Hollywood
xXx India blitz cost Viacom 18 over Rs 10 crore
MUMBAI: Have you wondered if a Hollywood movie could have its maiden release in India? It’s rare and exceptional. What it takes to be that big? Is it a large-scale promotion or a marketing stunt? It’s a not a stunt but the right marketing strategy that can make a film as big as a grand award ceremony.
The recent release of XXX: Return of Xander Cage in India before its global release has said it all.
Viacom 18 gave the audience a first-hand experience of the film acclaimed for its extreme action in a grand event which was organised in Mumbai. The visit of megastar Vin Diesel to India along with the co-star Deepika Padukone and the director DJ Caruso has made the premiere more ravishing.
Five years ago, Viacom18 had undertaken a massive marketing campaign for ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol’ for which Tom Cruise flew down to India.
The industry has now estimated the marketing spend on xXx premiere in India to be above Rs 10 crore. “Of course, it is under Rs 15 crore,” an industry source quipped. A Paramount Pictures and Revolution Studios movie, xXx: Return of Xander Cage has been exclusively distributed in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures.
So what made Hollywood to launch the movie in India before any than other country. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Viacom 18 Motion marketing head Rudrarup Datta said, “For this film, India is a very important market for Paramount which is distributing the film globally. Having Deepika in the film made it more relevant for the India market. India was actually a T-1 market in the film, hence we were pushing for the release earlier in India and, thankfully, Paramount gave a go-head.” The film thus released in India before anywhere else, not even in the US.
“That’s a big step and an indication of the growing importance of the India market,” Datta said.
The event was organised with a spectacular lineup of entertainment ranging from BMX stunt-bikers to skateboarders and B-Boying troupes. Nucleya further took the stage and kept the fans in a trance up until Diesel and Padukone made their entrance to greet the fans.
Datta further explained, “It’s a mix of a global plan and India plan. So, if one plan is executed globally, a reflection of that will come to India, but, in this case especially, a special India plan was created because Padukone is a part of the film which, of course, gave us the advantage and opportunity to localise the film. And, that’s was we did. We started October last year where we actually convinced Paramount to create a specific Padukone trailer for India.”
“Normally,” he said, “it was not done in any market.” “We created a trailer for India, and we launched the trailer on Bigg Boss and also launched a Hindi trailer then,” he added. “The whole idea on the campaign from day one was three pronged:
A. Scale – whatever we do, we need to do it big.
B. Penetration – we need to reach as deep as possible in India and new markets to respond to a Hollywood content and primarily Hollywood dubbed content. And,
C. Localisation – to make it connect to the Indian audience as much as possible.”
Viacom 18 has done multi tie-ups with brands like PVR where fans were greeted with a first-of-its-kind movie takeover of PVR cinemas with PVR ECX-Mumbai, PVR Priya- Delhi and PVR Phoenix-Bangalore, being transformed into ‘xXx – PVR’ starting 24 December 2016 and continuing till the release of the film in India on the 14 January 2017.
Presence in the form of branding across the cinemas to virtual reality experience, from xXx meal combos to xXx selfie spots and gaming zones, Xander Cage is sure going to rule PVR Cinemas and audience’s hearts.
“Right from large-scale outdoor branding, we embarked on innovative marketing — we had mall branding, railway station branding, and actually it was a first time that for a Hollywood film, we have covered OOH extensively across India.”
The share of Hollywood films in India has seen a steady rise over the last couple of years, currently hitting 20 per cent plus figures. The share of theatrical business for Hollywood is growing at five per cent plus year-on-year. “In the last three years, the contribution of Hollywood to the overall business has gone up steeply,” Datta said.
xXx released in 841 locations on 1,092 screens. This includes 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX. The 2D version released on 18 January, and the number of screens were 200, “We have the weekend figure which is Rs 30 crore, but one needs to understand that it had two days quarter kind of a weekend.”
In comparison, Disney’s The Jungle Book, in 2016, made Rs 40.47 crore in its opening weekend. Later, Marvel’s superhero movie Captain America : Civil War touched Rs 27 crore in its initial three days. But, none of these films could break the record set by Diesel’s Fast and Furious 7 which earned over Rs 70 crore in the first weekend.
The next big release of 2017 will be Dwayne Johnson, Zac Effron and Priyanka Chopra starring Baywatch which is set to release in May. It will be interesting to watch that the Indian audience will get lucky again with its India release first in the world.
Hollywood
Did the ballet and opera controversy cost Timothée Chalamet his Oscar?
The actor’s ‘dying art forms’ comments may have danced away his Oscar chances.
LOS ANGELES: Last night, the 98th Academy Awards delivered a performance that wasn’t in the script, as Michael B. Jordan clinched the Best Actor statue, leaving Timothée Chalamet’s widely predicted win to pirouette away into the night. While Chalamet was long considered the frontrunner for his starring turn in Marty Supreme, many are whispering that a singular, ill-timed performance, not on screen but on the campaign trail, may have rewritten the finale.
For months, the narrative surrounding the race had a singular star, Chalamet, the critics’ darling and the bookies’ bet. However, the closing numbers saw a dramatic plot twist. Chalamet found himself upstaged not just by his fellow nominees but by the ghost of public opinion, following remarks he made during a Variety and CNN actor-on-actor conversation in February.
What started as a breezy discussion turned distinctly frosty when Chalamet, the conversation’s designated trendsetter, took aim at some classical institutions. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, where no one is interested anymore,” he said, before branding them “dying art forms.”
The backlash was swift and, unfortunately for Chalamet’s campaign, star-studded. For the film industry, an establishment that often fancies itself as the glamorous custodian of the high arts, the actor’s comments didn’t just strike a bum note. They sounded like a discordant symphony. Academy heavyweights, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg, publicly voiced their disapproval. Spielberg himself countered that the “cinematic experience” and classical performance are bound by a similar dedication to audience engagement, effectively suggesting that Chalamet’s view was perhaps a bit too modern for its own good.
The conversation quickly became a media maelstrom. In a masterstroke of high-culture clapback, renowned ballerina Misty Copeland didn’t just issue a statement. The Academy even choreographed a surprise performance by her for the ceremony itself, a powerful, wordless rebuttal that many saw as a direct riposte to Chalamet’s dismissive claims. Even regional arts institutions joined the choreography. The Seattle Opera offered a cheeky “TIMOTHEE” discount, granting a 14 percent markdown to prove that people do, in fact, care.
Did this cultural counterpoint truly cost Chalamet his win? While some industry insiders argue that Michael B. Jordan’s complex dual performance in Sinners, a performance that also swept the SAG Awards, had simply built up too much momentum, the timing of Chalamet’s comments was undeniably poor. Coming as final Oscar voting began, they arguably soured his narrative and made a vote for him feel, to some, like a vote against artistic unity.
Even the ceremony itself wasn’t finished with the narrative. Host Conan O’Brien, whose sharp tongue is a celebrated feature of these galas, didn’t miss a beat. “Security is extremely tight tonight,” O’Brien jibed during his opening monologue, glancing toward the front row. “I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. They’re just mad you left out jazz!”
The laughter that followed was pointed, a final public curtain call for a controversy that Chalamet likely wished had closed weeks ago. Whether it was a case of genuine peer disapproval, a sudden surge in support for Jordan’s powerhouse performance, or simply a case of poor footwork on the campaign stage, the ballet and opera debacle has now cemented its place in Oscar history. Chalamet’s experience serves as a clear memo to future contenders. Even when you are the headline act, a solo performance can still fall flat if you forget to play to the entire house.
