Two Questions - Seeking Enlightenment by Hell's Kitten

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Two Questions - Seeking Enlightenment

POSTED BY: HELL'S KITTEN
UPDATED: Thursday, May 12, 2005 05:12
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Tuesday, May 3, 2005 2:53 PM

Okay, so "enlightenment" might be a bit strong. I'm really just fishing for opinions from my fellow Innapennants.

Now, I did my part and sulked somethin' fierce April 22 (and the 21st, just to get geared up for a real run at sulking; I merely brooded the 23rd), but with the recent rash of screenings, my wee mind has kicked over to the "thinking" mode. And the result is two things I don't understand. (Okay, there are far more than two things, but we'll start here.)

First, I'd like to know... what's the point of an actual release date (or premiere) if you're gonna show screenings to every BrownCoat and his cousin? Okay, so that's a mite exaggerated, but the question is valid. Granted, I don't pay much attention to a lot of things, so does this happen with a lot of movies, and I just don't know it? (That, by the way, doesn't count against my stated two questions; I consider that a sub-question of the first.)

Second, as an off-shoot of the foist question.... What's up with Mr. "Hates Spoilers More Than Anything in the 'Verse" Whedon showing all these screenings? Isn't that kinda... I dunno... spoilery? Not that I'd mind a screening in Minneapolis (hint, hint), but this whole thing kinda bewilders me, especially in light of such things as asking G. Mandel to take down his page of Serenity art from his online portfolio. So, what's the deal? Am I just being my naturally paranoid self?

That's it. For now, anyway. As always, all opinions welcome. Thanks.

Cheers.

无党派人士

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Tuesday, May 3, 2005 3:16 PM

HASUFEL

Interestingly, I've read from Joss's messages the clear understanding that while it's his creation, it's Universal's property. And all of the marketing plans and activities are from Universal. I'm sure he has input, but this whole screening thing is a Universal show. And the idea was to have a very limited release, have those few hard core fans out there pull in some recruits and start building some mindshare in the public. They just totally misunderstood the interest in this movie by several orders of magnitude (they thought they were going to have to advertise and beat the streets for a week, for chrissakes). How they could have been so off after attending ComicCon last year (the U-suits were there) is beyond my poor comprehension, but here we are.

Clearly, they far exceeded their buzz goal (ref. Yahoo, DVD sales, etc.) so what their next move is is anybody's guess.

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Tuesday, May 3, 2005 5:32 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I think the answer is simple. Joss has made two movies, and the real one won't be seen until September.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 4:56 PM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Joss has made two movies, and the real one won't be seen until September.

Isn't it obvious? I mean, this promo thing has sound in space, fer CRYin' out loud.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) Stones, "Gimme Shelter", from "Let It Bleed"

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:39 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I have to admit, even though I've got tickets to the show on the 26th, I'm worried.

The 30 screenings that will have occurred by the time of the movie release won't be counted as part of the release weekend box office. Nor dollars earned per theatre, nor any of that stuff.

If you had only 400 seats per theatre, you'd have 12,000 browncoats that have seen the advanced screening. 12,000 tickets that won't be counted. Granted, that's only $80-90 thousand dollars, but I wonder.

What's Universal after? Are they trying to make especially sure that the movie appeals to fans?

Most of those sitting in the pre-screening will be fans. Are they keen to get fan input?

What are they after? I just don't know.

Won't stop me from watching the show, though.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:56 PM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:

Not that I'd mind a screening in Minneapolis (hint, hint)

I hope you got tickets for Minneapolis on May 26th Hell's Kitten!

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:59 PM

LEEH

Relax, folks--everyone who went to an advance screening is going to go to the main event, so that box office will count. And believe me, we are a drop in the bucket of what Universal needs to see to be happy. A couple thousand seats over a few screenings is nothing compared to what they need to see in the way of box office.

As for the why of it all: we're discussing this on other threads. Apparently the first "Star Wars" movie was promoted in this fashion, to generate buzz and to make it look like a fan hit before it got general release. Let's hope it works as well for our BDM, yes? I think this marketing strategy makes a lot of sense.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle. . . ."

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 7:22 PM

BATMARLOWE

They could also be trying more cities to get a handle on how broadly they should release it.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 11:30 PM

SIMONWHO

$100,000 is a statistical error in terms of box office, neither here nor there. In fact, $1,000,000 is almost irrelevant in terms of box office. What matters is whether the positive buzz creature by us thousands upon thousands of browncoats is going to translate into tens of millions of dollars.

Also, who was asked to take down their online art and why?

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Thursday, May 12, 2005 2:28 AM

HELL'S KITTEN

Quote:
Originally posted by embers:
I hope you got tickets for Minneapolis on May 26th Hell's Kitten!

Unfortunately, I did not.

I was out of town for that stupid "Mother's Day" scam... I hope my mom appreciates the sacrifice I made for her. Hee...

无党派人士

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Thursday, May 12, 2005 2:32 AM

HELL'S KITTEN

Quote:
Originally posted by SimonWho:
Also, who was asked to take down their online art and why?

Read my original post again, pet, it's all there. Joss (or his representative) asked G.Mandel (Graphic Desinger) to remove the art he created for the movie from his online portfolio because there were "too many spoilers" in the artwork. It's not a big deal; just an incident showing Mr.J's dislike of anything spoiler-y, which is no secret.

无党派人士

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Thursday, May 12, 2005 5:06 AM

NICOLACLARKE

I confess I'm pretty puzzled by this strategy, too. If it's supposed to get the word-of-mouth out to non-Browncoats - how? The tickets are being announced on FF fansites, and snapped up in a matter of hours by pre-existing fans... how is anyone who hasn't already been converted to Firefly even going to hear about the screenings, let alone get tickets?

Or is this idea that people will take along unconverted spouses/friends/etc? (If so, why couldn't they just do this on the opening weekend, like everyone else? Or lend them one of their five or six DVD sets

for free?)

It is, also, odd coming from spoiler-phobe Joss, although I take the point that he may not be in control of this strategy.

I agree with whoever pointed out that $100,000 more or less isn't much on total box office. But $1 million is - at least on opening weekend.

Not that I'd be any less inclined to go see Serenity on wide release if I'd been to a preview. But if I happened to be really busy on the opening weekend, I'd be less worried about seeing it immediately - might wait until I had more time.

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Thursday, May 12, 2005 5:12 AM

ZNACHKI

Quote:
Originally posted by NicolaClarke:
I confess I'm pretty puzzled by this strategy, too. If it's supposed to get the word-of-mouth out to non-Browncoats - how? The tickets are being announced on FF fansites, and snapped up in a matter of hours by pre-existing fans... how is anyone who hasn't already been converted to Firefly even going to hear about the screenings, let alone get tickets?

It's all about creating buzz. Since the screenings have happened there have been several reviews on websites (AICN, IESB etc.), in papers (Boston) and a comic strip. Plus more, that I'm sure I'm missing.

I posted yesterday on another thread about an NPR story about marketing movies and changing strategies. You might check out the thread (not started by me, or the story from NPR (5/11/05).

ed: here's the thread
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=10040

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