News
Comics, Toy Brands Are H'wood's New Stars
By Robert Marich
Sept. 28, 2009 – As Hollywood’s top stars continue to struggle at the box office – Bruce Willis sci-fi film Surrogates opened poorly this weekend in the latest example – it is toy and comic book “brands” that seem to be the new headliners.
“Movie studio development slates are rapidly filling up with projects based on well-known toys and games,” says a timely Los Angeles Times article by Ben Fritz. “Some high-profile projects in the works include ones based on the classic video game Asteroids, Lego building blocks, the View-Master toy, dolls Barbie and Stretch Armstrong, and board games Battleship, Ouija, Monopoly and Candy Land.”
Hollywood is simply following box office trends when Batman comic book-derived The Dark Knight was 2008’s top film and toy-based Transformers (2): Revenge of the Fallen is a $402 million box office (domestic only) sensation this year—also at number one.
In past decades, Hollywood preferred to adapt books and novels – the Harry Potter films are a modern example – that were rich with story and engrossing characters. The comic book and toy phenomenon is driven by properties that have a brand image – which cuts through today’s media clutter and make film derivatives cheaper to market – and appeal to the youth office that dominates box office.
“There’s no shortage of Internet and media commentary mocking the trend, but as those working at and selling to studios can testify, there’s a simple logic at work – it’s what executives refer to as ‘unaided awareness,’” notes the LA Times article. “If a movie’s name has immediate resonance for consumers, then the traditional first step of a marketing campaign -- selling the concept -- is already taken care of.”
Then marketers can immediately concentrate marketing tonnage on specific elements such as visuals, characters and plot points. Also, the path to riches from movie licensed merchandise is easier, because retailers are more inclined to stock known properties with proven sales power than products from completely original movies, which are a question mark.
Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition notes the film business has trends that run in cycles. A current trend is that star-driven movies have suffered more than its share of box office flops this year. Sci-fi yarn Surrogates – an $80 million production including the salary of star Willis – mustered a weak $12.2 million for Walt Disney Studios for its premiere three-day weekend. It ranked second behind an animated film holdover.
Earlier box office disappointments were registered by Will Ferrell (Land of the Lost), Jack Black (Year One), Julia Roberts (Duplicity) and Johnny Depp (Public Enemies). Also, not registering well in box office – though not outright flops -- were Tom Hanks (Angels & Demons), and Denzel Washington and John Travolta in (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3).
For full text, click links below:
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-brands28-2009sep28,0,1264698.story
www.marketingmovies.net/news/star-power-permanently-dims-at-bo/
www.marketingmovies.net/chapters/chapter-5-merchandising/
A test of star power comes with Shutter Island, which Paramount delayed from next month to next February. The ad below has the original release month of October...