News
Clever Marketing Propels Shoe-string 'Paranormal'
By Robert Marich
Oct 12, 2009 – Paramount’s Paranormal Activity has become a darling of the moment, given it was produced on a shoe-string production budget and it is posting high per screen grosses, albeit in narrow release.
The horror film with a catchy marketing campaign was reportedly made for around $15,000 initially as demonstration project in an effort to secure financing for a bigger-budget remake.
Over the just-ended three day weekend, Paranormal grossed $44,163 a theater at 160 locations. Usually, anything over $10,000 per location is excellent, but most other films play on hundreds or even thousands of locations. So Paranormal – given small theater count – grossed a modest $7.9 million to rank fifth for the weekend. Its mock documentary style and low budget draws comparisons to The Blair Witch Project, which is a blockbuster from a decade ago.
Paramount-partner DreamWorks picked up Paranormal at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival with the notion of remaking it.
“But after audiences responded well to a test screening, Paramount decided to sneak Paranormal Activity out in a manner befitting its raw, independent roots,” says an Associated Press story. “The studio began two weekends ago with midnight screenings in 13 cities, the movie building buzz online much as The Blair Witch Project did 10 years ago.”
The AP story continues, “Fans talked it up on Twitter and Facebook, while the movie expanded to more cities based on which markets received the most requests to see it on a Web site Paramount set up. This past weekend’s 46 markets were heavy on big cities, but mid-sized cities such as Norfolk, Va., also made the cut as fans there voted to bring the movie.”
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praises the film’s marketing campaign and wrote, “I’m sitting here at my desk, looking at the studio website for Paranormal Activity and in the top right-hand corner there’s a yellow box that says ‘Demand it!’ When you click on the box, you’re led to a site where you can vote for the movie to come to your city, and can also see how many people have voted for the film to come to their city. (As of this moment, it’s 28,157 in New York, 7,830 in Miami, and 592 in Springfield, Missouri.) At the center of the home page is a big clock of Paranormal Activity demand; the number keeps ticking upward, as you (yes, you!) vote to see (no, demand!) the movie. (Right now, the total tally stands at 525,435. If it goes to a million, the film will open nationwide.)”
Gleiberman said, “What’s ingenious about the marketing campaign for Paranormal Activity is the notion that it’s putting the power of movie distribution in your hands. That’s a very bottoms-up, invitingly democratized thing to do. It is also, of course, a pure publicity stunt.”
Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition notes that, while such rags-to-riches Paranormal stories are heartening, shoe-string budget films are a shot in the dark (the vast majority go nowhere) and distributors are usually disappointed by the box office of such films--even if they have a low cost. Such films can be a particularly bad bet for major studios suited for wide release films; the majors need a stream of solid box office to support their distribution overhead costs.
Paramount plans to break out Paranormal very wide nationally next weekend, which will test the cinderella story. Blair Witch, while a sensation, played off quickly though achieved blockbuster box office of $140.5 million in 1999.
For full text click link below: (go down several paragraphs in first story to find Paranormal)
online.wsj.com/article/SB125528469166278769.html
movie-critics.ew.com/2009/10/07/paranormal-activity-marketing-campaign/
www.marketingmovies.net/chapters/chapter-1-creative-strategy-for-marketing/