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Online
Movie Marketing
Weekend
August 4/5, 2001
Packing
a theater used to be all about trailers, posters,
and word of mouth, but now box office success
begins in cyberspace! Who would know better than
online movie guru Russ Leatherman, AKA Mr.
MovieFone.
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He
says, "You'd be hard pressed to find a studio who not
only isn't advertising on the Internet, but has a terrific
campaign going for their movies."
It doesn't take a computer wizard to enter the online
world of "Harry
Potter.” From streaming video to video games, the
site's hyping things up months before the film's November
16th opening.
And "The Lord
of the Rings," “Star
Wars," and even "Spider-Man"
is getting into the swing of things! But can online buzz
make or break a movie? Russ says, “The word of mouth gets
out so fast and they haven't even opened the movie."
It was magic for "The
Blair Witch Project" whose website sent shivers through
cyberspace. That quest to see the $35,000 dollar independent
flick resulted in a 245-million dollar box office shocker.
The Hollywood Reporter's Chris Marlowe says, "I think
that was a huge milestone in the use of the Internet."
But Chris says while the Internet is a great medium for
publicity, it can backfire. "That's a real double-edged
sword. Nothing spreads faster than rumor on the Internet."
With reviews and behind-the-scenes gossip hitting the
web often months before a film opens, studios can find
themselves facing a flop before they've sold a single
ticket.
Russ says, "Ultimately the movie has got to deliver, because
even the Internet can't save a bad movie."
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