Archive for the ‘Movie Marketing’ Category
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels
Did that sleek-as-hell Tron: Legacy trailer leave you with the aching desire to leave this world behind and journey through a dangerous cyber universe with Jeff Bridges? Well, Disney’s giving you your chance … kind of. As part of their marketing push for the upcoming 3D film extravaganza, Disney’s theme parks are transforming their monorails into slick, Tron-advertised trains adorned with Light-Cycles zooming from one end of the monorail to the other. (Click the last link for larger pictures.)
They’re not so much making the monorails look like machines zipping about the blue world, but rather super-long advertisements much like the buses and transportation that get slapped with big advertising stickers. It’s not much, but it makes sense — this is the easiest way to morph Disney’s transit, and it’s not like they’re going to paint all of the tracks the appropriate glowing blue to match, or let their patrons zoom around on speedy bikes suspended high above the ground.
We can only hope a wilder version will come with the original Tron ride, rumored to be in the works. Ah, can you imagine it? Hop on your own Light-Cycle, zoom your way through a glowing cyber world? This is only the beginning, folks.
How else would you like to see Tron pop up at Disney?
[via Geek Tyrant]
Filed under: Action, Drama, Romance, Universal, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, War, Trailers and Clips
Scott seems to be returning the story into that of Saxons versus Normans. (Richard the Lionheart and John were as French as can be. England wasn’t that thrilled that the House of Anjou had showed up to take over.) But it also seems to be the story of the barons standing up against King John and demanding their rights. Will we see him sign the Magna Carta? Should that be a spoiler alert? Oh well.
Anyway, I’m excited and a lot more impressed by the scope of this trailer, which has a lot of action, a lot of eye-catching actors, and a lot of heart. I’m in love with Cate Blanchett’s sword-swinging Marion. An anachronism? Maybe. But this is the era in which women were still causing marital havoc (Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine) so perhaps she’s the last of a fierce breed. Besides, who can resist seeing Russell Crowe cowed by a girl?
The trailer is below, thanks to Yahoo! What do you think? Does it interest you now? Does it give too much away?
Continue reading New ‘Robin Hood’ Trailer Looks Less Like ‘Gladiator’!
Filed under: Animation, Disney, Celebrities and Controversy, Movie Marketing
Warning: The above picture may contain content that boys won’t like, including a female and that female’s really long hair.
Last week I attempted to figure out why, exactly, Disney decided to change the title of their upcoming animated film Rapunzel to Tangled. After sending a couple emails to Disney, the only response I received was that it was “a filmmaker decision”. A filmmaker decision … to change the title of a film from one that immediately has a familiar, built-in audience to one that, in all honesty, is kinda boring? I originally figured the title change may have had something to do with them altering the traditional Rapunzel story enough that it warranted a completely different title, though Disney’s weird “can’t say anything about that, sorry” reply was just too odd. So I figured, eh — why make a whole lotta something out of nothing, and I dropped the idea for a story … until today.
Looks like The Los Angeles Times was in the mood to do a little more digging, and what they found out was that Disney changed the title because they wanted it to appeal to more boys. Not that Tangled immediately shouts out, “Hey boys, there are boys who do lots of cool boy things in this, so come see it!” … but after the Mouse House apparently blamed Princess and the Frog’s box office failures (yes, $222 million worldwide is not good enough these days) on the fact that boys were turned off by the word “Princess” in the title, a move to strip Rapunzel of her identity was commissioned … because, ya know, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid never really had much success with their girl-ish titles either, right?
Says Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios: “We did not want to be put in a box. Some people might assume it’s a fairy tale for girls when it’s not. We make movies to be appreciated and loved by everybody.”
Continue reading The Real Reason Disney Changed ‘Rapunzel’ to ‘Tangled’
Filed under: Awards, Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Movie Marketing, Oscar Watch
Gawker
never could get a response from Variety, but the LA Times did. Variety put Robert Koehler’s review of Iron Cross back up, and claimed they had taken it down in order to investigate “factual inaccuracies” after Newton complained. This investigation included Variety’s editor Tim Gray actually sitting and watching the film, and deciding that the trade could stand by Koehler’s review. Gray declined to give his own opinion on the film to the Times.But Iron Cross’ Newton isn’t satisfied. According to the New York Times, Newton has now filed a lawsuit against Variety accusing the paper of “contractual breach, negligence, fraud and deceit, and unfair business practices.” He believes he was betrayed by the paper that suggested the film as a potential awards contender and approached him two months later with the advertising package. They formed an “exclusive media partnership” which included print and online ads, 40,000 DVDs, and inclusion in an awards screening series sponsored by the paper. Newton spent an additional $800,000 to finish the film for its brief theatrical run in Los Angeles that would allow it to qualify for the Oscars. The producer claims this partnership and Oscar campaign was undermined when Koehler ran a negative review of the film. He’s asking for “general damages, punitive damages, restitution of funds paid and an injunction to prevent Variety from further comment on the movie” but has not specified a monetary amount.
Continue reading It Continues! ‘Iron Cross’ Filmmaker Sues Variety For Negative Review
Filed under: Disney, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
Greetings, programs. In the coming weeks you’re going to be seeing a number of exciting updates and reveals from the folks at the Walt Disney Company, specifically regarding their highly-anticipated follow-up to the 1982 film Tron. Dubbed Tron: Legacy, Joe Kosinski’s film is meant to be a sequel, a re-imagining, and a spin-off all at once, and fans have already spent considerable time and effort trying to uncover even a few glimpses of what’s in store when they sit down in theaters on December 17, 2010. Amazingly, and without any more effort than it takes to press play, check out the trailer right over here.
Although I’ve reported on some of the viral promotions that Disney successfully coordinated at Comic-Con and more recently in different cities across the globe, I admit that I’m not much for spending hours trying to decipher code or rendezvous at secret locations for swag – although I admit, I do want the swag. (Who can’t use a Velcro wallet that has Tron printed across it and carries old-school trading cards?) But the new trailer really does have me excited: it offers more clues about the set-up of the upcoming film, and provides a look at the world of Legacy, and perhaps most importantly to newcomers, what happens within it.
Unlike some of the recent films that were retrofitted or “upgraded” to 3-D, Tron: Legacy was actually shot with that format in mind, so it’s probably best to see this footage writ large on a gigantic screen with a pair of polarized lenses strapped to your face. But as a taste of the cinematic buffet to come, this clip for Tron: Legacy will have you thanking The Users for taking you one step closer to the final film.
Continue reading ‘Tron: Legacy’ Trailer Debuts, Nerds Like Me Weep With Joy
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
Even better, you get to see some of Scarlett Johansson. She still doesn’t have a single line to her black leather catsuit, but she gets to throw some sultry glances and shoot Tony Stark’s palm gun. I don’t even mean that to sound sexy, but it’s going to. I can’t help it.
War Machine fans might get the biggest thrill, though. I remember a good friend of mine telling me how cool it was when War Machine debuted in the comics — well, I think this is the same kind of geektastic, pants-wetting moment. The suit looks great, and it’s going to be really fun to see him blast stuff away.
Anyway, this trailer looks very cool. Iron Man 2 is going to be the movie of the summer. Let’s call it now.
ETA: Now that I’ve watched it a few times — who appreciates Tony’s collapsible armor in the photo above? That’s some early, early Iron Man for you!
Continue reading Tony Stark Flies Again in ‘Iron Man 2′ Trailer
Filed under: Movie Marketing
With over $115 million in the bank after just three days of work at the domestic box office, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland hardly needs the opinion of a bunch of critics to boost its success. Good thing too, since the critics couldn’t be more mixed on it scoring the film a 53% at both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Those on the positive side like At the Movies’ Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott have been polite in their praise calling the film “interesting” while the detractors are using words like “disposable”, “fiasco” and “catastrophe.” I suppose every generation needs their own Return To Oz or Hook. But to every yang there is a yin and it was unlikely that Disney was going to put the words “ugly mess” onto their ads.
If you saw the TV spots earlier in the week, you may have come across one where Johnny Depp says he is thinking of words with the letter “M”. Lo and behold the next thing we see is:
“Masterpiece.” “Mischievous.” “Miraculous.” “Must see.” – Lisa Stanley
“Magical.” “Madly inventive.” “Magnificent.” – Pete Hammond
Continue reading Monday Morning Quote-A-Back: Wonderland and The Crazies
Filed under: Animation, New Releases, Disney, Exhibition, Movie Marketing
There are two things that I feel I must share up front, in the spirit of full disclosure. The first is this: I consider myself a fan of Tim Burton. Every time I hear that the frazzle-haired aging Goth crackpot is releasing a new film, I feel an undeniable frisson of excitement, sure that this one will be on par with Big Fish, or Mars Attacks!, or (oh pleasepleaseplease) Ed Wood. And so I eagerly anticipate every new Burton film — up until that point when I’m trapped in a theater with Planet of the Apes or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, weeping sadly into my popcorn. Every time.
Secondly, while I’m as technologically savvy as I need be (considering that the majority of my work and leisure time are tied to the Internet, that all my life’s pertinent contact info is stored in my phone, and if my laptop failed right now I would turn into a useless, neurotic pile of fail) I’m also a late adopter when it comes to tech trends. I still have a normal-sized TV, for instance. My cell phone is just a phone. That sort of thing.
All of which I share so that you’ll understand my reaction to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remodel. Putting aside any considerations of what’s good or bad about the movie as art, I couldn’t get past one huge stumbling block — once the opening credits had finished, I spent every moment of Alice wishing desperately that it wasn’t in 3-D.
Filed under: Independent, SXSW, Mystery & Suspense, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Images
Roy’s Motel is not what it seems. In writer/director Chad Feehan’s debut film Wake, a young couple on the road, played by Josh Stewart and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, stop for the night at Roy’s on the road to California, hoping for a warm bed and hot coffee, and end up in a strange psycho-drama where all of their darkest secrets are laid bare. It’s a movie that defies easy categorization, a corkscrew morality play that rivals the very best episodes of The Twilight Zone, and we’ve got four exclusive pics from the new film.
Wake makes its debut at SXSW on Saturday, March 14th with Feehan and his stars on-hand for the premiere. If you like your movies a little more unpredictable than the average flick, you’ll definitely want to keep Wake on your radar. Check out the gallery for our exclusive stills.
Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Family Films, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Images, Trailers and Clips
USA Today has the first look at the film and caught up with Snyder, who decided to take a break from the hardcore and visit a world of owl mythology. “At some point, I figured, I had to do something my kids could watch. Now I’m the one into the stories and mythology.” Despite his reputation for sex and gore, he scaled back the intensity of the books because he actually felt they were too dark to animate. Reading about owl battles is one thing, but no kid wants to see owls ripping things apart with their talons, believe me.
While the photos are full of feathery beauty, the trailer from Yahoo! Movies is actually quite stunning. Snyder’s aesthetic is definitely all over it, but it’s really quite lush and rich in its animation. If I want to reach out and pet their fluffy bellies in 2-D, 3-D should have kids actually reaching out and trying. It has a very impressive voice cast (Helen Mirren, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, David Wenham) but they may all be drowned out by Jim Sturgess’ Soren who really comes off a bit too forced in his wide-eyed enthusiasm. Check out the trailer below. I know the books are really popular, and anticipation is high for the film with its fans. I’m anxious to hear if it meets their stringent expectations!
The gallery from USA Today is also below. I hate to admit it, but this will have my ticket purely for the Cute Overload of Owls. What about you? Is this a film that’s now on your radar, or is there a reason why no one makes any movies about owls?
Gallery: The Legend of the Guardians
Continue reading Is Zack Snyder’s ‘Guardians’ Worth Some Hype?
