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9 months ago
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The aftermath of the strikes may have rattled the domestic box office 13% behind the same period a year ago, however, that’s not stopping Paramount, Universal and Disney from spending a record $7 million per 30-second spot to show off their feature wares on Super Bowl Sunday.
Despite box office taking a hit, most major studio (and streaming) execs really it’s temporary; the best means for downstream monies and for all eventizing remains in theatrical, and what better time to do it than before an audience of 100M when the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs butt heads this Sunday.
Paramount Studios, whose sister linear network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, are broadcasting the Big Game (in addition to Nickelodeon which is doing a “slimecast” to pull in younger viewers), have three spots booked, which can air pre-during or post game: the upcoming Feb. 14 music biopic Bob Marley: One Love, John Krasinski’s Ryan Reynolds imaginary friend movie, If, which dropped a teaser this AM (May 17) and the highly anticipated genre prequel A Quiet Place: Day One (June 28).
Disney might have a shorter theatrical schedule this year due the strike, but the Mouse House won’t be on the sidelines as it has traditionally committed pushes for its Pixar and Marvel movies. This year, it won’t be shocking if we catch a spot for Father’s Day weekend release, Inside Out 2 (June 14) and the first trailer, and a Reynolds stunt, for Marvel Studios’ Deadpool 3 (July 26), which many in distribution see as the dam-breaking to a bigger Q3 and Q4 at the box office.
Universal’s is apt to leave a big footprint with potential spots for several big pics, i.e. Twisters, the follow-up to the 1996 movie (July 19), DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 (which is expected to be one of March’s saviors at the box office in addition to Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two), Monkeypaw’s new horror movie, Monkeyman (April 5), the summer kickoff and SXSW centerpiece Ryan Gosling-Emily Blunt movie, and The Fall Guy (May 3). Also, it’s not Super Bowl without the Minions and after dropping the first trailer for Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 (July 3) during the AFC Championship game two weeks ago, expect more from the banana-obsessed creatures.
There’s word that Wicked: Part One will drop a trailer. That seems odd to drop a trailer for the feature adaptation of a stage musical during a mega sports event, especially one which is dated so far out on Nov. 27. Usually studios don’t promote during Super Bowl for any title opening beyond July; however, women do watch the Big Game, and Disney has shown off their
Sony, despite having Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (March 22) and Bad Boys 4 (June 14) on the calendar, hasn’t booked any spots during the Big Game. That’s typical for the Culver City lot as the last time they shelled out for a Super Bowl spot was in 2017 with the Ryan Reynolds-Jake Gyllenhaal sci-fi movie Life. Some studios are choosy over their ad spend.
Ditto for Warner Bros, they won’t be airing any movie trailer spots despite having Dune: Part Two on March 1. Overall, Warners skips Super Bowl spots, however, last year was an anomaly when they dropped the first trailer for DC’s The Flash. Per RelishMix last year, The Flash was the second-most viewed Super Bowl trailer online during the 24 hours post-game at 97.4M views. And that was a cold-drop, meaning Warners didn’t tee up and tease it beforehand days before (which is becoming standard for most studios). However, views doesn’t always translate to box office: Flash opened to a paltry $55M and finaled at $108.1M domestic; that movie shackled by its tabloid-laden star at the time, Ezra Miller.
