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[talktooloose]

A bit more on the upcoming Sweeney Todd movie. Something's fishy with the marketing. I'm going on the assumption that the PR mavens at the studios are freaking out.

Point: This is a musical which means you should be making the money on the families, pushed to the theatre by the soccer moms who just LOVED Chicago.

Point: This musical is rated R for "graphic violence". No families, no squeamish soccer moms.

Point: Tim Burton's core constituency is boys in their 20s (am I wrong?).

Point: Boys in their 20s don't want to go see a Broadway musical.

Evidence of all this? The trailer barely makes it look like a musical. Johnny is singing the Epiphany which is not a "jazz hands" kind of number. We see no chorus numbers, we see none of Mrs. Lovett's funny numbers. We see no faux-Italian comic singing by Sacha Barron Cohen as Pirelli. These would seem naturals in the trailer, n'est-ce pas?

Instead it looks like a brooding Burton baroque tragedy thing with one poetic sung bit which is clearly taking place in his Sweeney's head.

The music that opens the trailer is NOT from Sweeney Todd but is, instead, generic creepy horror stuff. WTF? You couldn't have found a bit of the score that worked? I'm amazed they didn't resort to Karmina Burana.

Conclusion: They're trying to hide the true nature of the film.

This points to panicked marketing mavens. I wish the film luck. I hope it hasn't been neutered in an effort to "save" it.

Comments

[mandlebars.livejournal.com]

His constituency is boys in their 20's and teenage mall Goths/generic hot topic kids. I think that maybe they want it to be not be a 'hit' movie to specifically appeal to those two groups since 20 odds/teenage kids/students do tend to have a lot of money to burn.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but hiding the real identity of a movie... what's that about? A good opening weekend and lots of disappointment? It's like waiting until you're about to sleep with someone for the first time before you announce you can only get off if you're in a tub of Velveeta listening to Pavarotti CDs.

And, btw, no one in the movie biz doesn't want a hit movie. Ever.

[mandlebars.livejournal.com]

wrong choice of words, they don't want the appearance of a hit I mean they're all about 'word of mouth' advertising to give the appearance of artistic credibility. Maybe the studios don't really believe in the movie and so gave it a low marketing budget and this s their attempt at creating 'mystery'?

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

No, they just don't have the confidence in being able to 'sell' it by telling the truth. ...At least it's not like how they market 'comedy' films, where you've seen 90% of the movie before you've actually seen the movie.

And the quotes were on purpose.

Grr.

[redtheblue.livejournal.com]

The PR folks don't have enough brains to trust Tim Fucking Burton, only adding to the pile of evidence that he's been hanging around the wrong studios for way too long. When the movie machine you're chained to is more concerned with pleasing the people who don't expect anything from them, you know you've made a wrong turn career-wise.

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, but who cares what your muse is saying when the Green-Backed God is filling your cup?

[/sarcasm]

[rcornelius.livejournal.com]

I loved Sweeney Todd when I saw it at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. This movie version seems crappy.

I hope that they don't try to "save" the film either.