For
Hollywood marketing folks Avatar
is a nightmare!
It is 100% original material based on a screenplay and
story by James Cameron himself. As far as the general public is concerned
its star is probably Sigourney Weaver (never much of a box office draw
since her Alien and Ghostbusters
glory days) and “the guy who starred opposite Christian Bale in that
Terminator movie.” Sam
Worthington – who is set to star in next year’s
Clash of the Titans remake – may
eventually become a big star, but he barely registers as a blip on the
viewing public’s radar. For movie geeks the movie’s “star” is probably
James Cameron himself. For them he probably has more than initials in
common with J.C. himself, but for most audiences he simply doesn’t have
the name recognition of a Steven Spielberg or even George Lucas.
Titanic faced these same problems. It was also a
100% original story with no stars (even though it would make a star out of
DiCaprio). To be fair it did have one edge on Avatar on the marketability
side when it comes to the actual disaster, which still holds a fascination
for the general populace almost a century later. Also like Titanic,
Avatar will be released during the less busy (read: less
competitive) month of December instead of the traditionally lucrative, but
crammed, summer season.
The question for Fox is, will Cameron manage to capture
lightning in the same bottle twice? The signs are not encouraging. Science
fiction and fantasy may be huge thanks to the likes of
Star Wars and
Lord of the Rings, but
hardcore sci-fi audiences are too small to guarantee automatic box office
success. (See: Serenity.) Also the sci-fi genre has little
cross-over appeal (translated: women usually don’t watch it). Fox’s
marketing thus far was aimed at the fanboy demographic, playing up the
ground-breaking CG motion capture processes used to make Avatar.
(Very similar processes will be used for Steven Spielberg and Peter
Jackson’s “live action” Tintin movie to be released next year.)
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"Only 40.9% of respondents said they’d bother seeing Avatar!" |
The studios used the same tactic with Titanic
when they went on about the advanced special effects Cameron used to sink
the doomed passenger liner onscreen. It paid off handsomely in that case:
hardcore male Cameron fans may have pulled up their noses at Titanic’s
romantic kitsch, but they still bought movie tickets to see Cameron sink
that damned ship!
“We're going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre
in a way you haven't seen for a long time. My goal is to rekindle those
amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw
2001: A Space Odyssey or the next
generation's Star Wars,” Cameron
promised in an interview. Thus far not all of the fans agree. Only 40.9%
of respondents at a daily IMDd.com poll said they’d bother seeing
Avatar after viewing the brand new trailer released last week
Thursday. Some commentators on the Internet have also negatively compared
the film’s plot to recent science fiction box office flops such as
Delgo and The
Battle for Terra. (Set in the far future Avatar is about an
Earth marine who switches sides when mankind tries to exploit a distant
planet rich in biodiversity. In fairness Avatar started production long
before either film and can’t be justly termed a “rip-off.” But will
mainstream audiences think of it as such?)
It is however telling that people who watched 16 minutes
of footage from Avatar at some 440 3D screens in 58 countries for
“Avatar Day” on Friday – an unprecedented publicity stunt – responded much
more positively to the screened footage than people who watched the
trailer on the Internet. This confirms Cameron and Fox’s assertion that
Avatar is something audiences should check out on either IMAX or in 3D
theatres.
Still. Avatar represents a marketing nightmare
for Fox. Avatar Day was poorly attended thanks to ticket sale snafus and
fan disinterest. Response at both this year’s Comic-Con and on the
Internet over the past week has been mixed. The film might just end up
being a victim of its own hype – and if Fox can’t get the film’s intended
audience to go see it, then how do they hope to lure the non-fanboy crowds
necessary to make it a box office smash and make its money back? One thing
is sure, I definitely don’t want to be working at Fox’s marketing
department right now . . .
