BOX OFFICE!"

No other film has taken the leads from other movies and combined them into one awesome film (except of course The Expendables ).

This is like taking all the LOTR fans and HP fans and making a movie where Gandalf and Dumbledore battle for wizard supremacy!

Except... None of the pre-Avengers films had made as much as any of the HP or LOTR movies. Not even close.

Well, with the exception of Iron Man 2 of course.
But that's ONE film...

 

[Flint Marko]

Except... None of the pre-Avengers films had made as much as any of the HP or LOTR movies. Not even close.

Well, with the exception of Iron Man 2 of course.
But that's ONE film...

Iron man and Thor almost did half a bilion dollars, and Captain America is still trucking along.
Yeah these films box office figures aren't mind-blowing, but they're solid enough.

I think, at this point, it's going to be people who saw the individual movies, either in the theater or at home, and that's it. I don't see them bringing in new audiences at this stage in the game.

I would very much disagree with that.
I think all you have to push in the ads is the fact that this the first Superhero team franchise, with all of these separate heroes from these separate movies coming together against a common threat.
That idea in and of itself is cinema gold. The Avengers movie is, in every sense of the word, unprecedented, and I think a lot more of the GA will be turned on by that than you'd think.
Add to the fact that this is the first Marvel movie being handled by Disney, and you've got a guaranteed hit. They're gonna market the ever loving crap out of this thing, and they're gonna do it right.

 

[cherokeesam]

Iron man and Thor almost did half a bilion dollars, and Captain America is still trucking along.
Yeah these films box office figures aren't mind-blowing, but they're solid enough.


I would very much disagree with that.
I think all you have to push in the ads is the fact that this the first Superhero team franchise, with all of these separate heroes from these separate movies coming together against a common threat.
That idea in and of itself is cinema gold. The Avengers movie is, in every sense of the word, unprecedented, and I think a lot more of the GA will be turned on by that than you'd think.
Add to the fact that this is the first Marvel movie being handled by Disney, and you've got a guaranteed hit. They're gonna market the ever loving crap out of this thing, and they're gonna do it right.

"First superhero team franchise....?"
What are the X-Men, Watchmen, Fantastic Four, The Incredibles, No Ordinary Family, Heroes, Smallville-flavored Justice League, and even the Mystery Men....? Chopped liver...?

 

[Spider-Vader]

"First superhero team franchise....?"
What are the X-Men, Watchmen, Fantastic Four, The Incredibles, No Ordinary Family, Heroes, Smallville-flavored Justice League, and even the Mystery Men....? Chopped liver...?

Because it's the first one where the team members weren't all introduced in that film alone. It's a big crossover, something like this hasn't happened before. Well, atleast not to this extent. I think that aspect will get some new people in seats. Someone who's never seen any of the movies might get interested JUST because of the team-up aspect. They'll see Iron Man, Cap, Thor & Hulk & get interested on why & how these characters are in the same movie.

 

[Mysteryman]

I don think the GA thinks like that .
"I want to see this movie because it features the first superhero team where the heroes were not introduced in that film alone ."
You sell it as an exciting movie , PERIOD!
If you sell it as an Historic Superhero Event, you wil limit your audience.

 

[Aluchak]

They won't need to do much more than just market the thing. Its not like the GA doesn't know the Avengers. Ever since Iron Man hit it big, the Avengers has been common knowledge among average movie goers.

I know some of you like feeling like the GA doesn't know about it and that its a secret nerd thing, but really its not.

I'm an average movie goer. I don't read comics or anything, I've just really enjoyed super hero movies ever since I was a kid. And I'll dish out money to see all of them in the upcoming summer. and I don't usually do that with movies

 

[Raiden]

Because it's the first one where the team members weren't all introduced in that film alone. It's a big crossover, something like this hasn't happened before. Well, atleast not to this extent. I think that aspect will get some new people in seats. Someone who's never seen any of the movies might get interested JUST because of the team-up aspect. They'll see Iron Man, Cap, Thor & Hulk & get interested on why & how these characters are in the same movie.

Yeah, and this will be one superhero movie where GA can't say that they've seen it before, because this has never been attempted before. I think the novelty of this movie will get alot of moviegoers who would be curious enough to check it out, and since both Thor & Capt. America have their own successful movies, it should be able to get a broader spectrum of audience to see this movie. But the bottom line is that, if The Avengers is truly a good movie, it will make its money. If it isn't, no amount of marketing will ever be enough.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I don think the GA thinks like that .
"I want to see this movie because it features the first superhero team where the heroes were not introduced in that film alone ."
You sell it as an exciting movie , PERIOD!
If you sell it as an Historic Superhero Event, you wil limit your audience.

Well, I have a feeling Disney/Marvel might do both. There seems to be enough cool action scenes to get non-fans hyped.

 

[cherokeesam]

They won't need to do much more than just market the thing. Its not like the GA doesn't know the Avengers. Ever since Iron Man hit it big, the Avengers has been common knowledge among average movie goers.

I know some of you like feeling like the GA doesn't know about it and that its a secret nerd thing, but really its not.

I'm an average movie goer. I don't read comics or anything, I've just really enjoyed super hero movies ever since I was a kid. And I'll dish out money to see all of them in the upcoming summer. and I don't usually do that with movies

I don't think that general knowledge is the obstacle to getting non-fans/new fans into the theater: as you say, the Avengers in comics/toons and the movie project itself is fairly common knowledge by now.

The biggest problem Marvel faces is simply in convincing people they should see a movie featuring an ensemble of characters they didn't care about enough to see the first four/five movies. It's just going to be too hard a sell beyond the audiences that have already bought into the project, and that audience hovers roughly around Iron Man numbers.

This is the part where I really, really wish Marvel coulda-woulda-shoulda gone with some marquee players instead of Hemsworth, Evans, and Ruffalo. A team-up featuring a big-name cast would've sold itself as a "cast of thousands all-star event." As it stands now, the biggest celeb names in the MCU so far are support characters/ lesser villains (Sam Jackson, Scarlett Johanson, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Rene Russo, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow).

 

[Shadowlord X]

I don't think that general knowledge is the obstacle to getting non-fans/new fans into the theater: as you say, the Avengers in comics/toons and the movie project itself is fairly common knowledge by now.

The biggest problem Marvel faces is simply in convincing people they should see a movie featuring an ensemble of characters they didn't care about enough to see the first four/five movies. It's just going to be too hard a sell beyond the audiences that have already bought into the project, and that audience hovers roughly around Iron Man numbers.

This is the part where I really, really wish Marvel coulda-woulda-shoulda gone with some marquee players instead of Hemsworth, Evans, and Ruffalo. A team-up featuring a big-name cast would've sold itself as a "cast of thousands all-star event." As it stands now, the biggest celeb names in the MCU so far are support characters/ lesser villains (Sam Jackson, Scarlett Johanson, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Rene Russo, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow).

But seriously, how important is it that this movie be 'the biggest blockbuster of all time, etc., etc." I think MARVEL's casting has been spot on. They've gotten great actors who can embody the character as well as look like them! Was a potentially bigger BO due to name stars more important than this. I don't believe so. Also as can be seen from many movies big names don't always guarantee BO sucess nowadays.

You are correct; more big names would have added more grandiose effect to THE AVENGERS, but I prefer what they have done.

 

[Godzilla2000]

I still stand by the usage of implied nudity, but not for the female cast members.