Movie Marketing Videos

A quiet storm has been brewing on the Internet over the ethics of spoilers, all in response to The Fourth Kind. It started when Cole Abaius at Film School Rejects took arms against the myriad of bloggers, critics, and tweeters who had been relishing in discussing the veracity of Universal's new alien abduction movie. His post was in part a reaction to a new column started at SciFi Squad that addresses the actual science behind science fiction, which is a perfect podium for an article titled What's The Real Truth Behind The Fourth Kind? Long story short, Cole feels that to address the claims of the movie (whether or not it is indeed "based on real events") is to spoil the director's vision of how the movie should be seen, and even though you're not spoiling anything that happens during the film's run time, you're ruining the experience. Obviously I disagree. I think there are people who actively want to know whether or not its documentary footage is actual footage or the flights of fancy of screenwriters and producers. It's a fine line to walk, that's for sure, but ultimately the question is whether or not such discussion undermines the suspension of disbelief the director clearly intended to be there. It's an issue Cole and I have been going back on forth on for a few days, but now there's a twist involved, proving even further that the situation surrounding The Fourth Kind is quite unique. Universal just settled a lawsuit filed against the studio by the Alaska Press Club for the news stories The Fourth Kind PR department manufactured under the guise of being legitimate news articles from the Alaskan Press. So the question I present to you is, are fake news stories crossing the line?Filed under: Universal, Fandom, Exhibition, Movie MarketingContinue reading Discuss: When Movie Marketing Crosses the Line Permalink | Email this | Comments

She's about to open the second-biggest film of her career, so what better timing than now to point you to a new peek at Kristen Stewart's next non-Twilight film? Check out the new trailer for The Yellow Handkerchief, a Sundance entry that follows three strangers in post-Katrina Louisiana - Martine (Stewart), Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), and Brett (William Hurt) -- as they search together for life, love, and the perfect Southern accent. Ok, so it seems the Southern slangin' is done primarily by Stewart, while Brit Redmayne goes American and Hurt rocks the ex-con handlebar mustache. As they embark on a road trip together, the two teens listen to Brett's tale of the woman who got away (Maria Bello) while they navigate the murky waters of young love. (Read Erik Davis's Sundance review here.) Watch the trailer after the jump. Filed under: Drama, Independent, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading Kristen Stewart Goes Southern in 'The Yellow Handkerchief' Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jason Reitman, whose next film Up in the Air comes out on December 4th, posted a very funny image on Twitter recently - a pie chart detailing the different things that people have asked him in recent interviews. The top three were about George Clooney (111 people), the economy (96 people), and his next project (78 people). The fourth is a little more confusing, as it just reads "Real People," so apparently 77 people asked him about real people. Maybe they wanted to know if the people being laid off in the movie were real people? Who's to say what goes through the murky depths of the mind of a journalist? I humbly ask Jason Reitman to make a pie chart of his answers. Here's what I picture it to look like. 111 people: "Clooney is such a prankster! But he's also a great serious actor. He's the Cary Grant of our times. Sometimes we have moustache contests." 96 people: "The economy sucks. Seriously though, I've never been laid off, but if I had to be laid off, I'd hope George Clooney would do it." 78 people: "My next project will be with George Clooney. Actually, it will be catching up on all the sleep I lost talking to you people and answering the same damn questions over and over again." In one jpeg, Reitman manages to sum up the exhausting paces that filmmakers, actors, musicians, et al are put through to get their names and faces and projects out there, the laziness of some journalists, and the terror that faces every journalist that wants to be good at what they do and engender an interesting discussion that is hopefully pleasant and/or illuminating (but at the very least not boring) for everyone involved, including the reader. If you could ask Jason Reitman anything, what would it be?Filed under: Comedy, Drama, New Releases, Paramount, Fandom, Movie Marketing, George Clooney, Images Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sometimes there's a down side to being considered a comedic genius. Right now in the world of TV comedy, Tina Fey and Steve Carell are the 'Prom Queen and King', and with all that popularity comes the price of raised expectations. The couples comedy Date Night, starring Fey and Carell as a married couple looking to spice up their romance, was bound to be scrutinized. So now that the first trailer has arrived (via Apple), reactions have been mixed. But I think there's hope for this film, if for no other reason than the fact that Fey and Carell are some of the most talented comedians working right now (although I'm still holding out for Fey to start writing some more movies of her own). Date Night was directed by Shawn Levy (of Night at The Museum fame) and written by Josh Klausner, who only has a couple of credits as a writer (mainly for Shrek films). But Klausner has also worked with the Farrelly brothers, so he must know his way around a joke, right? I guess that's why I'm willing to give Date Night the benefit of the doubt, because on paper, all the elements are there for a good comedy -- the least of which is a strong supporting cast of funny folks like James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jason Segel, and Kristen Wiig. Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but the film has also yet to be rated, so there's always a chance the funnier bits weren't 'ready for prime time'. So watch the trailer and tell me what you think. Am I just kidding myself, or is there a chance that Date Night will surprise us all and turn out to be a pretty funny flick? Watch the trailer after the jump...Filed under: Comedy, New Releases, Movie Marketing, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading Tina Fey and Steve Carell's 'Date Night' Has a Trailer Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Oprah is pushing both Precious and the book it's based on, Push by Sapphire, on her show, and I'm seriously curious to know what her audience will think about it. How many people will be able to watch a film told from the point of view of an illiterate high schooler who is raped by her father, physically (and, in the book, sexually) abused by her mother, hates herself for not being white, has given birth to one child with Down's Syndrome who's nicknamed Mongo (short for Mongoloid), and is pregnant for a second time with her father's child? Let's assume that Oprah's reach is strong enough and far enough to get her demographic to plunk down their eight to 12 dollars to see Precious - the Oprah Effect in full effect. (You can find out where and when Precious is playing near you on the official movie website.) I'm not talking about critics and journalists or the people in big cities who like to participate in a friendly Oscar pool or want to be up on what was in the New York Times. They're already seeing the movie in droves; it made $1.8M in limited release its opening weekend. The latest numbers I could find on her demographic are from 2007, back when people were wondering if Oprah could help get a president elected. (Answer: Yes, she can.) According to Nielsen via MSNBC, "Oprah's audience is predominantly female, white, and over the age of 55. Nationally 7.4 million people watch Oprah daily -- about 2.6% of American households. Four percent of American women (about 5.7 million) watch her daily, compared with 1.2% of men (1.7 million people). Overall, 2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watch Oprah."Filed under: Drama, Independent, New Releases, Lionsgate Films, Box Office, Distribution, Movie MarketingContinue reading Discuss: What Will Everyone Else Think About 'Precious'? Permalink | Email this | Comments

The teaser trailer for Kick-Ass has arrived! Having been subjected to so much hype by everyone luckier than me at ComicCon, it's a bit of a let down because there's just not much ass-kicking going on. It's basically an animated version of the poster, introducing you to the characters while showing a little more blood and smacks. But hey, this is just the beginning and I don't expect them to spill all the cool stuff in the first glimpse. I do like what I see, though. On the surface it looks like a teenage Watchmen but with a lot of emphasis on how fun it is to be a vigilante. There's no awkward geek humor on display. The characters are young comic book fans, but we aren't subjected to any "Ow, it hurts to be an action hero" moments. Instead, it's all about the action and potential for violence. Kick-Ass is confident! He doesn't shirk from being a superhero. In his mind, he's as worthy as Batman, and he's able to take the pain and punches. I like that, and I expected no less from Matthew Vaughn. My favorite remains Hit Girl, though. Her costume is practical, there's nothing creepy or sexual about her (so far), and her knife-flinging is lethal. Plus, she does appear to have Nite Owl's greatest fan as her father. The resemblance goes further than just the poster, and I want to believe we'll leave this theater saying "This makes up for Bangkok Dangerous, Mr. Cage." The trailer is embedded below the jump, courtesy of MySpace. Kick-Ass hits theaters April 16, 2010.Filed under: Action, Comedy, Independent, Lionsgate Films, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading See A Little 'Kick-Ass' In This Teaser Trailer Permalink | Email this | Comments

We learned in October that Nine was getting pushed back to a Christmas premiere. Since The Road was already slated for release on the same date, it sounded like this was nothing more than a move to make the film's box office grab as smooth as possible. But maybe it was to plan the massive marketing push. Variety reports that the Weinstein Company have partnered with Disney/ABC Unlimited to market the film. This "megapact" will mean that Nine-flavored content will get infused into "a wide variety of shows, including ABC's Dancing with the Stars." For the dance-centric show, there will be a themed dance number on November 17 with songs and outfits from the film. The push will also work its way into the soaps on ABC -- the big trio of All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. Then there will be a "road-block" style trailer on the 22nd, making it's way onto a bunch of channels, a microsite on ABC.com, and late-night integration. Inclusion on dancing reality shows make sense, but the rest is a little ridiculous -- both for the potential for over-saturation and this idea of market-injected content. I bet they're just ruing the fact that series get written well in advance and that they couldn't get Nine-themed fare into the likes of Grey's, Cougar Town, Lost, etc. And here we used to make fun of obvious product placement. At this rate, I wonder if we can come to expect films to be advertised in each other, like Spider-Man trying to make it to Mary Jane's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows premiere or somesuch. Do you enjoy big marketing pushes, or does it all get real old real fast?Filed under: Music & Musicals, Disney, The Weinstein Co., Movie Marketing Permalink | Email this | Comments

In a scant twelve years, Louis Leterrier has gone from being a production assistant on Alien: Resurrection to directing what has just, with a single trailer, become one of my most anticipated films of 2010: Warner Brothers' remake of Clash of the Titans. Sure, he has progressively proven himself a champion of the fantastic, evolving from The Transporter series to last year's The Incredible Hulk, but as much as I've been impressed by his eye for spectacle thus far, I wasn't ready for how fun his take on Titans looks. It's just our first look, but I couldn't stop smiling by the end of this teaser. And yet, I don't know why I should be so surprised. The original is, after all, a landmark fantasy film packed with Ray Harryhausen's indelible stop-motion imagery. Add on Leterrier commanding a great cast ranging from Liam Neeson to Ralph Fiennes to Sam Worthington, and a script whose bones were written by Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan before WB brought in the duo of Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi to flesh things out. Perhaps the shock of seeing this trailer came from just how indelible Harryhausen's Titans actually were. I knew it would undergo an extreme visual overhaul, but in the back of my mind I was still expecting stop-motion giants, not Troy by way of God of War. There's nothing stop-motion about this new re-envisioning of the wars between Gods and men. Purists will not be on board with the amount of digital wizardry, but any fan of seeing mythological worlds brought to life should be in love with the energy Leterrier has infused in his Clash of the Titans. You can see for yourself after the jump, then click over to Moviefone to grab it in a variety of HD flavors. Additionally, we've got some fantastic screenshots in the gallery below. Gallery: Clash of the Titans Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading 'Clash of the Titans' Trailer Now Online! Permalink | Email this | Comments

At a press junket earlier this summer for 2012, Roland Emmerich told reporters he's not doing any more blow-'em-up flicks. "I would not know how to top this... It's just one of these things, you know. I had a hard time deciding to do another disaster movie, but... you cannot make a disaster movie if there's not something --- an idea in this disaster which elevates it to something more than a disaster. And so it was this idea, you know, that there will be a global flood and it's a retelling of Noah's Arc." Later he added, "It's not my last film, it's my last disaster film. And that's because I wouldn't know what else to do. It's just, you know what, I really didn't want to do this movie at first... But when I decided that the idea was too good to not do it for the reason I had done before, I said, okay, if I do it, I will do it in such a spectacular manner that nobody can top it for a long time. I have that pride in my work."Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, New Releases, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Remakes and SequelsContinue reading Roland Emmerich May or May Not Blow Up the World Again Permalink | Email this | Comments

Click below to view the full versions of all posters Cinematical has just received these four exclusive character posters for The Men Who Stare at Goats, which hits theaters this Friday, November 6th. And yes, we freely admit that it sorta freaks us out to see four dudes eerily staring down goats in the above (and below) posters, partly because we never ever thought we'd be premiering posters that feature George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey all staring at goats, but also because, well, Spacey looks like he wants to make out with the animal. Based on the book by Jon Ronson and directed by Grant Heslov, The Men Who Stare At Goats follows a reporter (Ewan McGregor) who stumbles across a fantastical story about a secret unit in the US military that employs paranormal powers in their missions. Reviewing the film from Fantastic Fest, Cinematical's William Goss called it "unpredictable" and "amusing", and after you scope out the four character posters below, feel free to check out the trailer after the jump. Gallery: 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Character Posters Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Movie Marketing, PostersContinue reading Exclusive 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Character Posters Permalink | Email this | Comments

DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon has been on my radar due to its literary roots (it's based on a 2003 book by Cressida Cowell) and its large and charming cast. But we all know that doesn't necessarily make a memorable animated movie. Too many kid flicks end up flimsy, and feel like extended fast food commercials. I figured Dragon would be one of them. Happily, I might be wrong. A surprisingly charming trailer for Dragon has debuted at Yahoo! Movies. While I'm an easy mark thanks to a weakness for Scottish accents and Viking villages, the trailer is refreshingly free of Shrek's self-conscious hipness . Why, there's barely any snark to be found! It's all about a gentle lad (you'll recognize the voice of Jay Baruchel immediately) and the most adorable dragon you've ever seen. His limpid eyes and froggy mouth immediately makes the Viking-on-dragon violence rather horrific, and may cause you to feel hatred towards the brogue of Gerard Butler. (I know, I didn't think it was possible either.) Plus, there's a young Viking lass who wields an axe! If this could inspire a few girls to don Viking berserker costumes next Halloween, I will praise it no matter what its flaws and Burger King tie-ins. The trailer is below the jump thanks to an embed from Yahoo! Movies. Watch it, share your thoughts, and squee over that squishy dragon. If there's a plush version that has that skeptical expression, I want it for my desk.Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Family Films, Newsstand, Dreamworks, Movie Marketing, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading DreamWorks Shows Off 'How to Train Your Dragon' Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tuesday afternoon at no less than the offices of Jerry Bruckheimer himself, Cinematical joined a small group of reporters from other online entertainment and gaming sites to screen the forthcoming theatrical trailer for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Mike Newell's adaptation of the popular video game series of the same name. Following two screenings of the trailer, which runs approximately two and a half minutes, Bruckheimer and game creator Jordan Mechner answered questions from the group and discussed the development of the film. While I'm no video game aficionado, the trailer seemed to have the right kind of quasi-interactive action that most modern games do - the "Prince," played by Jake Gyllenhaal, breezily navigates several death-defying scenarios in the short clip, including dodging an avalanche, diving off of a precipice into a swordfight, and fighting off the attention of the comely Gemma Arterton. According to dialogue and voiceover narration, the film essentially follows the Prince as he discovers and protects a sword that can literally turn back time; after several bullet-time sequences where Gyllenhaal transforms into a golden statue (well, more golden than normal), villain Ben Kingsley confesses that he wants to take control of the weapon in order to destroy the world, or control it, or something.Filed under: Disney, Movie Marketing, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading Cinematical Previews the 'Prince of Persia' Trailer Permalink | Email this | Comments

While we await the next full-length Avatar trailer (a similar international version is up over at SciFi Squad for those interested), a new four-minute behind-the-scenes featurette has found its way online. Basically this takes you through the film's backstory, featuring interviews with James Cameron and the cast mixed with scenes from the film. Yes, it's your basic featurette, but since we're all dying to see as much as we can of this film before it hits theaters on December 18, it's stuff like this that should hold you over. The brand new domestic Avatar trailer will arrive online later today at about 1pm EST (10am PST), and at that time we'll let you know where you can go check it out in HD. After all, if we can't be watching these trailers and featurettes on the big screen, the next best thing is HD (and, in my opinion, we really shouldn't judge the film until then). I still have concerns about the story, though, which just seems full of cliches and stuff we've seen countless times before, but I'm personally more excited for the visual experience than I am for any story. Cameron has been talking up the 3D technology in his film for a long time now, and so that's what we should all be looking forward to -- a kickass, monumental moviegoing experience. Until then, everything else is just a tasty little appetizer. Watch the featurette after the jump.Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading 'Avatar' Behind the Scenes Featurette Permalink | Email this | Comments

We've had a lot of unofficial parparazzi shots of The A-Team and their van, but now you can go into your weekend having seen the real deal, courtesy of Salon Del Mal. Try to contain your excitement, as no one around you is going to understand it. Just keep the joy to yourself, and then when a coworker or friend says "Oh my God, did you see that official photo of The A-Team?", you can talk freely. In all seriousness (well, as serious as one can get), this photo is kind of creepy. I have to echo Drew McWeeny of HitFix, who declared that Liam Neeson looked like he was wearing a George Peppard Halloween costume. I have to extend that to the entire cast, especially Sharltro Copley as Howling Mad Murdock. With all their talk of going dark and gritty, I expected the cast and crew of this would make this A-Team their own characters. The names would be the same, there'd be a few nostalgic nods, but they'd go in a unique direction. Instead, they just shrugged and made an exact replica of Mr. T. They really do look like a group of dedicated costumers that youd meet at DragonCon. I don't mean to sound disappointed or negative. I'm not invested enough in the original to mind, and I like the cast Joe Carnahan has assembled. I think this could be fun. Even if it's not, at least I can gaze at Bradley Cooper and his leonine hair which is still very much intact. Never trust those grainy paparazzi images that say otherwise. Sound off what you think of your official look. A bigger photo is included in the gallery. Gallery: The A-Team Filed under: Action, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, Images, War Permalink | Email this | Comments

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm a sucker for Westerns. It took me awhile to warm up to the genre. I live on the high plains and have one gig giving Old West tours in petticoats to my credit, so they were hardly escapism. Of course, now that I finally like them, there's just not that many being made. Lately, there's stirs of a re-imagining going on. Filmmakers and audiences are realizing Westerns can be fun again and in a repeat of the 1960s, the charge is coming from overseas. Film fans already know about Asia's madcap forays into the genre with The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, Sukiyaki Western Django, and the upcoming The Warrior's Way. But now France is getting in on the draw with Lucky Luke, and TwitchFilm has nabbed a trailer for it. Lucky Luke is based on a French comic series, which (as per Wikipedia) was equal parts satire and good old fashioned Western. He's your typical lone gunslinger, wandering the borders in search of injustice, a heavy burden weighing on his shoulders, a deep characterization that's a bit at odds with its simplistic art. (He looks a bit like Woody from Toy Story.) How it spawned this crazy, stylish, bullet-ridden feature is a mystery, but it did, and I'm thankful. I'm desperate to see this, and to be better acquainted with Jean Dujardin. Ooh la la. The trailer is embedded below the jump. Watch it, and join Twitchfilm, CHUD, and Cinematical in demanding a stateside release. You know you want to spend more time in this vision of the Old West. [via CHUD]Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Western, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading Bring 'Lucky Luke' Stateside! Permalink | Email this | Comments

Leaving an early screening of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant this week, I heard an amazed teenage girl say to her companions, "It's, like, a vampire movie, but it's funny!" As if such a thing weren't possible. But then, the average teen was in kindergarten when Buffy was in its prime, and 80's movies like Fright Night and Once Bitten are ancient history. Funny vampires?! Who knew? As Peter Hall says in his excellent Cinematical review of Cirque, it's a shame that this particular movie feels as if it were rushed out to take advantage of the current Twilight and True Blood fueled vamp renaissance. Based on the first three volumes of the popular kid-lit series by Darren Shan, the film bumps the twelve-year-old hero's age to 16 -- the better, one supposes, to promote the flick to the Twilight crowd, despite it being a piece with a completely different flavor, based on books for kids between the ages of 10 and 12. If you think it's a stretch that Cirque's being marketed to the sparkly-vampire crowd, check out the design of one of the posters (above). Wow ... it's totally Robert Pattinson! Except that it's not. Take a look below, to see what actor Chris Massoglia really looks like in the movie.Filed under: Fandom, Movie MarketingContinue reading Will 'Cirque du Freak' Suffer From 'Twilight' Comparisons? Permalink | Email this | Comments

John Woo's Red Cliff isn't just the most expensive Asian movie ever made, it's also an epic testament to history and actual wars that were waged on both land and sea. In China the film was four hours long and split into two parts, but American audiences are getting a 2.5 hour version that (unfortunately) has a lot trimmed out of it. There are massive battles, martial arts, trickery, and of course, doves. It is a John Woo film, after all. It is also awesome, and enough to make you forget that he directed Paycheck. Check out the exclusive clip after the jump which features the initiation of the climactic clash between Cao Cao and Zhou Yu's forces. This is just one of three massive battles in the film which is available today on VOD, Amazon, and the Xbox, and will appear in theaters on November 18th. This movie marks a return of the old John Woo, and it's about time he came back. Let's just hope he'll give us a two-gun wielding Chow Yun-Fat one more time. Head on after the break to watch the clip and then check out the movie, which is best described as 300 meets Hero with a dash of those huge battles from all of the Lord of the Rings films tossed in.Filed under: Movie Marketing, Trailers and ClipsContinue reading Exclusive Clip From John Woo's 'Red Cliff'! Permalink | Email this | Comments

A dizzying array of elements are involved in creating a movie poster -- everything from contractual requirements dictating the size of the stars' names to psychological studies on which colors and fonts produce which emotions in viewers. But Ron Henriques at Latino Review suggests there might be more to it. In a very amusing article -- or an infuriating one, depending on how seriously you take it -- he shows multiple examples of what he considers racist "rules" in the way minorities are shown in posters. For example, Henriques says it's only OK for a minority (he's mostly talking about African Americans) to brandish a gun in a movie poster if they're cops, secret agents, or FBI. What's more, he says, the posters tend to make it clear that the person is in law enforcement, either through costume elements or in the text on the poster, lest observers think he's a criminal. (White people, he implies, are allowed to hold guns on posters without being identified as cops.) "Perhaps this will change in time if the powers that be will get over their fears that minorities brandishing weapons on a simple movie poster is going to make their kids go postal," Henriques writes, making it hard to tell whether he's exaggerating for the sake of humor or whether he really believes that that's what movie marketers believe. Another of his observations: Minorities brandishing weapons often have their faces partially obscured from the poster. He shows American Gangster, Smokin' Aces, and Matrix Reloaded as examples; in each case, the black actors' faces are cut off just above the nose. But in fairness, so are the white actors' faces. Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Movie Marketing, PostersContinue reading Is There Subtle Racism in Movie Posters? Permalink | Email this | Comments

Click image below to view full poster The scariest movie coming out this year isn't about a murderous psycho or a ghostly demon who terrorizes a couple in their own home. It's Chris Smith's (American Movie, The Yes Men) documentary Collapse, where one man uncannily outlines the dark path our nation and world are heading down. He's no Nostradamus talking about the "great bear from the east" or anything, he's just a normal guy using the same facts and figures available to everyone. The exclusive poster might only feature the back of his head, but once you hear Michael Ruppert talk (he's a bit like The Smoking Man on The X-Files), you'll realize why the truth is much scarier than fiction. The movie opens in New York on 11/6, Los Angeles on 11/13, and will be released on cable video on demand on the Cinetic FilmBuff channel on 11/15. Bug your provider now if you don't already get it -- this is one you definitely don't want to miss. Check out the full poster by clicking the image below. Gallery: 'Collapse' Poster Filed under: Documentary, Movie Marketing, Posters Permalink | Email this | Comments