Why Serenity went undisovered at the box office! by harshcritic

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Why Serenity went undisovered at the box office!

POSTED BY: HARSHCRITIC
UPDATED: Saturday, November 5, 2005 05:05
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Friday, November 4, 2005 8:31 PM

In my opinion, there were three main reasons why Serenity did not do spectacular at the box office.

First of all, I am an avid movie goer especially during the summer months. When Serenity came out in late Sept, I knew very little about the movie, the fans, or Firefly, the series. I found out that the movie was based on a canceled sci-fi series only after reading about it on a website that tracks movie profits a few weeks after its release.

That brings me to my first point. I think the movie was not properly advertised. The fact that a canceled 1 seaon show can be made into a major motion picture staring all of the original cast partially because of its strong fan base is quite remarkable. Why didn't they do more to advertise the dertermination of its followers to see the show brought back to life.

Secondly, when I saw the movie previews, I thought cheesy. There were just two many 1 comedic liners put into the 3 minute preview. If you knew nothing about the show or the talented writing behind it, you would have thought this is just another stupid end of the summer/ early fall sci- fi movie. of course, when I ssw the movie I quickly realized how well it is written esp for the genre.

Thirdly, I think the movie would have done much better if it were release in March or April. Unfortunately, it was released when movie profits were really taking a dive.

Fortunately, for me I did go and see the movie at the cineplex and was plesantly surprised. The reason why I am even bringing this up is because I really hope that they do a much better job of advertiseing the DVD release of the movie for the millions of people who were not lucky enough to discover it on the big screen. What are your thoughts on this?

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Friday, November 4, 2005 8:48 PM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by harshcritic:
In my opinion, there were three main reasons why Serenity did not do spectacular at the box office.

I agree but I would site a different three:

1. because there was no big name star, because in my experience the FIRST thing (and often the only thing) people ask about a film is 'who is in it' and you figure if it is no one you heard of then it must be a small budget film of limited interest...
this also meant there was no talk show promotions: seeing the stars of a show on a variety of talk shows always raises awareness (but the producers don't invite no name actors onto to their shows...).

2. the title is too vague...people in line at theaters were over heard to say they thought it was a 'chick flick' because of the weak title... frankly I think it would have been better if it was called "A Spaceship named Serenity"

3. Universal moved 'Serenity' from it's originally scheduled end of April opening day because they were afraid it wouldn't have time to build an audience with 'Hitchhiker's Guide' and 'Revenge of the Sith' pushing it out of the movie theaters early, they thought September/October would have fewer films coming out which would allow 'Serenity' more time to build up a larger audience...unfortunately that wasn't the case...a lot more movies ended coming out in the Fall at a time when the box office was at an all time low...

There really wasn't mush any of us could do about it...
the movie got very good reviews.
So yeah, we need to be sure the DVDs get noticed...

Joss Whedon is just grateful that he was allowed to make the movie he wanted to make, that he is proud of it...
and personally I think there is plenty of time, in DVD for 'Serenity' to finally find the audience that missed it in the theaters....

Over the next two years we want the DVD sales to continue, the way the sales for 'Firefly' have continued....

**********************************************
watch the R. Tam Session vids: http://www.hittarivertam.nu/
and buy the 'Serenity' comics published by Dark Horse,
and have you joined the Browncoats yet?
http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/?fuseaction=tools.invlink
&u=embers&linkID=36

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Saturday, November 5, 2005 3:33 AM

ICCLEDAMES

Half of my friends (who were ultimately kidnapped and forced to see the film regardless) said they wouldn't have gone to see it had I not made them. They said the name alone made it sound soppy - a couple of people I know liked the trailers but I know the majority thought it was cheesy.

I think *they* (whoever is responsible) were relying too much on the fanbase advertising the film and saw a chance to save themself some money by not going the whole way advertising it themselves.

Obviously I'm no marketting genius but that's how it seems to me.

And another thing about the advertising - every film does it the same way - a poster and a trailer. Nobody takes any notice any more; they need something to make the promotional work stand out. Through that maybe the film will stand out from the crowd a bit more. I would have liked to have seen cardboard cut-outs, radio commercials, banners or something, just to set Serenity out from the crowd.

Plus with Star Wars already being proclaimed as the biggest and best sci-fi film to hit screens this year, I know a few people saw Serenity as being a cheap copycat. I know it's not true but it's how it seems to me.

Similarly I know a couple of Star Wars fans who held off going to see Serenity in the name of staying true to Star Wars - they said Serenity couldn't live up to Star Wars so why should they bother going to see something that's second-best.

The fools.

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Saturday, November 5, 2005 4:34 AM

FOLLOWMAL

Yea the fools, in my house and among my friends, some of whom had never seen Firefly before seeing Serenity, there was a general proclamation that Serenity was SO much better than Star Wars. I rewatched Star Wars last week, awful, simply awful in comparison to the BDM.

The only place I saw consistent advertising for Serenity was on the SciFi channel, and of course they are tied to Universal so that makes sense.
Also airing Firefly, it helped them. But I saw very little advertising all told. When we went to the theater numerous times.... there were folks talking as they bought tickets asking the ticket agent what Serenity was... I of course told as many people as I could but I think awareness was low.

I do know that anyone who sees the show or the movie WILL become interested in our crew and ship, it's a given. I've seen it happen at the theater and I've had customers tell me that they are just blown away having seen it on SciFi. So the DVD and the show are their own best advertisement. I believe that if I share the Firefly set and the DVD of Serenity with enough folks they will become fans. And if all of us do the same, it will spread.

"Once you live in Serenity, you never leave."

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Saturday, November 5, 2005 5:05 AM

CHRISISALL

Speaking as someone who has had advertising and film classes I have to agree with everyone here, the marketing and promotion of Serenity was simplistic and cheap.

The trailer wasn't too bad, just too busy. It should have slowed down to give a glimse of character, not highlight one-liners for people who don't 'get' the characters yet. It should have frozen as Mal was pulling his gun on the Operative, not shown the discharging of the weapon. And it could've used a better tag line, like, "There's a new saga in town, and it's name is Serenity." You know, push it in the audience's faces that, yes, we will put this up against the Star Wars franchise for comparrison.

I personally loved the theatrical poster, but it told less than nothing to the un-initiated. It should have been more like a James Bond or Star Wars poster, showing some of the real action.

And showing the trailer on tv as an ad was another mistake; they should have shown selected short takes and slipped in comments from the audience at advanced screenings explaining how good the movie was and that if you liked SW....

HEY UNIVERSAL, a bunch of us'll work in marketing for ya!! Just contact us HERE, where the IDEAS are!!!!

Chrisisall

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