Just about a month before hitting theaters (and right on the cusp of its theatrical marketing campaign), G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been pushed back by Paramount from June 29 to March 2013 to allow for a 3-D conversion. But director Jon M. Chu and the studio had deliberately opted for filming in 2-D before the 11th hour shift. So why opt for 3-D now?
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If you had told me a week ago that any film might enter a beer-marketing tie-in weirder than the one recently consummated by Heineken and Skyfall, I'd have belched "No wayyyyy" in violent protest through the fizzy, hazy languor of whatever 12-pack I was drinking at that moment. And then you'd say, "No, seriously, Coors Light and Prometheus made a merchandising baby and it's growing up so fast!" And I'd be all, "Ugh, the Rangers can't scorrrreee." And you'd say, "Look, look! Here's a commercial!" And we'd stare in churning anguish as a mega-bottle of Coors Light terrifyingly plunged through the atmosphere and the crew of the film's titular vessel confronted their flavorless, pale-yellow fate.
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"See the movie so you won't see piranha showing up at your house dressed as...however they want to dress. Just watch the damn thing." And with those sage words, Dimension Films let Gary Busey loose to drum up press for their upcoming summer boobs 'n' blood-fest, Piranha 3DD. Yes, if you've been hiding under a rock it is a Piranha sequel... in 3-D. Spelled with a double-D. For boobs. But I digress! Gary, take it away with advice on dynamiting piranha and fart acronyms and synonyms for steak.
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With an imminent debut at one of the numerous, unrelated Riviera events orbiting the Cannes Film Festival, The Lucifer Effect has issued a trailer and a press release detailing the horrific, publicity-friendly happenings undergirding what its makers seem to believe will be the industry's next found-footage phenomenon. It has footnotes and everything — as though David Foster Wallace and William Castle collaborated on some sincerely unholy afterlife marketing effort. You should see this! The pitch, that is, not the movie (though maybe that, too).
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In the of chance you survived the tsunami of Avengers tie-ins, sample some of this evil marketing genius from Baskin-Robbins: "Pink Surprise Cake - Straight out of one of the most pivotal scenes in Men In Black 3, the Pink Surprise Cake is a delicious triple layer ice cream cake made of Oreo® Cookies 'n Cream ice cream sandwiched between two layers of Devil's Food Cake and adorned with pink frosting roses. This custom cake is sure to capture the imaginations of ice cream lovers and 'MIBelievers' alike! Lunar Cheesecake Flavor of the Month - Lunar Cheesecake is making its way back into Baskin-Robbins shops as the May Flavor of the Month to celebrate the time traveling theme of Men In Black 3! Originally introduced in 1969 to commemorate the first spaceflight to land on the moon, this classic flavor features green and white cheesecake ice cream loaded with cheesecake bits and wrapped up in a crunchy graham cracker ribbon." [PR Newswire]
It's been nearly two and a half years since word first came of Kevin Spacey heading off to China, where the Oscar winner and noted cell-phone critic would become the first major star to lead a fully Chinese-funded production. That production, Inseparable, finally has a teaser on the Web, and it's... interesting.
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It has been years in the making. It is epic in scope. It contains elements beloved by millions. "It" is the marketing campaign for the hotly anticipated superhero gathering The Avengers, and as promotional surges go, those are high standards to maintain. Hence the $100 million worth of international promotional partnerships formed by Marvel and Disney — although, with such a global presence, it seems natural that a few of their marketing and merchandising moves would make less impact than Mjölnir. Behold the weirdest of what you may find touting the the comic-book blockbuster in the United States and beyond.
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With The Dark Knight Rises release fast approaching, Warner Bros. has launched their latest bit of buzz-driving viral marketing by teasing a brand-new trailer for the July release. But in order to see that trailer, Bat-fans must first "help" the Gotham City Police Department "find" Batman by tracking hundreds of pieces of Bat-graffiti strategically placed around the world; for each bit of graffiti located and tagged via social media, Warner Bros. will unveil the new trailer one frame at a time. Graffiti: it's not just for Oscar-nominees anymore!
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This is officially the most brilliant ceremonial first pitch gimmick ever staged, just narrowly beating out that time Bill Murray ran the bases and slid into home at Wrigley Field: Yesterday at Japan's Tokyo Dome, Ringu/The Ring villainess Sadako (who's coming back for more in Sadako 3D, in Japanese cinemas this May) trudged to the mound to throw the first pitch before the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters battled the Chiba Lotte Marines. Somehow she managed to see through her signature wall of scary horror hair to toss a decent looper before the ghostly spirit took over and...well, just watch for yourself.
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"We have relationships with a number of companies so that we can make this movie. The simple fact is that, without them, we couldn’t do it. It’s unfortunate but that’s how it is. [...] This movie costs a lot of money to make, it costs as nearly as much again if not more to promote, so we go where we can. The great thing is that Bond is a drinker, he always has been, it’s part of who he is, rightly or wrongly, you can make your own judgment about it, having a beer is no bad thing, in the movie it just happens to be Heineken." Somewhere in Hell, Frank Booth weeps. (Link NSFW, obvs.) [Moviefone via NYT]
Oh...my...GOD, Becky -- look at Catwoman's butt. Ahem. In a new promo image from The Dark Knight Rises, Anne Hathaway poses as Catwoman and shows, as many salivating fanboys have already suggested, just why the Batman sequel might've earned that PG-13 for "sensuality." But wait! Why is everyone talking about Catwoman's butt and not Batman's meticulously sculpted-but-jaunty rubberized codpiece? Equal opportunity for costumed cosplay ogling after the jump, thanks to two new promo images for the July tentpole.
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The Farrelly Brothers' Three Stooges flick is pratfalling into theaters Friday, so naturally stars Will Sasso, Sean Hayes, and Chris Diamantopolous bounced into the ring Monday night on WWE Raw to bring Stooge awareness to the world of wrestling. ENTV has all the choice details and footage from the historic meeting of WWE and Larry, Curly, and Moe -- for which Sasso-as-Curly donned full Hulkamania gear before getting chokeslammed by Kane. (Kane, my new hero!)
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You've seen the trailer. You've parsed the poster. Now study in the stern countenances awaiting you in Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson's Cannes-opening reverie for which a new "vintage team photo" is making the rounds.
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Mattel has unveiled the first look at their Hunger Games-themed Katniss Everdeen Barbie doll ($29.95), available for pre-order today and on shelves in August, and the result is... kinda close to what I envisioned when I read Suzanne Collins' novels. Not that District 12's underfed hunter gal ever hewed that close to Barbie's usual unattainably bosomy dimensions in most readers' minds, but something in Katniss-Barbie's face is appropriately feline, with just the merest hint of the full-lipped pout that Jennifer Lawrence brought to the screen.
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You don't need me to explain to you how Harvey Weinstein is half huckster-genius and half megalomaniac witch doctor (even though I have, again and again and again). Find all the evidence you need in Thursday's announcement that Bully — the "controversial" documentary chronicling America's bullying epidemic — would finally receive the PG-13 rating it so conspicuously sought from the MPAA. The best part: It won't even have to trim the offending scene at the heart of all the publicity to date. Surprise! Suckers.
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