Opinion: Fox’s Marketing Campaign for ‘Dawn Treader’
By fantasia_kitty
There’s been a lot of feedback on our forum and news story comments on Fox’s marketing campaign for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Mainly, how poor it was based on how the movie is doing in theaters. But is that really Fox’s fault? I’ve typed up my own thoughts on Fox’s marketing campaign.
Positives:
The Dawn Treader at Cleveland Point - Picture sent to us by ellz_bellz
There were a few things that Fox did I thought were truly brilliant. First, when they opened up The Spit and the Cleveland Point filming locations in Australia to the public eye. Watching the Dawn Treader being built on the opposite side of the world, and even though I wasn’t there, getting to see the daily progress of the sets being built and then filming on them was just so very cool! This was easily when I was most excited about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
The second superb thing they did, and in my humble opinion the best piece of marketing anyone has done for any of the movies, was Operation Narnia. It may not have been the best draw for the movie perhaps, but the concept of it was truly Narnian — reaching out to children in need. Fox did Lewis proud here I think!
My third favorite thing they did was transforming The Matthew into the Dawn Treader and sailing her around England with children from several countries on board! icarus was lucky enough to get to see her, and Paul Martin at NarniaFans.com got to sail on her! Really very cool!
Other things I felt they did well. I felt the timing in which they released their individual marketing pieces (ie posters, trailers) for Dawn Treader was good. It certainly wasn’t like the Prince Caspian marketing fiasco when Disney started building excitement and anticipation really early on and then dropped off the face of the earth for a few months, and the blasted everybody in the face with an overabundance of news two months before the movie came out. For those following the Dawn Treader news, there was a good, steady build of excitement.
I felt worldwide advertising for Dawn Treader was superior to Prince Caspian. I don’t remember getting very much in the way at all of worldwide spy reports on that movie’s marketing, but we got quite a lot for Dawn Treader. The Regent Street Christmas Lights celebration was especially fun.
Mixed:
Advertising to the faith community. Better than Prince Caspian, not as good The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They tried, but I’m not sure the faith community responded.
I’ll give the online marketing an ok in my book. The official website was fun. Towards the end Fox did pretty well putting out trailers and video clips on various movie websites. IMDb got some very nice advertisements for that site. But I’m still waiting for the production to do an official website that releases NEWS. It’s been a long time now but does anyone remember the official Lord of the Rings website? The Narnia movies desperately needed (and still need) a site like that one.
After filming wrapped up at Cleveland Point, Fox really clamped down on the news. You may have noticed the lack of exclusive interviews from the fansites this time around? Well it wasn’t for a lack of trying. We simply weren’t allowed to post anything. On one hand I can understand that because you don’t want film details too early, but on the other hand, you start to get the feeling that the production isn’t excited or doesn’t care about their film.
Negative:
Well I really felt like there were a few places Fox missed some golden opportunities for marketing. The number one thing that stood out to me was missing Comic-Con 2010. Why was there nothing there? I just didn’t get that. Especially when they showed up at some other place (I forget where now) with some kind of display a couple weeks later. Could they have not had something ready for Comic-Con just a few weeks before?
And then the two killer things: Merchandise being the first. Oy. I understand that Fox doesn’t do as much merchandising as Disney. And maybe the Prince Caspian merchandising failed so miserably at bringing in money that Fox didn’t even want to try, I don’t know. But after claiming to return to making a movie for kids, there sure was a lack of stuff to draw children’s eyes — and in turn beg the parents to take them to see the movie. And I know so many people that would have killed for a Dawn Treader replica.
And then finally, the quality of the marketing pieces. The first teaser poster aside, I don’t know what they were thinking? I mean, I just didn’t get it. To release so many official posters of an obviously incomplete Dawn Treader. And the international poster has the sail backwards. Billboards with one character’s clothing overlapping onto another one’s head. Very, very sloppy. And I just did not understand why as those are fairly easy fixes to make. But they didn’t, and in bookstores in Europe you can purchase The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with an incomplete sail printed right on the cover.
……
But at the end of the day, looking back at the full marketing campaign, I have to give Fox full marks for at least doing everything they needed to do. Not high marks for quality no, but they told people the movie was coming. I may have a lot of people disagree with me perhaps, but in my middle-of-nowhere town, I saw posters, I saw a theater stand, I saw books and magazines in bookstores, and I saw a couple of commercials on TV. So outside of NarniaWeb and the internet, I knew this movie was coming.
To address something I’ve been seeing all over this site that I know is going to come up again…
“Yeah, but my brother/sister/mom/kids/uncle/cousins/best friend/pet monkey had no idea this movie was coming out til it was in theaters!”
… to which I sit back in my chair and smile wryly. Really? My family and friends knew Dawn Treader was coming out the moment it was greenlit and I never stopped babbling about it til it hit theaters. I still haven’t, actually.
So I think that speaks volumes, if the top fans of the Narnia movies, who visit this site, are not talking about the Dawn Treader movie with their closest friends and family. Yeah, I think that says quite a lot. And I don’t see how the blame for that can be laid on Fox’s marketing department. That ball would be in the filmmaker’s court because they’re not making movies that people find worth talking about.
So there are my thoughts, and we would love to hear yours, so feel free to post in the comments section below or on the forum here.
I agree. Better than PC's marketing, but not as good as LWW. I would definitely do drastic things for any VDT merchandise. Like props or replicas or anything. And Happy Meal toys would have been such a great way to go.
And at this point, everything depends on word of mouth. I've been spreading the news like a wildfire. So "Take your friends and your enemies". Whatever it takes to see VDT succeed. 🙂
I believe you've pretty much nailed it fantasia_kitty. I was also waiting on a dawn treader replica. Thanks for the post.
I have a bone to pick with their advertising. I live in Toronto, most populated city in Canada. I barely see posters, and i always go to the theatres almost every 2 weeks and i didn't see the trailer at all. I only seen it in facebook when someone posted it in their wall.
Right on! I don't know why I couldn't buy advance tickets until two days before the Dec 2 release. The online Hoyts site wasn't advertising VDT tickets beforehand, only as coming soon, though it advertised other films eg Harry Potter. Even the girl at the ticket counter didn't seem to know what I was talking about, even though an upstairs poster of VDT was staring her in the face.
It didn't just happen to me either. A local minister trying to organise a theatre party for parishioners also had the same problem.
The happy meal toys might be available through Burger King.
I live in a large city on Canada and saw very little in terms of Marketng. I'm wondering if it was just here since everyone else seems to think that the marketing was pretty good. Most people here didn't even know there was another Narnia movie coming out…
I could only buy tickets two days in advance as well. I wonder why.
That almost identically happened to me, was going to book opening night tickets a week earlier which turned out to be 2d and 3d was opening a week earlier that night. But was a good surprise & saw the film that night with a friend. Again, i initially thought they had made a mistake as wasn't advertised on line or anything for that date.
But too early to say about the overall marketing campaign being anything else except fun to talk about i think, as anything is jumping to conclusions because it may be a christmas/holiday season package of marketing that suits Narnia rather than first few weeks.
Also, I'm wondering if its common for movies to only show their trailers on t.v. a week before the movie comes out. For some reason I never noticed whether this was the case or not before, but I did notice they did this for VDT.
I would still like to see toys…like a Lego Dawn Treader complete with a sea monster. Yeah. 😀
I totally agree also! And I agree w/ the faith community. I've been to two Christian bookstores in hopes of Narnia merchandise as they had quite a bit for "Prince Caspian". One I went to just had the books and the poster thing for the new film (to advertise), but nothing else. And the other had nothing for it. Before they had posters for "Prince Caspian" on the windows of the stores. And last year Target had the action figures, so was hoping they'd hop on the band wagon again.
I also agree w/ @waggawerewolf27, Burger King should've bought the rights to the toys, as McDonald's didn't have toys for "Prince Caspian" & Burger King's had pretty good movie toys lately; better than Micky D's in my opinion. They've had the "Twilight" saga toys for the last 2 movies & they had "Indiana Jones 4" toys when it was out. They should've done that.
And I also don't see posters for sale. I was lucky enough to have a theater that gave away free posters for the movie. I got the one w/ just Aslan & then the one w/ all the main characters. That's about all the merchandise I have from this movie. I haven't seen many mags. either. The Movie Magic with "Harry Potter" on the cover has a little bit about "Dawn Treader" in it, but that's about all I've seen. Maybe a couple others. Not much out there.
Oh and, anyone notice how no one from the film were on any talk shows to promote it? Like Jay Leno or David Letterman or anybody!(At least I'm pretty darn sure no one was.) No Ben Barnes, No Georgie, or anyone.
I agree with the article. I was hoping to buy my kids a Dawn Treader Legos set for Christmas. I was sure there would be one since there was one for Prince Caspian.
I'm surprised they weren't on ET. or the Insider.
I had no idea LWW was coming out until I saw a full-page spread in a book catalog. Why wasn't there more of that with VDT? (as an aside, my family knew all about VDT before it ever hit theaters!)
Also, I am majorly disappointed that there is no Movie Companion this time around! What a bummer!
And seriously, why is there no model ship to play with? I mean, talk about perfect movie merchandising! Fox missed the boat on that one. 😉
I forgot to mention, there was a lot of Dawn Treader word-of-mouth among the faith community. At least, from what I could see. Glenn Beck mentioned it on his program as well, I heard.
The posters and commercials sure were awful.
I was able to book my midnight showing tickets online a little less than a week in advance through the theater.
Get this – I was outraged when I found out VoDT wouldn't be showing anywhere in 90 miles from where I live in Montana, but the local theater lady said only 20 copies of the movie had been shipped to the entire state of Montana! It is hardly showing anywhere up here because they didn't get enough copies to the state. And they wonder why they aren't making money??
I was going to bring my entire youth group of 25-40 kids, and everyone in my church wanted to see it. Look at how much money they missed out on. VoDT is showing in one theater in 200 miles here – a travesty.
I knew VoDT was coming out, but only because I stalk this website and many other Narnia sites. But I was disappointed that in my area, I saw only two or three trailers on TV! Plus, there was very, very little advertising in the movie theaters. I DID however see the trailer before Harry Potter 7 and screamed quite loudly, embarrassing my friends. I was more excited about the trailer than HP7. ;D
I certainly hope Fox starts making some sort of merchandise, or at least Burger King makes toys. Like Susan said above, it's been hard finding posters even. I was sorely disappointed when Borders didn't even have a display in honor of the movie! They make a huge fuss about Harry Potter and Twilight, but nothing for Narnia! Shame on you, Borders. -.-
I was so glad he did – every book he gives a plug for hits the top of the bestseller lists, so hopefully that will work for movies!
I will say this — I saw trailers and TV spots. But I live in a suburb of Dallas and work in the city, and I didn't see billboards. I didn't see magazines. I didn't see bus stop ads or wraps on the buses.
The only people I know who knew that it was coming out was people who were watching for it, and I knew some people who were watching for it who didn't know it was coming out.
I feel like they've tried to advertise to the people who were already going to see it, and that's the kind of strategy that works for something like Harry Potter or Twilight where most people already know whether they're going to see the movie or not and only need to be told when it is and nobody who hasn't made up their mind yet is going to be convinced by a commercial.
But Narnia isn't that kind of franchise. It's got staying power, as it's been popular for a lot longer than HP or Twilight, but it doesn't have that level of popularity right now.
And they had the continuity issues that I don't feel they ever quite managed. I mean, it's been years since PC, which a lot of people not invested in the franchise don't remember anyway. Half the four main characters are missing, which they kind of tried to skate around. And it looks different.
I think they tried too hard to make the connection to the previous movies with thin evidence that it's actually there. One of the high points of the Narnia books is that each tells a very different story, and they could have tried to capitalize on that but didn't. The ads didn't emphasize plot points, so a lot of people, even fans of the series familiar with the books, came away from watching the trailers not quite sure what was supposed to be going on.
It was all very…confused.
Yes – it's like they did their best to turn hardcore fans off instead of on. I've talked to a number of Narnia fans who didn't want to see the movie because of the weight given the White Witch and the green mist in the posters and trailers. I have a bit of a hard time convincing them they aren't as large a part in the movie itself.
exactly– better than PC marketing, not as good as LWW
BUT for this movie, they needed marketing BETTER than LWW.
why? because this film has been stalled way too many times that it has totally lost the wind in its sails (pardon the pun) that was generated with LWW. what Fox should have done– and i KNOW they can do this, given their treatment of the X-Men and Star Wars franchises– is a marketing blitzkrieg of this movie STARTING Comic-Con season and NEVER LET UP TILL THE DECEMBER RELEASE. that is 6 months of showing something to your target audience. what they did for the said franchises was– for lack of a better word– BRAINWASHED people to seeing it. what i felt the marketing did for VDT now was a "Harry Potter" approach. BIG MISTAKE
why? because there is a HUGE difference between the two franchises– Harry Potter had MOMENTUM for 6 consecutive films that came out practically every year– Narnia doesnt. i'm not even going to start with the difficulty of the general public identifying lead characters to associate with the franchise because the leads almost always change in Narnia stories. and THAT is a MARKETING OPPORTUNITY that is totally MISSED! the public dont know who the new characters are? so you have 6 months to orient them on who they are. you think it was easy to market at least 9 different characters in LOTR with names so difficult to remember? heck no! but look, going into the theater, the public at least knows what characters LOOK LIKE even if they cant remember or pronounce the name. they knew that blond dude shoots arrows (Legolas), that dark haired scruffy dude wields the sword (Aragorn), the old man with a beard is some sort of wise man (Gandalf), that kid with the big blue eyes is somehow the center of all this trouble (Frodo). it was knowledge and enticement all rolled into one. so for something that was as stalled and as confusing as Narnia might be, it is hardly impossible to market it and entice people to go see it. you just need to have a marketing team that knows how to sell it.
and unfortunately, nobody seems to know how to sell Narnia.
That was the problem. The last trailer wasn't too bad, but everything else was mediocre at best.
I only saw one trailer, and it was only the tail end of it (my family rarely watches TV at night, when trailers are shown). And since there were hardly any books connected with the movie other than original, I didn't see any displays in bookstores. My state doesn't have billboards either, so basically I saw almost no advertising. But of course I still knew the movie was coming out. 🙂
Still, in my opinion, based on what I've personally seen in my own home, I think they could have done a better job at advertising. But I'm not speaking for everyone. Maybe I just didn't watch enough late TV. 😉
I live in Brazil and I got to watch TV spots for the film multiple times before it was released on a number of different channels. Maybe that explains why it's doing better internationally.
You make some good points. What seemed missing was a sense of "polish" on the marketing – for example, the odd posters and lackluster official site. This spilled over onto the trailers as well. Not the teaser, but the international and theatrical versions had some choppy music editing that the Disney trailers did not.
Oh, and this made me laugh:
“Yeah, but my brother/sister/mom/kids/uncle/cousins/best friend/pet monkey had no idea this movie was coming out…"
LOL! Pet monkey. Good one. B)
"Confused" isn't really the word I'm looking for. Maybe "formulaic"? Like, in a Harry Potter trailer, you can just be like, *shot of Harry/shot of Hermione/shot of Ron/shot of Voldemort/somebody almost kisses/release date* and you're done. For a Twilight movie, you can just be like, *shot of Edward/shot of Edward and Bella looking lusty/shot of Jacob prominently displaying his muscles/release date* and you're done.
I feel like they tried to do that with the *Edmund/Lucy/Susan/Peter/Caspian/Aslan/White Witch/Eustace/boat with a purple sail/Harry Potter's not the only one who can have snow inside/release date* and it just didn't work.
There's still hope. The movie hasn't opened in Japan yet (end of February), so we don't know what the Japanese will do. They tend to get the best collectibles in Japan. Keep checking the VDT List of Merchandise/LOM thread in the Merchandise forum. 😉 (http://tinyurl.com/35z57ab)
"It’s been a long time now but does anyone remember the official Lord of the Rings website? The Narnia movies desperately needed (and still need) a site like that one." – Isn't this what Narniaweb is for? 😉
I saw Harry Potter 7 in theaters and there was not a VDT trailer in front of it. I was disappointed to later find out some showing got to see a Dawn Treader trailer.
I feel as if the recent controversy about Liam Neeson's comments about his own personal feelings about Aslan was something manufactured by Fox to drum up hype and support from the evangelical Christian community. This is most self-evident with how Fox News's Glenn Beck recently talked about Narnia (gee, now all of a sudden?) and slammed Liam Neeson for his own personal religious beliefs. Glenn Beck is a political commentator, and when he launches in to Liam Neeson or makes narcissistic remarks about other religions, it drags Narnia into the Culture Wars. It makes me sick to my stomach that somehow he is "defending" my favorite book series, when really, he's doing more harm than good.
This is not the type of publicity Narnia needs, and I feel it is shameful to the books and C.S. Lewis.
I have found a replica. It's not very accurate, but it looks better than the vast amount of no VDT merchandise out there.
http://www.handcraftedmodelships.com/narnia-dawn-treader–model-ship-16inch.php
That's interesting. I wonder why they were promoting it more overseas?
I saw only one commercial the entire time leading up to the film. A bad commercial too. Some mindless action shots and a dragon. It looked like a sequel to Eragon. If I wasn't in love with the series, I would have had no interest in seeing it based on that commercial. In fact I probably would have forgotten the movie was coming out.
StBrianofMinneapolis posted this link in the LOM thread: http://tinyurl.com/32dvhaf. There already is a replica! Looks pretty good as well. 🙂
As a pastor, the resources came out far later to our church. Disney did a far superior job alerting us in advance. And sending physical publications as well as emails. The Narnia Faith site had great resources, but came out very late. They needed to mobilize pastors 6 months ago.
I did not see a single T V spot. not one.
I hope it's not because I didn't watch S. Palin's cheesy show… Because if it was only on her show, I think that may explain everything.
Good post, Fantasia! Ha, ha! I bet *my* friends and family would wish I would *quit* going on and on about Narnia! 🙂 It's been 'Narnia' EVERYTHING since June 18th! 🙂 LOL!
But, hey! I really enjoyed this post. I really, REALLY agreed with the merchandise part. I was *SO* looking forward to some neat posters, calendars, and action figures… and 'nota' one! 🙁
Great post! 🙂 I thought it was definately better than PC. Because I didn't have to be 'on' Narniaweb to notice Narnia. With PC, all I could get of 'Narnia' was on this site. 🙁
I would have liked to have seen them at the Comic Con though. Oh, well! Just as long as we get SC! 🙂 Thanks for your thoughts!! 🙂
I saw 17 all in one day! SERIOUSLY! I did. I'm *NOT* joking! Or lying! I was at my Grandma's and it was the week before Narnia came out in theaters 😉
Well, there you go. : )
you saw all of mine ! next time, please share !
I'll *definatly* try, Moonwood!! 🙂
That would be SO AWESOME!!! Great marketing too, because all you see on TV these days is Lego ads…
i just don't understand why there has only been one major premiere so far! for PC they had multiple worldwide preimeres, especially in slovina, where they spent the majority of the time filming, but so far there has been no appearances in Australia, the base of the shoot!
RAticus, you are so right! Narnia can and does appeal to people of all faiths, and none, and to liberal Christians (like me) as well as the right wingers. To drag a classic book into the culture wars is a shame, and will cause it to lose some viewers while it gains others. But-
To the main point, I don't think the marketing was particularly good. I was looking out for the movie, since I'd enjoyed the previous two and VODT is one of my favorites of the series. Didn't see any posters or displays anywhere, and I don't think there were many TV spots. And my sister, too, tried to buy tickets in advance and couldn't. In fact, after she'd queried our local theatre and heard (correctly) that the film was starting Friday, I asked (because they didn't have a single poster up IN THE THEATRE!) and got told, on Wednesday, that the film would not be shown there. Yikes!
Well, we managed to get tickets and go on Friday. We are going again with a friend this Saturday. But Fox and Clearwater Cinemas didn't make it easy!
Tron Legacy opens Friday. Time to step up the game Narnia fans!!
:O that is AMAZING!!!!!
The marketing that arrived came too little, too late, and wasn't diverse enough.
The bigger problem with the franchise is that they're failing to engage a cross-section of viewers. And that's somewhat understandable, though it reeks of feeble marketing and/or a reduced budget for marketing.
But thanks to the first film, it's a tough film to sell. I'll explain that:
To the older teen (non-Narnia reader and non-Christian), this series is perceived as either a children's series or a series for right-wingers (since the average teen doesn't have enough of a brain to realize that many Christians are not necessarily right or left), or both.
The younger teen would be interested, but he/she requires his parent to take him/her.
To the average 20/30-something, Narnia suffers from a similar problem. Most of you forget that for this group, whether they were fans of the book, Christians, or neither, TLTWATW was a failure. It failed to capture the magic of the Lord of the Rings, which is still hot (judged by the huge anticipation for The Hobbit). TLTWATW failed to engage the average viewer in any kind of profound sense. Yes, some loved it. But many didn't care for the actors, or the mediocre effects, or the lack of scope, or the cheese-factor (the goofy fox, Father Christmas), which all lent to an impression this was a movie for little kids. Peter wasn't terribly liked; Susan was nondescript; Edmund was great, but an antogonist for most of the film; and Lucy was generally liked, but is a little girl, and hardly a character anyone above 10 is going to latch onto as someone you *need* to see more of. Thus, a big failing for some was not having a likable Peter and Susan. The other major complaint was Adamson's tepid direction and lack of vision. My cousin, who loved the old '70s animated special, thought the film was mediocre, and emotionally paled to the cartoon! Think about that. A 40 year old man thought a cartoon was more emotionally engaging than a major motion picture. And he's right. Michael J. Lewis' soundtrack to the animated TLTWATW is astoundingly brilliant and emotive, and the adaptation is straight from the book, which translated perfectly to the screen, and pleased a wide swathe of Narnia fans. At any rate, my cousin hasn't even seen Prince Caspian, having lost interest right off the bat. Reading comments on various message boards (besides this one), I see he's not alone in this regard.
Therefore, without an engaging first film (engaging to those beside the fans on this board), a large segment of those who went to see TLTWATW didn't bother coming back to Prince Caspian b/c they imagined it was more of the same. Its merits and/or flaws as a film (and I think it's far better than the first) didn't matter to the many who lost interest in the first.
That was Disney's failing. If Disney wanted to reinvent the series and target a more diverse audience who like fantasy action/adventure (which is what the 2nd film is), they needed a far better campaign. It didn't help that the fanbase were too peeved at nonsense like Susan kissing Caspian to even support the film! (And it remains a solid film, flawed in some areas, but great overall).
That same issue is presenting itself with this film, which is also arguably a great movie (again, flawed, but a great, fun ride all the same).
It's just not seen as being something older teens or adults will be interested in (not dark or engaging enough to capture the primary moviegoing audience in the United States). By the same token, it can't go too dark or it will risk offending the fundamentalists and too-sensitive parents.
But putting aside its humor, Toy Story is undoubtedly a dark film, the grimmest of all three, and that's being considered for Best Picture! Where the Wild Things Are was another film for all ages, but had very somber, edgy moments in it. That was also critically and commercially succesful (except by those who only like light and fluffy movies).
The Silver Chair, if it ever gets greenlit, IS a dark book. There is something wonderfully offbeat and edgy about it (though obviously not in a cheesy Twilight or even Harry Potter way). The Silver Chair is simply a great fantasy classic, quirky, moody, and wild. What it needs is a boost in four areas: director, lead actress, supporting actor and budget.
1. I love what Michael Apted did. And I even love what Adamsom did with PC. But to revitalize the franchise, a director with a bigger name, is required, and YET, someone who can do this kind of film justice. Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) would be ideal. So would Guillermo Del Toro, who's a huge fan of fairy tales and fantasy. These would bring in a huge older demographic, who trust their films.
2. Whoever plays Jill Pole has to be a brilliant actress, preferably British, who can genuinely emote and draw in viewers.
3. Glumpuddle cannot be a Jar Jar Binks. He has to capture the book's description, and yet not be annoying or goofy. He's a sidekick character, but needs to be one that can be taken seriously, be endearing, and yet as quirky as he is in the book. So you need a great actor for the role, and the right actor who can naturally embody the Marsh-Wiggle's emotional state of mind.
4. The film needs a bigger budget to properly get the epic aspects that the book conveys, and more importantly, that people will be willing to spend their money to see.
With such a production, they can and should market it to several different groups, especially:
Younger viewers (not little kids, however) during certain time-frames and channels (Cartoon Network, particuarly during popular shows like The Clone Wars, and Ben 10).
Older audiences during different times (and with a slightly different trailer/TV spot) that emphasises the dark fantasy/adventure aspect.
I think that will ensure that Narnia fans get to see the remaining books produced.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a beautiful film, I think it's a great adaptation and now having 3 great and different Narnia films ( for probably quite a few people to discover for the first time or to re-acquaint themselves with the Narnia stories ), that in many respects the over all chronicles has to be in great shape if they can get breathing space with people.
The least enjoyable time i had with VOTDT was my first viewing, and that was because of hype of one kind or another – anticipation etc – coupled with comparatively fast paced episode (as well as knowing the book), for me meant i couldn't get the film as it is like i wanted to. Once that was cleared then brilliant times subsequent viewing although i have prefered 3d thus far by quite long way. The 3d is great, can't get how people say 2d better, way way better thus far in 3d for me.
There was a respectable number of people for my fourth time, the most(i.e. increased #) in the cinema thus far the times i've seen the film which has been on release 2 weeks here(first week not really known about i don't think) – so fingers crossed this is beginning of a trend.. Only concern is Narnia has one standard poster placement hidden away in main entry foyer in side enclave, and the narnia stand is only viewable and again to the side once you get to entrance of cinemas themselves at end of hall.
Is a great film and be very happy for M. Apted to do another Narnia ([particuarly MN), although for the series sake to do a diff. stylistic Narnia mysticism again, i really liked especially the way they did the two diff. star souls presentations from the book.
Just gotta hope enough people notice another great Narnia adaptation is playing on their christmas/holiday break over the next month or so – & that it is one of best times in cinema to have & rather special;) I see it two more times with diff. people/groups at minimum, although skimping n saving is worth it to make most of time seeing film run like Narnia at cinema -especially 3d.
In my opinion, I think they needed to get out the cast more into the media, we barely got interviews with them. Even less with mass medias, I wish we could have seen Ben, Skandar, Georgie and Will more, like in talk shows, and more TV shows. What about MTV for example, they covered the last movies but I didn't see a thing for this one.
The same for magazines, they just did a photoshoot together, and Georgie a couple. But we didn't get them on some of the big movie magazines.
I'm sure that would have helped, a big portion of the teenage audience watch movies because they feel identified with the kids or attracted, you just have to take a glance of how much girls fancy Skandar and Ben.
I have to say that here in Mexico City they did a good job with the promotion, there were tons of billboards all over the city, and I caught a TV spot once, but I don't watch TV that much to notice how often they were.
The marketing was perfectly fine. If you want to know why this film is tanking, I would respectfully suggest that people put aside their natural inclinations to blindly defend all things Narnia (not an awful trait, necessarily–I do it too, sometimes), and READ what the critics are saying, instead of dismissing their many valid points. The failure does not lie with the marketing department. The blame needs to go to the top. The producers had one last shot (and two and a half years) to make something spectacular that would capture the imagination of the film-going public. They failed miserably. I know many of you enjoyed it, and that’s a good thing. If you know what you like, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. I wish I could be there with you. Unfortunately, when you evaluate it objectively, ‘Dawn Treader’ is a terribly mediocre product of the cinema that is getting EXACTLY what it deserves in terms of box office business. This film should have evoked joy and wonder for the masses. Instead, it reeks of a very distinct fear of failure that compromises every frame.
I think one big change in the promoting of the movie from the previous 2 was that it wqsnt promoted in the Disney Channel. Disney Channel had this cool behind the scenes mini episodes coming on constantly through out the day. that i think is the reason why so many kids didnt know about the movie or why they werent as interested.
Just Give the rights to Warner Brothers.
Fox's biggest mistake was when they axed the game.
you had some good points on somethings, a little off on others, but I was really surprised (and I don't mean this rudely) that you thought Lucy didn't appeal to anyone over ten (whether book fan or no). I *am* a book fan. And I *am* 21. And I *love* Lucy as a little girl 🙂 I'm not trying to undo everything you just said, but that took me way off guard when I read it since I *did* like her!
And I DO agree with you 100% about Puddleglum's casting. Someone suggested Johnny Depp, and I would have liked to start freaking out 🙂 Puddleglum doesn't need to be an idiot like 'Jar-Jar Binks' to capture the show 😉 Get an actor with class (like Patrick Stewart 😀
Puddleglum is funny in a way where HE is DEAD serious, NOT goofing off, but *we* (the audience) see it as funny. Patrick Stewart could definately pull that off 😉 And he's a grandfatherly, mentor role. They brought in Liam Neeson, and that was a good pull, for his voice. I think it'd be great to bring Patrick Stewart onboard! 🙂
Thanks for your comment, it was an interesting read! 🙂
I have been talking about it since day one and almost went
on a craze when I found out it might not be made!! My daily routine cinsisted of Narnia web, fb, email,& then world news;I was always here first!! If you wanna REALLY know about a movie, then you'll seek to find out about it!! So, now the worried, suspense for SC to get greenlit!!
Thank you for the post fantasia_kitty, I agree with you on just about every point. I think FOX did fairly well in advertising, and I must say I loved seeing the billboards around 🙂 Do wish there had been more toys, though.
No offense, but I think you're comment sounds a little paranoid. Glenn Beck has talked a lot about C.S. Lewis on his shows (TV and radio) before. His favorite of Lewis's books is The Screwtape Letters, which he has promoted on his show before. What was Fox's stake in having him promote the Screwtape Letters many months ago exactly? Beck has made it clear for a while now that he personally is a fan of C.S. Lewis's, so why in the world wouldn't someone who loves Lewis want to promote The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? That's not some secret plot instigated by the evil Fox. It sounds to me like you just don't want anyone who disagrees with you to be able to have the right to discuss publicly the things that he likes and dislikes.
Furthermore, I don't really see how his suggesting that Neesom was ridiculous for suggesting that a figure who died for another's sins and rose against was a representation of Buddha was dragging the film into the culture wars. Did he mention abortion? Prayer in the schools? Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays? No, he merely expressed his opinion that what Neeson said made no sense. Please don't be so closed-minded about people who merely disagree with you. He was talking about the books and movies as quality entertainment with a good message. This is not political at all unless you are personally desperate to turn it into something political.