Oh boy! Is the May date changing again?

[T'Cal]

Hyping The Dark Knight obviously didn't hurt its box office numbers. They showed the entire first scene (bank robbery with reveal of the Joker) with "I Am Legend" and Comcast Cable had several 8 minute shorts that provided background info on the film, not to mention the handful of trailers that were shown at the movies and available online. They need to hype the stuffing out of this film. I think they will and I hope they do it before it's too late. It isn't too late yet and Christmas might be the best time. We'll see.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Of course, it doesn't help when local cinemas have trailers saying it's "coming December 2008", like the local Vue did...

Huh? It's hardly Paramount's fault if local cinemas are playing old trailers with incorrect dates. ST XI's teaser trailer was released attached to the front of "Cloverfield".

Was Vue showing "Cloverfield"?

Paramount has altered the date in its online version of that ST XI teaser trailer.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Hyping The Dark Knight obviously didn't hurt its box office numbers. They showed the entire first scene (bank robbery with reveal of the Joker) with "I Am Legend" and Comcast Cable had several 8 minute shorts that provided background info on the film, not to mention the handful of trailers that were shown at the movies and available online.

They were also marketing a Batman film without the word "Batman" in the title. Risky. But ultimately, it worked well. (They do surveys on this stuff, you know.)

They need to hype the stuffing out of this film. I think they will and I hope they do it before it's too late. It isn't too late yet and Christmas might be the best time.

Right now (and several months ago at Comic Con) is way too early.

 

[M'Sharak]

Of course, it doesn't help when local cinemas have trailers saying it's "coming December 2008", like the local Vue did...

Huh? It's hardly Paramount's fault if local cinemas are playing old trailers with incorrect dates. ST XI's teaser trailer was released attached to the front of "Cloverfield".

Was Vue showing "Cloverfield"?

Paramount has altered the date in its online version of that ST XI teaser trailer.

I believe that some of the overseas (non-English language) versions of the startrekmovie site still have the December date displayed, as well. Not sure why Jim would be seeing trailers such as he described in the UK, though; that sounds like a dropped ball somewhere..

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

They need to hype the stuffing out of this film. I think they will and I hope they do it before it's too late.

I addressed this in another thread, but I think it belongs here, too...

...The general public already has a pre-conceived notion of what Star Trek is -- and that preconceived notion is that it is "only for geeks".

I think that Abrams is not going to over-hype this film early with the hopes of catching the general public/average movie-goer off guard once he is able to show a full trailer and full TV advertisements that will show this film is "Cool" and not geeky. He wants the firts impressions of this film to be positive ones.

I think that if this film starts getting hyped too early -- and since it is too early to show REAL clips from this film, that early hype will probably manifest itself in the media as talking about "Familiar Old Star Trek", which to the general public is "Geeky Trek"...and that will only serve to reinforce that preconceived notion that Star Trek is a nerd thing.

If they start hyping it now -- before the trailers and TV ad campaigns are ready -- then we will probably end up seeing Good Morning America and the Today Show talking about Abrams new film, but airing clips from TOS and TNG -- and that's NOT what Abrams wants people to have in their heads when they think about this film. He wants them to have scenes from HIS film in their heads.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the TV advertisements (and trailers) for this film will only identify it as "Star Trek" at the very end...just like the teaser trailer did. That way people will (hopefully) say to themselves "this looks cool -- what movie is this?" before they find out it is Star Trek.

...although I'm sure that 2/3 of even average moviegoers will recognize it as Star Trek...but hopefully they will be pleasantly surprised by the way the film looks in the trailer/TV advertisements, and hopefully erase those pre-conceived notions of what they think Star Trek is.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Count me among those who wish they'd release just a little info. Not major spoilers or anything...but enough to keep people interested and get a buzz going.

 

[Therin of Andor]

If they start hyping it now -- before the trailers and TV ad campaigns are ready -- then we will probably end up seeing Good Morning America and the Today Show talking about Abrams new film, but airing clips from TOS and TNG -- and that's NOT what Abrams wants people to have in their heads when they think about this film. He wants them to have scenes from HIS film in their heads.

I totally agree. This happened in Australia with TNG, before footage was available. The commentators were talking excitedly about an all-new generation, but showing images from TOS and ST IV.

 

[Procutus]

^

Did that tactic hurt TNG in Australia, Therin? I honestly don't know, so this is a legit question, not a barb. I still feel that a few stills from the sets, released now, will not hurt or impact the film's May 8 opening weekend performance. Since word-of-mouth publicity will come from folks like us on this bulletin board, I just don't see how that can be detrimental.

Just my .02 worth.

 

[trekkerguy]

Huh... this whole thread is odd.

I've been nothing but extremely excited since I saw the trailer and
recently the posters that were released. It's still almost a year away
people... chill a bit, seriously.

 

[Procutus]

It's still almost a year away

Only seven months, actually.

 

[trekkerguy]

It's still almost a year away

Only seven months, actually.

Still the majority of a year. Seriously. It's way to early to be complaining there isn't enough hype for it or information.

 

[Procutus]

It's way to early to be complaining there isn't enough hype for it or information.

I'll meet you half-way; you're probably right, but I DO think the whole secrecy thing has been taken to an extreme. Then again, I may just be comparing it to the way Paramount did things back when ST:TMP was still seven months away from release (which would've been May of 1979).

 

[trekkerguy]

It's way to early to be complaining there isn't enough hype for it or information.

I'll meet you half-way; you're probably right, but I DO think the whole secrecy thing has been taken to an extreme. Then again, I may just be comparing it to the way Paramount did things back when ST:TMP was still seven months away from release (which would've been May of 1979).

Well... everything is pretty much on track for how a summer movie is promoted. It's not really secrecy, just not spoiling it before the campaign. We'll see another trailer around christmas, and if they're serious about it possibly again in Jan/Feb during the super bowl, it'll go quiet for a month, then you'll start seeing TV ads and other promos leading up to the release.

EDIT: Also... J.J. Abrams is known for this level of "secrecy", and it has always worked well for past projects.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

^
^^Good point about the Super Bowl. THAT will probably be this films big "coming out party".

Like I said before, I could see a Superbowl TV ad for this film that shows a lot of interesting scenes, but isn't easily identified as "Star Trek"...until the very end when the graphic comes up on the screen -- sort of like the teaser wasn't easily identifiable until Nimoy's voiceover started. This way, 'average joe superbowl fan/moviegoer' will perhaps be interested in it before he finds out at the end of the ad that it was 'Star Trek' that he was interested in.

 

[Basil]

As I've posted before, I'm bored with the secrecy and not excited anymore. How odd that in an age where the Internet and viral marketing are so important, Paramount is choosing to market the film like it's that (May) Christmas present hidden in your parents' bedroom closet. I'm feeling about the same as I did by the time Indy 4 came out -- which is, I'll watch it free on DVD from the library. And I'm an Indy fan.

 

[trekkerguy]

As I've posted before, I'm bored with the secrecy and not excited anymore. How odd that in an age where the Internet and viral marketing are so important, Paramount is choosing to market the film like it's that (May) Christmas present hidden in your parents' bedroom closet. I'm feeling about the same as I did by the time Indy 4 came out -- which is, I'll watch it free on DVD from the library. And I'm an Indy fan.

They're marketing it like it's next summers opener that's 7 months away.
Sorry you're bored. But this is all normal for any movie.

Anybody notice we havn't even seen a Transformers 2 trailer yet and it only comes out a month later? Or Wolverine, and Harry Potter has a sorta teaser. Trek got a trailer over a year and a half before release. Yeah, they know what they are doing, we're just bored nerds. Calm down. There will be plenty when the time is right.

I'm begining to think it was a mistake for us to even see that trailer so soon.

 

[Q2UnME]

^ Actually, Entertainment Tonight had a whole show dedicated to Transformers 2, filled with a lot of on set exclusive sneak peak stuff. Most of it was fluff and a few sound bites, but a whole lot more than what's been comming out of JJ's camp.

Q2

 

[Procutus]

I'm begining to think it was a mistake for us to even see that trailer so soon.

I agree with you on that, now that the film has been bumped. A teaser in January, when we all still thought the film was coming out at Christmas, wasn't a bad idea.

It's a shame the decision was made after the teaser came out.

 

[Basil]

^ Actually, Entertainment Tonight had a whole show dedicated to Transformers 2, filled with a lot of on set exclusive sneak peak stuff. Most of it was fluff and a few sound bites, but a whole lot more than what's been comming out of JJ's camp.

Q2

It's not alone; Quantum of Solace has been posting videos, articles, and photos for months, and The Dark Knight began its viral campaign quite a while before the film debuted. The issue isn't when the film premieres so much as how much is filmed and how much the studio is willing to get audiences worked up. The best cheerleaders are always going to be fans, but if the so-called general audience member is expected to be onboard, then the work needs to start sooner than Christmas. As a long-time fan, I can affirm that my interest has flagged after these many , many months of half-hearted teasings.

 

[Augustus]

I am sure they will start hyping it soon.

But as I have said before, I bet I will be genuinely surprised by this film unlike the last few trek movies where I knew what was going to happen weeks before they were even done filming