Disney's Super Bowl game plan

[ALIASd]

Posted: Thurs., Jan. 8, 2009, 7:40pm PT

Super Bowl push planned for film ads

Studios undeterred by economy

By Marc Graser
Variety

The hefty pricetag to advertise during the Super Bowl may have scared off major marketers during a down economy, but it hasn’t forced Hollywood to sit on the sidelines.

Nearly every studio will push pics during the big game, airing on NBC Feb. 1, with the movie lineup naturally made up of summer tentpoles whose studios hope to appeal to the nearly 100 U.S. million viewers that tune in to the broadcast. Confirmed for this year’s roster are high-profile titles like Paramount’s "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe"; Sony’s "Angels and Demons"; DreamWorks Animation’s "Monsters vs. Aliens"; and Universal’s "Land of the Lost" and its fourth installment in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise. Disney is also planning to use the game to raise the profile for Pixar’s next toon, "Up," while a "Wolverine" spot is likely from Fox.

Disney is remaining tight-lipped about its Super Bowl strategy, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it buys time for Dwayne Johnson starrer "Race to Witch Mountain" and Jerry Bruckheimer’s "G-Force." The Mouse House typically airs two spots — one devoted to a toon and one to a live-action release.

Super Bowl push planned for film ads - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety

[ALIASd]

Big-studio films go for some Super exposure

Updated 15h 49m ago

By Ron Phillips, Disney Enterprises
Get a game-time preview:
Carla Gugino, left, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig and Dwayne Johnson
in March 13 release Race to Witch Mountain, an ad for which will air during the Super Bowl.

By Anthony Breznican
USA TODAY

This Sunday, it won't just be the Pittsburgh Steelers playing against the Arizona Cardinals.
Competing for attention also will be the Transformers against an old man tying balloons to his house, G.I. Joe battling biblical buffoons, and Angels & Demons vs. Monsters vs. Aliens.

As everyone knows, the Super Bowl is one of the priciest ad-buys on television, and only the priciest, most popular movies can afford it. Last year, the telecast drew an audience of about 97 million. NBC says a 30-second spot costs about $3 million.

An ad for the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, opening June 26, is among the most highly anticipated, and the Paramount film is one of several from the studio staking a claim during the game — including clips from the Star Trek reboot (May 8) and the revival of another 1980s kid favorite, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug. 7).

"It's hard to find an audience and have 100 million people guaranteed to you. All of us are dying to get to that venue," says Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of Transformers and G.I. Joe. "For these big event movies, you want to be associated with another big event."

The DreamWorks Animation comedy Monsters vs. Aliens is buying a full 90 seconds of ad time, and the promo for the 3-D movie, opening March 27, will stand out (literally and figuratively) with paper-and-plastic glasses that are being handed out at grocery stores.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks Animation and Hollywood's chief 3-D proselytizer, says the film will use clear glasses in theater, but the disposable colored-plastic ones for the ad are also an update on the old technology, designed to immerse the viewer in the dizzying sci-fi world. He jokes that for grown-ups, "what will make it even better is having two beers before it comes on."

Disney will be showing off the Pixar film Up (May 29), about an old man who attaches helium balloons to his house and floats away on an adventure, and the live-action family comedy Race to Witch Mountain (March 13), a remake of the 1975 original starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a cabbie helping two alien kids get home.

Sony Pictures will present footage of Angels & Demons (out May 15), the Tom Hanks prequel to The Da Vinci Code, as well as Year One (June 19), a comedy starring Michael Cera and Jack Black as a pair of outcasts in early biblical times. "A lot of advertisers are trying to create laughs in their spots," says Sony vice chairman Jeff Blake. "So this wasn't an obvious choice, but it sure is funny."

Big-studio films go for some Super exposure - USATODAY.com

[Radiobarry]

Slightly off topic...

AliasD, do you know if they're going to be doing the "I'm going to DisneyWorld/Disneyland" thing with the game MVP again this year?

[ALIASd]

Haven't seen anything on this as of yet. However I don't recall them announcing anything about prior to any of the games in recent years. I'm sure they've at least reserved the right to do and then decide if they'll utilize it.

[Maverick]

Originally Posted by Radiobarry

Slightly off topic...

AliasD, do you know if they're going to be doing the "I'm going to DisneyWorld/Disneyland" thing with the game MVP again this year?

I heard they are doing it this year and want to bring it back for years to come.

[Radiobarry]

Back on topic, it's still a bit curious to me that so much money is being spent to promote films in this economy.

Most of the people I talk to are of the "I'll wait til I can rent it" type, and with the money it costs to see a movie even at the bargain matinees....

Of course, most of those people are like me, and well beyond the target demo of the studios.

And when I studied the films of the 30's in college (loved my film noir class as well) we were usually taught that theaters did quite well, even during the Depression.

But that was in an age with no relatively cheap TV or internet, and radio hadn't even made the full impact yet.

Hmmm.