Superman Returns official site

I’m sorry, but I’m just so giddy right now. Bear with me as I try to maintain som sort of coherence.

Warner Bros. has seriously upgraded the official site for Superman Returns, opening next summer. The site now has a good number of features that will no doubt be fleshed out as the six or seven months between now and then elapse. There’s a story synopsis, some downloads, the links to director Bryan Singer’s video journals and a “coming soon” label on the teaser trailer link.

But what’s that, hiding behind the inconspicuously names “News”? It, gentle readers, is a blog. An honest to goodness, Movable Type hosted, RSS-enabled blog. There will now be a moment while I catch my breath. Warner Bros. has seen the customer-pleasing, pull information delivery model light. I really can barely contain my excitement. If it weren’t for the fact that my kids are sleeping and that such an action would surely have my wife kicking me off the computer so she could Google divorce lawyers I would be doing an all-out happy dance right now.

I’m making an open and heartfelt appeal here. If anyone involved in this is reading, please drop me a line. I’d absolutely love to talk with you about this. Seriously, anyone from Time-Warner (that means you, my mysterious HBO and TWI-domain visitors) that could hook me up, I’d be eternally grateful. The fact that blogs and their attendent technologies have been adopted by The WB as part of the marketing effort for Superman Returns is just huge and I couldn’t be happier. Check out my “Contacting MMM” post for details on getting in touch.

(By the way, I know that the site for Spider-Man 2 had both a blog and an RSS feed, but that was two years ago and even I didn’t know what they really were then. That’s the unfortunate price paid by early adopters. Kudos are no less deserved by Sony and their team, though.)

Google Publication Ads launches

Over at AdJab I, thanks to a heads-up from Tom Biro, start exploring just what Google Publication Ads might be. The service, which has launched in beta (big whoop) marks Google’s official entry into the print-ad buying and reselling market. Stay tuned because we’ll definitely be following this.

King Kong promo to air during Shrek

According to Anna at TV Squad, Universal Pictures will promote King Kong with a four-minute teaser reel during an airing of Shrek on NBC November 27. While Anna is correct in that Kong might not be as kid-friendly as the green ogre, the connection is corporate more than anything. Shrek is a Dreamworks production and was distributed via Universal in theaters and on DVD. NBC is also part of the Universal corporate family.

For anyone not watching football on the 27th (it is Thanksgiving Day after all) this is a chance to increase — oh wait. There’s no possible way you can increase King Kong’s exposure since everyone already knows about it or will with the hundreds of magazine covers, the inevitable Dateline NBC episode on what a genius Peter Jackson is and about a million other free sources.

Air I Breathe poster

Pretty cool poster for what sounds like a trippy film, The Air I Breathe starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Edison official site and trailer

Edison tells the story of a corrupt city whose officials become threatened when a single reporter (a frighteningly out of his league Justin Timberlake) begins to expose the truth. The official site for the movie has launched, containing a trailer and some other preliminary materials.

The trailer is pretty good, with what seem to be strong performances from Kevin Spacey (nice to see him regain a bit of his old, loose form), Morgan Freeman (no surprise) and Cary Elwes (ehh). It’s fast paced and contains a lot of car chases and explosions which I can’t help but think are there to appeal to the Fast and the Furious crowd and don’t constitute much of the movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if all those scenes that make up half the trailer amount to less than half-an-hour of the movie itself.

Interview with Mirko Parlevliet

(Update 2/20/06: Perry Wang just emailed me to let me know he is no longer at Media Revolution. He’s now at Trigger. I’ve removed MR’s name from my notes on the interview below)

I had an opportunity to interview Mirko Parlevliet recently. Even if you don’t know the name you know what Mirko has contributed to the online entertainment world. His resume of sites include ComingSoon.net and SuperHeroHype.com (formerly SpiderManHype), both of which are go-to sites for current movie information. Mirko also is a major cheerleader for the recently announced Red5Comics, a new site that will publish original graphic novel-type content. Thanks to Mirko for bearing with me and a special thanks to Perry Wang of(my first interview subject) for arranging this.

–Chris

MMM: How did you start publishing the websites? What was the staff situation and technical limitations of the early days?

Mirko: In September, 1998, my wife had just started teaching first grade and she was quite occupied with that for the first few months. So, I had a lot of time on my hands and had already created a small movie fansite. She recommended I expand it, and I decided to create ComingSoon.net – as most movie trailers in theaters end with the ‘Coming Soon’ label, as you know. The site grew quickly, mainly because of the release dates list back then, and I learned how to publish gradually. We spend many nights at Barnes & Noble where I browsed HTML books and read about the Internet/movie business!

Then in May, 1999, I knew there was a Spider-Man movie coming and there were a ton of Star Wars sites hyping that franchise, but nothing really big for Sam Raimi’s film. I decided to spinoff Spider-Man Hype! from ComingSoon.net which turned into Superhero Hype! in December, 2001, when we knew that Spidey news would slow down after the first movie came out five months later.

The first few years it was just me running the sites. It was quite a challenge keeping up with the sites while working a 9 to 5 as well. I eventually had to say goodbye to the 9 to 5 and as we grew, more volunteers came on board throughout the U.S. and today we have about 15 correspondents.

Another big challenge was the hosting. As the sites got bigger, our providers couldn’t handle the traffic at many times and we went through many hosting companies before finding the right one.

MMM: What kind of change do you think has happened over the past six or seven years in the way movie studios have regarded online fanzines (and now blogs)? Did you sense they were skeptical of online at the beginning?

Mirko: There’s been a significant change over the years. I remember back when some studios wouldn’t even allow movie fansites to link to their trailers online. I do think they were skeptical because what we said or showed could have hurt their film’s image. Now, they have completely embraced the idea and work with us daily to promote their films.

MMM: What can you tell me about Red 5 Comics? What was the impetus to start a site devoted to original comics material?

Mirko: Red5Comics.com is getting ComingSoon.net and SuperheroHype.com’s support because one of the creators has worked on the sites for many years now. We’re sponsoring the site and it’s being handled by guys whose experience includes TheForce.net and StarWars.com.

The guys behind Red 5 Comics love comics, movies and the web, so this will be a labor of love combining those three interests. Red 5′s mission is to bring “theatrical-sized entertainment to sequential-art story-telling”. With partners like SHH! and CS providing exposure, these stories should find a sizable audience among movie fans and movie makers alike.

MMM: How were you first approached by a studio with materials they wanted publicized? Or did you develop a network that enabled you to contact them and build relationships?

Mirko: It took a long time to get support from the studios, but this was in the early days of promoting movies online and it was new to them as well. I’ve often said that I wouldn’t recommend anyone starting a site like this, because it can be hard getting the right contacts. We started to get noticed when we got some interesting scoops and they would write us about those or others just wanted to keep us updated on their upcoming films. We build up the contact list over the years.

MMM: How big a part of the marketing plan do you think studios consider the leaking of “first looks” and “sneak peaks” to be?

Mirko: I think first looks and sneak peeks are a significant part of their campaigns, because if top movie sites post their exclusives it spreads throughout the entire Internet.

MMM: What kind of terms (if you can discuss them) do studios attach to “exclusive” or “first look” materials they send your way?

Mirko: It’s not as strict as you might think. They generally just ask us how we would promote the exclusive material and then let us know for how many days it would be exclusive. There’s no real strings attached and we don’t have to sign our life away, we can always decline!

MMM: Do you ever – or have you ever considered – doing consulting work for a studio?

Mirko: I have not done any consulting work for studios, though I’ve thought about it, sure. I haven’t really been approached by studios about this, but I’m sure I could give a tip or two

Munich trailer

Finally watched the trailer for Munich. You know how wooden Eric Bana seemed in The Hulk? He’s exactly the opposite in this trailer, instead seeming very passionate and fiery. The feeling that struck me the most is that Spielberg might finally be meshing the best aspects of his recent visual style (best seen in Minority Report) and his truly emotional (but not sappy) side. It’s a moving trailer and I have high hopes for the full movie.

Mrs. Henderson Presents trailer

Check out the trailer for Mrs. Henderson Presents. The movie tells the story of a widow who inherits a theater in WWII London and decides what the public needs is a nude woman on stage (an idea I’m behind on every conceivable level). It’s a fast-moving and witty trailer and looks fantastic. Pay special close attention for Christopher Guest as a British Lord who will decide the fate of the theater. Everyone forgets what a good actor he is.