I'm sure some people will recognize that I have been very critical of Marvel's marketing campaign thus far. DC has been on a roll while Marvel has been quite sluggish in getting their movies out to the general audience. DC's newest blockbuster Green Lantern actually had an Entertainment Weekly ad put out a month or two before comic-con 2010. While Marvel had the much coveted THOR footage shown and then "leaked", it wasn't something your average movie-goer was exposed to.
A month before Thor was even heard of, the Green Lantern trailer was shown... in front of Harry Potter no less. Every person and their dog went to go see that movie. Along with the trailer, DC released one helluva eye-grabbing poster. Now the general opinion was that the trailer sucked. However, if you know how drill a crappy product into your audience's head, then the crappy product will sell. Like HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead. HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead. HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead.
Then the Thor trailer came out. Finally. Now, the Thor trailer should have come out a month before the Green Lantern trailer simply because Thor is coming out a month before Green Lantern is. But no... It came out a month AFTER. That makes no sense whatsoever. But whatever, because Thor is supposed to appear before the massively packed audience at the TRON premiere.
Nope.
It came out before Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Just a little figure for you. The worldwide opening weekend for Narnia:
$81,000,000
The worldwide opening weekend for Harry Potter:
$330,000,000
When I went to the midnight showing of HP, there were several showings of it and each one of them had a mile-long line just to see the movie. When I went to the midnight showing of Narnia JUST to see the Thor trailer. There were five people there. I mean... did Marvel somehow not see this coming? Who decided that it would be a good idea to put it in front of NARNIA? The people that go to see Narnia have no interest in an action-adventure superhero movie like Thor. Sure, both movies are fantasy. But they're two totally different types of fantasy. It's like comparing Lord of the Rings to Eragon. But you know what? I let it go because I figured the same Thor trailer would appear in front of Tron Legacy.
When I arrived at the midnight showing of Tron Legacy, I was extremely pumped. I was excited to see Tron. But I was also excited to be there with my friends, who hadn't seen the Thor trailer yet, and I would get to see it in front of a massive audience who actually gives two shits. I told all my friends to watch out for the Thor trailer. I bet you can guess what happens. I didn't get the Thor trailer. But I'll tell you what I did get...
The previews open up with Ryan Reynolds' big, fat ego waking up after a one-night stand, saying corny ass jokes, taking pants off, and then flying planes.
But no gods and armors to be seen.
This is especially alarming because DISNEY is making Tron and DISNEY is also making Thor. I mean, even if Disney for some absurd reason decided not to put Thor in front of Tron, why attach the main competition, WARNER BROS? And while technically every studio is competition for Disney, WB and Disney have been at each other's necks for more than half a century. Whether it's old cartoons or television shows or box office breadwinners...they've been chief rivals. And now, they're competing even more but this time with superhero movies.
So basically, Green Lantern got trailers in front of TWO of this year's BIGGEST films, while Thor got a trailer in front of one of this year's biggest BOMBS. It doesn't matter how good the trailer is if people aren't seeing it. It might as well be The Smurfs. I'm not telling ya'll this from a deluded Marvel fanboy's perspective. I'm telling ya'll this from a business perspective. Marvel ain't putting out, and they're going to lose sorely because of it. DC is stomping all over Marvel as far as audience attention is concerned. And right now, I think it's absurd to believe that Thor is going to come even CLOSE to matching Green Lantern's B.O. peformance.
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