despite Universal's best marketing efforts
You mean TV commercials for a single week preceding the movie's release, and then nothing more? Yes, that was dandy marketing.
I walk. I talk. I shop, I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out. And I don't sleep on a bed of bones.
Buffy ,'Chosen'
Firefly 4: Also, we can kill you with our brains
Discussion of the Mutant Enemy series, Firefly, the ensuing movie Serenity, and other projects in that universe. Like the other show threads, anything broadcast in the US is fine; spoilers are verboten and will be deleted if found.
Una - Jan 10, 2006 1:40:58 pm PST #7612 of 10001
when i die, please bake my ashes into a brick and use me to hit fascists.
§ ita § - Jan 10, 2006 2:10:36 pm PST #7613 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I saw a fair amount of marketing.
Kalshane - Jan 10, 2006 3:38:47 pm PST #7614 of 10001
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
As did I. The marketing was there. I don't know that it was necessarily aimed correctly, but it was out there. I saw commericals, trailers and posters on par with any other major release.
§ ita § - Jan 10, 2006 3:46:39 pm PST #7615 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I think the Browncoats mini-doc in theatres didn't do any favours, but the trailer did run before Batman Begins, and maybe Fantastic Four when I saw them. Not inconsiderable.
DXMachina - Jan 10, 2006 4:45:33 pm PST #7616 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
They showed the trailer at Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, too. I saw plenty of marketing, and a lot of it was in non-genre places. People just didn't go.
tianxiaode - Jan 10, 2006 5:06:22 pm PST #7617 of 10001
Adrian Pasdar: bringing hot (and ambiguously gay) to a new level since Top Gun.
But a short 30-second TV spot after opening weekend could have helped so much. "The Number One New Movie In America! Loved by critics and audiences!" or something along those lines.
Tom Scola - Jan 10, 2006 5:09:09 pm PST #7618 of 10001
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
It could have also put the movie even deeper in the red.
Kalshane - Jan 10, 2006 5:14:19 pm PST #7619 of 10001
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
But a short 30-second TV spot after opening weekend could have helped so much. "The Number One New Movie In America! Loved by critics and audiences!" or something along those lines.
I seem to recall there were spots the week after opening that cited the great reviews. No "#1 new movie in America" but they did have the critics' praise in there.
Mikey - Jan 10, 2006 5:21:26 pm PST #7620 of 10001
All this time, I thought Hunter was a bitch. Turns out she was just hungry.
It could have also put the movie even deeper in the red.
Spend money, make money, my friend.
Serenity had something money can't buy: it was damn good. Had it been anything but a studio pic it might've been considered an unqualified success. And in making its 25 mil it did make itself and Firefly known to a wider audience. Alright, box office stigma, but I think more people would pay to see a sequel than ever saw Serenity theatrically.
Wolfram - Jan 11, 2006 11:19:09 am PST #7621 of 10001
Visilurking
I think Universal certainly held up their end of the bargain in marketing. More marketing may have brought in a few more million and cost as much or more. Like DX said, people just didn't go.
I also think way more folks went to see Serenity than watched the series on TV. And I think a sequel, if done right, might bring in even more people. But that's a big if and might.