Dredd (2012)

[HunterZolomon]

I think we only see it as unconventional because we're use to seeing comic adaptations get big treatments when a lot of mid-budget films don't get that and that's what Dredd is.

I think things had actually started with last Spetember's Empire feature and marketing would've continued through to its release in the Spring -the release date as quoted in the article- but then the film was pushed back to the Autumn which meant any marketing would clash with the big Summer films and was too long to sustain, so they now wait til nearer the time of release.

I don't compare it to any of the big ones at all. I compare it to movies like Priest for example, similar budget. Priest had a trailer up in Sept 2010, with release in May 2011. That is conventional. If Dredd was planned for spring, then the trailer should probably have coincided with the Empire feature. If they wanted to push it back, a trailer would conventionally hit in Feb/March at the latest.

It makes sense to push it back because of The Avengers etc. but not showing anything, not saying anything. I don't know about that...

[JOE SOAP]

There are no should've in

I don't compare it to any of the big ones at all. I compare it to movies like Priest for example, similar budget. Priest had a trailer up in Sept 2010, with release in May 2011. That is conventional. If Dredd was planned for spring, then the trailer should probably have coincided with the Empire feature. If they wanted to push it back, a trailer would conventionally hit in Feb/March at the latest.

Hindsight is always easy but not the reality.

Their decision to hold the film back till September 2012 was announced in July 2011, the article in the 'September' issue of Empire was written months before when Spring was the release date and obviously Empire had printed up its September lot of mags so couldn't change what was all ready printed so those things did not coincide.


A trailer in March wouldn't be as strong as a trailer now after those other films. There's little point comparing films as to when they show trailers, Priest's marketing didn't work, it failed to even recoup its budget.

[dracula1]

Think of the DREDD film as a piece of art you have created.  Do you lock it up in a closet once completed for a long time so nobody can appreciate your efforts ... Or expose to the world in all its  glory be it good or bad!? 

[HunterZolomon]

Hindsight is always easy but not the reality.

Their decision to hold the film back till September 2012 was announced in July 2011, the article in the 'September' issue of Empire was written months before when Spring was the release date and obviously Empire had printed up its September lot of mags so couldn't change what was all ready printed so those things did not coincide.


A trailer in March wouldn't be as strong as a trailer now after those other films. There's little point comparing films as to when they show trailers, Priest's marketing didn't work, it failed to even recoup its budget.

It's not just about the trailer, even though a lot of people (myself included) find it strange it hasn't been released yet. The lack of an official site, teaser, trailer, interviews, no press screening in Cannes, all of that is what is strange.

You seem to go out of your way to defend the non-existant marketing of Dredd. Do you really think they are handling this in the best possible way? Where would the harm be in showing Dredd trailers during the summer blockbusters? Why not a site to confirm and promote the movie? It is after all the comic book audience they're aiming for. A very internet savvy group who go to see the comic book movie summer blockbusters.

By the way, concerning the LA Times article you said "It was well raked over at the time and nothing more ever came of itother than a sparse retraction." Do you have any links or references to that at all? The retraction?

[dracula1]

Reveal the creative process of the film it shows confidence in what you are creating ... Instead of secrecy which seems to be nurturing doubt about the final product. Minty is a good example of revealing with confidence your creative ability with good positive feedback as a result.  Take note Global for DREDD 2. 

[dracula1]

Shit l hoping I would get the 200th post with that last one.

[Kowalsky (formerly JudgeGumpty)]

Reveal the creative process of the film it shows confidence in what you are creating ... Instead of secrecy which seems to be nurturing doubt about the final product. Minty is a good example of revealing with confidence your creative ability with good positive feedback as a result.  Take note Global for DREDD 2.

From what ive seen of Minty so far I would happily buy that on DVD, fantastic effort put into that and best off all its a fanpic. Dredd could and should take note Dracula1 your right.

[A.Cow]

It's not just about the trailer, even though a lot of people (myself included) find it strange it hasn't been released yet. [...] Where would the harm be in showing Dredd trailers during the summer blockbusters?

Er .... 'cos it costs MONEY.

Advertising is wasted if people will have forgotten it by the time the film comes out.  That's money pissed down the drain.

Other films' big advertising bucks can create a prologed, sustained run of multiple trailers and stepped promotion but it all costs $$$.  My (very quick) research suggests that on average a Hollywood movie costing $30m will typically spend a further $15m on advertising.  (And that's an average.  A lot of the $100m+ movies exceed the cost of the movie in advertising alone.)

Additionally, I'd presume there's a higher premium incurred attaching a trailer to a big movie ('cos movie distribution is a business, after all).

The lack of an official site, teaser, trailer, interviews, no press screening in Cannes, all of that is what is strange.

And who is going to pay for all that?  You think flying actors to Cannes is free?

Also, do you think that the average punter is going to notice?  Walk down the street, stop somebody and ask them to name three movies shown at Cannes that they've heard about in the press.  (Certainly in the UK, a handful would say the Kylie Minogue thing and that's about it.)  Press screenings only generate buzz for blockbusters or films that would otherwise be ignored.

It is after all the comic book audience they're aiming for. A very internet savvy group who go to see the comic book movie summer blockbusters.

Why waste money targetting a very small demographic group of comic book fans?  You're talking around 0.05% of the population.  (UK comics sales max 20k of 60m population; US comics sales max 150k of 370m population).  Especially a group that fails to evangelise your product, preferring instead to gripe about continuity errors.

Minty is a good example of revealing with confidence your creative ability with good positive feedback as a result.

And it's left this punter pissed-off with having to wait for the final product to appear.  That's negative publicity in the long run.


I'm guessing that the DR3DD^TM promotion will come in a short, sharp shock when the time is right for maximum efficiency with a small budget, which is probably around 2-3 weeks before release.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

I think with mega budget films like DKR coming to a Emporium soon it's surely best to wait till their mighty wake has faded from the Cinema?

Be good if they got the Trailer to go with DKR but let's be realistic. A mid budget flick is not able to muster the same amount of Ad campaign a Major Movie release can.

Keep your powder dry and fire when necessary will be DNA's/ IM Globals motto.

It will turn up when they believe the time is right and not before.

[Spikes]

Shit l hoping I would get the 200th post with that last one.

You won the runners up prize of having 666 posts to your name instead.

Yes, some kind o' trailer would be nice, though im not expecting one soon. September still seems like a long way off.

[SmallBlueThing]

It strikes me that if it costs 100m to make a movie, and then another 100m to entice people in to see it, you'd probably be better off not bothering to make it in the first place and instead making something that people actually want to see.

Dredd's budget seems about right- perhaps a bit high (ah, who am i kidding? I'd cap all movie budgets at 2m and legally oblige any film that overspends to double the total cost of production in charitable donations), and the 'slow' advertising completely understandable. Id expect some low-level advertising in the next month, a few posters, a trailer, then the movie in cinemas for a couple of weeks before it all repeats for dvd release after xmas.

SBT

[JOE SOAP]

You seem to go out of your way to defend the non-existant marketing of Dredd. Do you really think they are handling this in the best possible way? Where would the harm be in showing Dredd trailers during the summer blockbusters? Why not a site to confirm and promote the movie? It is after all the comic book audience they're aiming for. A very internet savvy group who go to see the comic book movie summer blockbusters.

I could ask why you're going out of your way to criticise it but that's an equally trivial and unimportant question, it's just an opinion and nothing more, who cares what I think. I also work within  productions for TV so I do have an interest in how these things get made and sold.


If you haven't gotten my point of view by now, I can't really tell you anymore than when the marketing starts, it'll be according to whatever plan they've had and have waited to implement after the Summer juggernauts. I don't believe anything they could've done would have been particularly effective in the wake of big studio comic-book fare and would make it seem Dredd was in competition with them, which it clearly isn't, as it's not entirely that particular audience. Dredd will be aiming for a broader, mostly older male, crossover audience than simply the comic-book crowd.

By the way, concerning the LA Times article you said "It was well raked over at the time and nothing more ever came of itother than a sparse retraction." Do you have any links or references to that at all? The retraction?

The response was updated to the original latimesblog article:

[Update, 12:23 pm. Monday: Travis and Garland released a joint statement that read, "During all stages of the filmmaking, 'Dredd' has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties.  From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film.  This situation has been misinterpreted.  To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit.  We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its released next year."]

[HunterZolomon]

Er .... 'cos it costs MONEY.

And who is going to pay for all that?  You think flying actors to Cannes is free?

Well, there are plenty of ways to promote a movie like Dredd on a shoe-string budget. A medium budget movie would do well to use the internet to promote it. A directors blog for example would have been awesome. An official site with badge and date. I'm not asking for Avengers level promotion, just something that shows a bit of confidence and starts a good buzz.

Why waste money targetting a very small demographic group of comic book fans?

That "very small" group (not so small anymore I might add) will be the group that creates the buzz about the movie. Why do you think a lot of movies, big and small, show up at ComicCon nowadays?

[A.Cow]

Yes! 200 pages!  I WIN at posting!

... BUGGER.  Wrong post.

Er .... 'cos it costs MONEY.

Well, there are plenty of ways to promote a movie like Dredd on a shoe-string budget. A medium budget movie would do well to use the internet to promote it. A directors blog for example would have been awesome. An official site with badge and date. I'm not asking for Avengers level promotion, just something that shows a bit of confidence and starts a good buzz.

Fair point, well made.

[HunterZolomon]

I could ask why you're going out of your way to criticise it but that's an equally trivial and unimportant question, it's just an opinion and nothing more, who cares what I think. I also work within  productions for TV so I do have an interest in how these things get made and sold.

If you haven't gotten my point of view by now, I can't really tell you anymore than when the marketing starts, it'll be according to whatever plan they've had and have waited to implement after the Summer juggernauts. I don't believe anything they could've done would have been particularly effective in the wake of big studio comic-book fare and would make it seem Dredd was in competition with them, which it clearly isn't, as it's not entirely that particular audience. Dredd will be aiming for a broader, mostly older male, crossover audience than simply the comic-book crowd.

By the way, concerning the LA Times article you said "It was well raked over at the time and nothing more ever came of itother than a sparse retraction." Do you have any links or references to that at all? The retraction?

The response was updated to the original latimesblog article:

[Update, 12:23 pm. Monday: Travis and Garland released a joint statement that read, "During all stages of the filmmaking, 'Dredd' has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties.  From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film.  This situation has been misinterpreted.  To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit.  We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its released next year."]

Excellent, thanks for the quote.

Also, I have VERY high hopes for Dredd. Consider my posts a fanboy's concern. Good buzz among the geek community is worth quite a lot, and I think Dredd could do much better in that department.