News
Dark 'Bones' Turns To Female Audience
Updated link added Dec. 24 at bottom...
Dec. 16, 2009 – Audience research produced an unexpected finding for The Lovely Bones, the PG-13 rated supernatural thriller from Paramount Pictures.
Teenage girls and young women liked the film, despite its plot that revolves around a murdered girl active in the hereafter, says a Los Angeles Times article. A by-invitation test screening in Kansas City during November revealed that females 14-25 are drawn to the film as a tale of woman empowerment. OTX Research conducted the screening.
“That has led the studio to flip-flop its marketing strategy for the PG-13 film in hopes of tapping the same audience that propelled the Twilight movies to the box-office stratosphere,” says the article by Claudia Eller and Ben Fritz. “The unexpected interest among girls could prove to be a lifesaver when the movie opens nationwide Jan. 15, since adults so far appear to be lukewarm on the picture.”
The Los Angeles Times article continues, “Paramount has designed an aggressive promotional campaign that kicks off next week featuring TV spots that play up the movie’s thriller elements on MTV and such popular teen series as Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and Glee. Online, the studio is targeting blogs dedicated to the Twilight series.”
The article quotes Megan Colligan, co-president of marketing at Paramount, saying, “While the initial plan was that the primary target audience was over 25, we discovered that the teen and college-aged audience is critical to the success of this movie.”
The article quotes Megan Colligan, co-president of marketing at Paramount, saying, “While the initial plan was that the primary target audience was over 25, we discovered that the teen and college-aged audience is critical to the success of this movie.”
Lovely Bones, which reportedly cost about $100 million to make, is from Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson. It opened in limited release last Friday and goes wide in mid January. The movie is based on a 2002 novel that sold 7 million copies.
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