The Hollywood Reporter

‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Marketing Sells Dino-Mite Rampage: Even more so than it did for the 2015 revival, Universal has leaned into the history of the Jurassic franchise to help sell this latest installment. A number of technology-based tactics, particularly the AR games and more, combined with big stunts like the Amazon/Jeep campaign, have been designed to keep audiences engaged with the brand right up to release. (You can read everything that didn’t make into that column here.)

Cinematic Slant

Cinematic Slant is where I write about movies, including the campaign recaps I’ve been doing since 2004 along with other news and opinions.

Reevaluating 2003’s Hulk: This might seem like a massive troll coming a few months after the release of Avengers: Infinity War, but it’s not. I come not to simply take a position opposite that of conventional wisdom but to earnestly and unironically praise 2003’s Hulk as directed by Ang Lee.

Hollywood Embraces the NBA Finals to Sell Its Movies: Hollywood in particular jumped up to advertise during the games. Not only did they run commercials but in most every case the studios created unique spots that featured well-known players interacting with talent from the movies in fun and attention-getting ways.

Title Branding in An Age of Franchises: Not only do the branding tactics sometimes vary from studio to studio but even within one studio’s release slate you can see different approaches being taken. Here are some key examples as to how this year’s biggest have – or haven’t adhered to that recent conventional wisdom.

The Catcher Was a Spy – Marketing Recap: It’s an interesting story being sold, but there’s no real strong hook for the audience to latch onto. It’s not new or revelatory in any way, coming off as just a seemingly solid period drama without whole lot to offer.

Boundaries – Marketing Recap: We’ve seen this movie plenty of times before, so the real value proposition is in the performances of the leads, as well as in the promise that there’s some new perspective being taken on familiar tropes. The former seems much more readily apparent in the marketing materials than the ladder, as the combination of Farmiga and Plummer is well worth checking out while “lessons learned on a road trip” is well-worn territory.

Gimme Nothin’ But Star Waaaars….: There may very well indeed be some reevaluation of plans going on within Lucasfilm. I’m sure, though, that such course corrections are made at regular intervals, just as they likely are at Marvel Studios, Fox, Paramount and other studios, particularly those that manage big franchises.

AMC Theaters Girds Its Loins: Well, it finally happened: A major movie theater chain, in this case AMC Theaters, has introduced its own subscription-like movie ticket service seeking to compete against MoviePass.

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer and content strategist who lives in the Chicago suburbs.