Tagged: Film Marketing
Check it Out: Fox Searchlight Creates a Lego Replica of The Grand Budapest Hotel
Tomorrow Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel will be released on Blu-Ray & DVD. As of today the film has earned $58 million at the American box office and over $100 million worldwide, making it by far his highest grossing film to date. Looking at Anderson’s filmography it’s easy to see why: The Grand Budapest Hotel is a very entertaining film, plot-heavy and star-filled. Fox Searchlight’s marketing push has been just as creative and quirky as Anderson’s films. I especially liked when they revealed the recipe for the Courtesan au Chocolat. Continue reading
Forget About Sexting: Nymphomaniac’s Guide to Naughty Eroticons
I’m always a fan of clever marketing and certainly Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac had one of the best executed film marketing campaigns lately. It all started with a the minimalist, yet iconic teaser poster you can see above (Lars’ idea by the way) and then it went on to provide us with some orgasmic character posters, lots of appetizers and great interviews. As the film has now hit VOD and should hopefully be soon available in its intended, uncensored cut, the film’s official Facebook page posted A Guide to Naughty Eroticons. Continue reading
Check Out These Minimalistic Posters by Neil Kellerhouse for Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin (2013)
Neil Kellerhouse, Criterion DVD/Blu-Ray cover art designer and frequent poster artist for directors like David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh created these fantastic one-sheets for Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin. I love these, because they seem to echo the tone and feel of the eerie teaser trailer we got for the film earlier in September. Also in a day and age where posters are basically a competition to see who can slam more stuff on it, this minimalist approach is very refreshing. Continue reading
“Why Do You Love the Person You Love?” – A Spike Jonze Marketing Campaign
“Falling in love is a crazy thing to do. It’s kind of like a socially acceptable form of insanity.”
– Amy (Amy Adams) Continue reading
Fantastic Fan Posters, Drawings and Behind the Scenes Set Pictures for Spike Jonze’s Her (2013)
In case you didn’t notice I was a huge fan of Spike Jonze’s Her. It’s safe to say that I wasn’t the only one, because I’ve had the pleasure to discover a great deal of very creative fan art on the official website for the Spike Jonze love story. It’s a cool website by the way, if you liked the film I’m sure you’ll enjoy browsing it and find out “everything about everything”. Actually, it’s a blog. I’m sorry: A Spike Jonze Blog. Even better! Continue reading
Ten Favorite Film Posters of 2013
Since it’s a bit early for a top ten of favorite films (still waiting for some possibly great films to be released), I thought I’d start the yearly retrospective with a list of favorite posters. I haven’t seen all the films on this list, so I don’t know if some of these are actually good. Also, that’s not really important. This is about film posters, so it’s about who created the coolest artwork to prompt their picture. Film posters are usually a big part of what gets me excited for a film. Since I try to stay away from trailers as much as possible, most of the times I prefer “static” marketing like stills and posters. Continue reading
Sexy New Posters for Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac and More
A lot of new exciting Nymphomaniac news! I haven’t been updating for a while because it seemed like there was a new still, poster or clip released every day these past few weeks. However like sexual tension it can only build up so long before you just need a release. So here are a few goodies for you as the film’s debut in Denmark is nearing, Zentropa‘s promotion team is remembering audiences why they are considered marketing geniuses. With a film like Nymphomaniac, the very subject matter is controversial and enough to inspire media to write about it. Releasing sexy posters that get censored from Facebook and clips (the so called appetizers) that get removed from YouTube helps as well, of course. Not to worry, though: There’s always Vimeo and the film’s official website of course. Continue reading
Are You Being Serious? James Franco Still Wants You To ‘Consider This Sh*t’
When A24 first asked Academy Voters to consider James Franco‘s performance as Alien in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers many, myself included, viewed it as a marketing stunt. Since then however the studio has never stopped believing in the film and the iconic character it managed to create. Last week cult director John Waters singled out Spring Breakers as his favorite film of the year. The film holds a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and also got mostly favorable reviews on Meta Critic. Continue reading
First Poster for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel
While some of the year’s best films haven’t even been released yet, new awesome sounding projects for 2014 are already shaping up, like Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. The sure to be quirky comedy/drama about a hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) and his friendship with one of his younger employees will surely delight fans of the director. The film is written and directed by Anderson and set in 1920s France. Alexandre Desplat, who composed the music for Anderson’s last hit indie Moonrise Kingdom, will be returning to score the film shot by Wes’ long time cinematographer and collaborator Robert Yeoman. The editing however will be taken over by Barney Pilling (Never Let Me Go) who will work with Anderson for the first time.
Also new to a Wes Anderson film are cast members such as Jude Law, Lea Seydoux, Saoirse Ronan and the aforementioned Ralph Fiennes. Returning actors are Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson and, of course, Bill Murray. The first poster for the film clearly echoes Wes’ aesthetic and his passion for center shots, detailed set designs and minutia. Usually the posters for his films are also indicative of the color palette of the “final product”. Once again he seems to have something very specific in mind and a pink-brownish tone seem to be what he’s going for. I love the poster because it just shows the hotel, which seems to be a “main character” of the film and lists all the talent involved. It’s also great for indicating a time (the 1920s) and place (Europe), by simply evoking the hand-painted early 20th century marketing billboards.
Consider This Sh*t: James Franco Best Supporting Actor
If you’ve seen Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, whether you liked it or not, chances are you remember James Franco‘s crazy performance as Alien the rapper/gangster that bails the lovely ladies out of prison. The film itself also got a lot of praise and critical acclaim as one of Korine’s best films to date and so it is only natural for new distributor A24 to exploit all the good buzz and try to get even more attention by supporting James Franco’s Oscar campaign. In tune with the film’s humor (and language) the provocative, but memorable, slogan is going to be “Consider this shit”, evocative of Alien’s iconic line in the movie “Look at my shit!”.
Personally I think this is more of a marketing stunt than anything else. Their chances of actually getting nominated are slim considering the people they’re addressing (older white folks), but it certainly gets people talking about the movie. Even now that the film is out on home video, the social media marketing on Facebook is still going on, constantly reminding people of the film. I think this is a prime example of film marketing done right and I look forward to finding out how Franco’s campaign works out.
I fondly remember David Lynch campaigning for Laura Dern with a cow, back in 2007, for her stellar performance in Inland Empire. Even if these tentatives aren’t successful they’re fun and inspiring, because these people don’t take themselves (or the Academy) too seriously, but they do so in a loving way. The campaign poster for Franco, showing Alien holding not one, but two statues is pure gold. Stay tuned for more news on James Franco and his Oscar campaign!