Saturday, December 10, 2005

Marketing Your Movie: What Not To Do Pt. 1



I am sure this will make the rounds - I saw this one on Aintitcool News.

Let's pick this apart, shall we?

1. The way they have spelled MI:3 makes it say "Milll."

2. The globe is okay for a background, but it would have been nice to see some of the movie's hotspots pointed out. Just something to give us an idea where the story is going to take place.

3. The match is a bit of action, but does it say suspense thriller? (That's what MI is by the way, not a shootout, or motorcycle chase. These agents operate in the shadows. They did their job so well, the bad guys never knew they were being 'taken" until the end. It's not a "whodunnit" show, but a "Howtheygonnadoit" show.)

4. My suggestion would have been something a little more spy-oriented, several files with names and faces on them from the cast, being burned by the match. Little clues about the characters they play in the movie. A different title treatment that recalled the old school "file stamp," but updated it for today's audiences.

Something that said this is a "nail-biting spy thriller."

A real tease of a poster instead of this...thing.

Thoughts? What does this poster say to you?

4 comments:

Fun Joel said...

I'll concur with all you've got to say here. Looks like crap.

Aric Blue said...

Hey, fun! How about critique this poster for me...what do you think?

http://kangaskahnfilms.com/foc/foc-fango-pic.jpg

mcdolph said...

it's rubbish. it's that id4 nostyle must-make-it-easy-to-connect-to-mass-unthinking-brain-with-shinyness-summer-blockbuster-unoriginality. probably perfect.

Joe Sherlock said...

I saw a giant cardboard standee of the M:I:III image at the local multiplex last weekend. I thought that the idea to use the match was neat, but it is such an integral part of the original TV series, that I'm afraid it's lost on so many of the movie's target audience who only know MI as a Tom Cruise franchise. Imagine the money spent to produce these giant 8-foot cardboard standees and then mail them to theaters around the country (world?) - then consider my 8-year-old's comment:

"What is M-eye-eye-eye-eye?"