Hollywood Road

Miramax is solely responsible for the North American publicity and distribution of "Sin City". Since the investment in the production cost alone has reached 40 million US dollars this time, the overseas distribution rights have been acquired by Miramax's parent, Walt Disney. Take it away, and Disney's non-children's film label Bowei International is responsible for overseas distribution.

Like the normal publicity of all films, Miramax has been working methodically and according to the plan since the establishment of the film project, such as posters, trailers, outdoor advertisements and Internet advertisements. Frank Miller He also participated in several media interviews and was full of praise for Murphy's filming and post-production. He bluntly said that the film reproduced the comics almost 100%, which will definitely be a milestone in the history of comics.

With the approval of the original author, comic fans will undoubtedly look forward to the film even more, and comic fans are the most basic audience of the film.

Of course, Miramax will not ignore ordinary passer-by audiences. Whether it is Murphy or Harvey Weinstein, they are very clear that relying solely on comic fans cannot support the expected 60 million to 80 million US dollars. US dollar North American box office.

For example, Miramax released a 30-second short film about Jessica Alba. The content of the short film is a striptease in a bar. It has attracted the attention of many people.

Moreover, Miramax also used this as a topic to create a series of chain news to promote "Sin City".

Recently, many Internet and Internet media are also hyping up related news, and news about Jessica Alba can be seen everywhere. Under Murphy's suggestion, Miramax did use her as a promotional point.

"Looking back at the stripping careers of Hollywood actresses..."

There are also such posts on some influential film and television websites and forums.

The post first reviews a series of striptease performances in the film by famous actresses such as Demi Moore, Elizabeth Berkeley, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan and Salma Hayek, and then highlights And this Jessica Alba striptease video.

"In the upcoming "Sin City", Jessica Alba played the role of Nancy, a pure and sexy stripper girl. A video of pole dancing on the bar was amazing. Many people who watched the video said, Jessica Alba is sexy, glamorous and passionate with a whole new style and her body, if I had to nitpick it would be that this dancer in denim is a bit overdressed, perhaps the film will show us More exciting content..."

These have brought topicality to the film, and have successfully attracted the attention of many men. "Sin City" was originally a film for men. From the initial project approval, I never thought that it would attract a large number of women. audience.

In addition to Jessica Alba, Robert Downey Jr., whose popularity has gradually recovered after "Planet Terror", and James Franco, who has become more and more famous, are also important publicity points, and the two have also accepted exclusive interviews from the media.

Facing an interview with the Los Angeles Times, James Franco said, "In the beginning, Murphy said he needed someone to help him gain Frank Miller's trust. I had never seen the "Sin City" series before. Comics, when I opened the picture book, I realized how cool the world of "Sin City" was, and I knew that was exactly what Murphy was good at. The men were all big and bloodthirsty, and the women were all Wearing furs and whips, it’s like old-fashioned noir taken to a new extreme, with nothing like it on the big screen.”

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Downey Jr. focused on the green screen shooting used in the film, "When I first started performing in front of the green screen, it felt weird, because everything depends on you. My own imagination, I have to take my attention away from the green screen and focus on being in the world of the film. It's interesting, special, and fresh to shoot. I think this guy Murphy is a wizard, because he found The way he turned painting into special effects, he turned water into wine."

Now is no longer the era when word of mouth alone could win. The characteristics of this era determine that if a film wants to achieve real success, it must do everything possible to promote it. Promotion is the most powerful weapon One of them is to create topics.

Miramax's public relations department will not let go of any potential topics, especially Murphy's withdrawal from the directors' union, which can attract many people's attention.

In the hype, Murphy is definitely a very, very selfless person, a director who can sacrifice his personal interests for the film.

Premiere magazine relayed a Harvey Weinstein account of why Murphy quit the Directors Guild.

"After getting the film adaptation rights of "Sin City", Murphy still hoped that Frank Miller could play a role in the filming of the film. He said to me at the time that Frank Miller's participation in the filming of the film would play a role in being faithful to the original book. I don’t want Frank to be a comic writer or producer, but to let Frank appear as a director, so as to establish Frank’s prestige and let the actors and crew follow his guidance. Although this decision sounds simple, it is It required a sacrifice from Murphy, because the DGA treaty stipulates that each film can only be directed by one director, and Murphy had to resign in order to allow Frank Miller to co-direct with him."

After the media hype, this matter that no one paid attention to immediately became a hot topic, and even had a certain influence among movie fans. Many people who did not pay attention to Murphy and "Sin City" began to pay attention to such a person who can contribute to The director of the film and his work withdrew from the Directors' Union.

In order to increase the popularity of the film and continue to expand the popularity of the film, Murphy also accepted an interview with "Premiere" after finishing all post-production work, specifically talking about this hot topic.

“It was a decision that had to be made to quit the Directors Guild of America because they didn’t want me to work with new directors and it didn’t fit their rulebook. We were approached by a representative of the Directors Guild while the film was being filmed and asked us to stop work and be investigated. We won't let anything stop us."

Facing the reporter's interview, Murphy must of course put himself on the innocent side and at the same time attract attention, "In my mind, Mr. Frank Miller is not a newcomer director. If you see his comic works, you will Found them to be just as good as the big-screen successes in plot, graphics, action, editing and directing, only instead of cameras, actors and lights, Frank worked with pen and paper."

When it was time to boast, Murphy was never stingy with his words of praise, "Just like movies, comics tell stories with pictures, but the directors' union is firmly opposed, so in order to make this movie, I had to quit. Sometimes, when you To try something different, you're going to have to break some rules."

These are all for the sake of publicity and hype. The images seen in the media are sometimes the images that public relations and publicity want people to see.

All things that are not good for the promotion of the film will be covered up as much as possible. Almost everyone involved in the production of a film now wants it to be a big success, and Frank Miller is no exception.

He was also interviewed, responding to the hype surrounding Murphy's exit from the directors' union.

Of course, Frank Miller is also an old fritter, and he also said words of praise, "Murphy shocked me throughout the shooting of the film. Of all the comic book adaptations, this "Sin City" directed by Murphy "is the best transformation of the original work, especially the black and white and fast, jumping cuts, which are simply superb. Murphy has achieved this effect in a brand-new way. I am deeply surprised by the extraordinaryness of "City", there is no fabricated realism here, it is more like a pure and feverish dream."

With Frank Miller's response, Miramax was at home with the news point.

Such publicity is not only aimed at the upcoming theater screenings, but also the dvd and video tape market after the theaters.

For such a large-scale film, the dvd market may see explosive revenue figures.

Murphy's first two films also proved this point. Both "Saw" and "Planet Terror" have entered the top three monthly DVD rental rankings in North America, creating nearly a thousand dollars in sales and rental. million dollars in revenue, and that figure has continued to increase over time.

Especially "Planet Terror", the North American box office of this film is far inferior to "Chain Saw", but it is very popular in the rental market. In just half a year, the income from the rental alone has exceeded the million dollar mark.

These can not only bring certain dividends to Murphy, but also become the capital to lay his solid foundation. It is because of these that Miramax did not hesitate to offer up to 15 million US dollars to "Sin City" North American publicity and marketing expenses.

Everyone knows that publicity requires funds, not to mention Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., who are far from the front-line cast and crew, need to use funds to impress the media to create momentum, even Tom Cruise and Leon A movie of a superstar like Nado-DiCaprio will have to invest a huge amount of publicity funds after entering the promotion period.

It was possible in the past to be able to drive a movie to become a big hit with just one person, but it is very difficult in this era, not even for James Cameron. The movie that will set a record in the future depends not only It is his golden signature, and the promotion and marketing expenses are much higher than the production cost.

After accepting the "Premiere" interview, Murphy's work has temporarily come to an end, and he can spare time to continue his offensive on the other hand. (To be continued.)