Did millions of people go to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in the first week of release because it is such a great film, or because it is so well marketed? Or Both?
The figure – that 32% of the final gross of the film was made in its opening weekend – suggests that Pirates of the Caribbean was a popular film in it’s first week of release was because of the marketing rather than the quality of the film. It starred three popular actors – Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley – and was of course a follow up to a highly successful and acclaimed blockbuster, meaning it was very anticipated as a film. As a result, it made 135 million in its opening weekend, though this ended up being a substantial amount of the film’s overall earnings suggesting that audiences were not as keen to re-watch it as they were to watch it the first time around.
Why do you think Cloverfield was such a successful movie?
One o f the main reasons why Cloverfield was a success was because of its use of viral marketing in accordance with the ‘found footage’ genre it was part of. The marketing was able to stir up curiosity and interest by giving it a fairly low profile. The first information given about it was a teaser trailer giving no name for the film and only a release date. The main footage shown was a homemade video of New York being attacked by something unidentified, ending with an image of the head of the Statue of Liberty crashing through a street. These glimpses of the film were memorable, and led to audience interest due to the fact that they were not totally explained. Via word of mouth, the interest was heightened as blogs and viral websites posted information about the film, sometimes relating to the backstories of the characters and sometimes cryptically revealing information about the monster story. In this way, the film has a universe which goes beyond the 90 minute film itself, making it a more intriguing experience to moviegoers. Cloverfield was not the first ‘found footage’ film and it is certainly not the last – however, in recent years, very few ‘found footage’ films have put as much effort into making their stories seem believable in the way that Cloverfield did.
To what extent do you agree with the statement that the audience of tomorrow is online? What examples from your own consumption of films and media lead you towards the internet?
I believe that there will be a general tend towards watching films online with the younger generation for several reasons. For one thing, they consume the advertising and publicity of the films they watch mainly online through adverts on youtube and awareness pages on websites and social networking sites such as Facebook. This means that it will feel natural for them to actually watch their films online rather than go to the cinema and see them. Furthermore, the internet opens new windows of opportunity for lesser known or independent directors to get their films seen and can become popular as a result of this.
Personally, I have often favoured watching films at the cinema or at least renting them on DVD as I often find myself particularly drawn towards certain films with certain actors or directors which give me more of an incentive to watch them on the best formats available. However, most of the marketing for films which I have enjoyed recently I have often consumed online – Apple Trailers for example showcase all trailers for upcoming films, and film websites such as IMDb offer information about upcoming films which I may want to see. Online marketing has also opened new opportunities for creating excitement – not only can trailers be shown online but short select scenes from films to advertise the film as a whole to the audience. One particular film that got my attention through this was the film Drive, which released it's opening prologue online before making a trailer.
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