News

Fox pushes 'Wolverine' promos

By Robert Marich
   April 17, 2009 -- Twentieth Century Fox is pushing promotions on multiple fronts for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is a spinoff of the comic/movie series that is scheduled for May 1 theatrical release.
   Hugh Jackman is set to have his hand/feet imprints set in concrete on April 21 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, which is the historic Hollywood cinema with imprints from stars ranging from John Wayne to Marilyn Monroe in its courtyard. The event is a photographer’s dream. The formal ceremony would seem to be suitable for live streaming, but Fox says it isn’t planning to do so—though presumably some web media might.
   On April 29, Jackman is scheduled to appear at a gala event at Madame Tussauds museum in Las Vegas, where he will again be “immortalized” (per a Fox press release), this time in wax instead of concrete. Get ready for more frenzied photographers and another wave of press reports.
   The film’s producer Lauren Shuler Donner will plug the film on Fox Music Channel, which is a sister company to the film's distributor, on a TV program Life After Film School. The half-hour program gets nine telecasts by Apr 29.
   Fox is running a YouTube contest for cities to vie to hold a “star studded, red carpet” Wolverine premiere. Moviegoers vote for cities on website  www.x-menorigins.com/premiere/. Midway through the balloting, Davis, Calif. and Hastings, Neb. were leading.
   Wolverine gets a series of plugs in prime time TV show How I Met Your Mother, courtesy of sibling Fox Broadcasting. Posters of the movie appear in the background of scenes and other references.
   Wolverine faces a tough marketing outlook because a mostly-finished version leaked on the Internet several weeks ago. Oddly at this late date, film still does not yet have an official audience classification (rating).
   At one point, Fox planned to buy a $3 million commercial in the Super Bowl, but eventually decided not to.
    UPDATE: Apr 29, 2009-Tempe, Arizona won the contest for the city to get the Wolverine premiere.
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