The excellent Hacking Netflix has a scan of an ad found inside a Netflix rental envelope. The ad is for Memoirs of a Geisha, the new book adaptation from Sony. I like this move on a lot of levels, mostly because it targets highly passionate movie viewers and therefore has a greater chance of sticking. That’s called Marketing 101, in case you were wondering.
Yesterday’s Morning Edition on NPR featured a story on the controversy surrounding the marketing campaign for Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. It’s a brief story but features some interesting quotes from director Jim Sheridan. He says he’s stumped as to why a billboard featuring a person popular in a community unfortunately known for violence holding a gun would inspire more violence. He actually says he toned down some of the more violent and mysogonistic aspects of 50 Cent’s life. Give it a listen.
If you’re looking for some surreal, trippy visuals combined with tribal rhythms, look no further than this trailer for the new Darren Aronofsky film The Fountain. I’m not sure anything about the film is actually conveyed in it but it sure does look cool.
Lion’s Gate spent a combined $35 million to promote two releases, Lord of War with Nicholas Cage (read my MMM column here) and The Devil’s Rejects. That contributed to a $14.1 million operating loss for the third quarter. So far Lord of War has grossed $24 million and Devil’s Rejects $16 million. The studio expects the movies to become profitable when they hit DVD.
