Given the amount of media hype, you would have thought it would have done better
If media hype couldn't make Snakes On A Plane a hit, even gawking curiosity shouldn't make a big difference to Captivity's numbers.
Never send a minion to do a god's work.
Glory ,'The Killer In Me'
Buffista Movies 6: lies and videotape
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§ ita § - Jul 18, 2007 11:12:03 am PDT #263 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 18, 2007 11:24:57 am PDT #264 of 10000
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I guess misogynistic fictionalized torture and rape just don't bring 'em in like they used to.
Steph, may I tag?
Steph L. - Jul 18, 2007 11:28:42 am PDT #265 of 10000
the hardest to learn / was the least complicated
Matt, absolutely!
Kevin - Jul 18, 2007 11:36:16 am PDT #266 of 10000
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.
If media hype couldn't make Snakes On A Plane a hit, even gawking curiosity shouldn't make a big difference to Captivity's numbers.
Snakes On A Plane clearly wasn't going to be a hit, in my world -- I never thought on the online base around it would translate offline, as the online hype had emerged before much was even known about the film (even a trailer!). In short, the studio made the mistake of believing people laughing at their film title and premise was going to be a good sales pitch. Which it ain't. I wish Snakes wasn't used as an example of viral marketing, as there's plenty of examples of it working, and a billion dollar industry surrounding that, because of that.
There are, however, clear examples of studios hyping something controversal to big numbers successfully. When it all falls down is usually when the end product is also utter crap.
§ ita § - Jul 18, 2007 11:55:10 am PDT #267 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
It's got to be more complicated than that. Utter crap makes money all the time.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 18, 2007 12:03:25 pm PDT #268 of 10000
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Rob Schneider has built a career on that very fact.
Kevin - Jul 18, 2007 12:33:22 pm PDT #269 of 10000
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.
Yeah, but rarely does utter crap make it big by mounting a campaign about how utterly crap something is. Which was the basis of the Snakes campaign, basically. The secret to horror marketing is, in my opinion, to have a good film that will create buzz about the fact it's good, and have people campaign about how it's 'bad'. Example: Saw. Budget: $1m. Box office: $100m. DVDs: around $200m as an industry average. Result: $299m profit. I also thought it was a good film, but it's used as one of the recent examples of torture porn.
megan walker - Jul 18, 2007 12:34:52 pm PDT #270 of 10000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Phase Three: Profit!
Polter-Cow - Jul 18, 2007 12:36:31 pm PDT #271 of 10000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I also thought it was a good film, but it's used as one of the recent examples of torture porn.
Yeah, Saw wasn't what I expected (especially since I saw Saw II first). It was much more psychological; it wasn't some non-stop gorefest.
Kevin - Jul 18, 2007 12:39:58 pm PDT #272 of 10000
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.
Yeah.. As I've said to you previously, I think, P-C I've not seen 2 or 3 as they just don't appeal. What I've heard -- right or wrong -- suggests it's just milking a franchise now.
I've seen a few reviewers saying Captivity marks the beginning of the end for torture porn flicks, but I'd tend to disagree (although I hope I'm wrong). With that kind of money, they're going to keep coming. It's turned Lion's Gate from a struggling film company to a massively profitable movie corp.