The Company Town Blog on The LA Times web site poses an interesting question: will the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim today cause problems for any movie that just happens to be hitting theaters today? If you asked anyone who purchased either of these games and has settled in to start playing them, the answer would be a resounding "yes."
No matter what the public thinks, the blog points out that some in Hollywood have real concerns about of both these games. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is of particular concern to movie makers because it has sold 6.5 million copies here and in the UK. That's not even counting the rest of the week's sales in those regions - or anywhere else in the world. That's millions of the target demographic for a movie like Immortals that may not go and see it because they now have other plans.
The blog talks to Terry Curtin, president of marketing for studio Relativity Media, who says she is well aware of the challenge the movie faces but has implemented a marketing plan that targets gamers. A trailer has been available on Xbox Live for a while and the company bought time to promote "Immortals" on GameStop's in-store TV network Monday night when hard-core players picked up their copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at midnight.
"We have a huge crossover with the gaming community and they're especially important for us to reach this week," Curtin said. "So we've spent a lot of time on initiatives to reach that audience."
Vincent Bruzzese, president of research firm Ipsos OTX says that there's no effect on overall movie going because the people that are standing in line to buy a game like Modern Warfare 3 probably wouldn't be going to see a movie anyway.
"The people who are so dedicated to playing video games that it prevents them from going out to a movie for a few hours probably wouldn't go anyway," said Bruzzese. "They would be playing some other game."
Comments
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
I only go to the theaters as a social outing with friends, a couple of times a year. I've heard about Skyrim and Modern Warfare 2, but I've barely heard of Immortals and had no idea it released on the same week. For the most part, I get my movies from Netflix (disc & streaming).
But look, you just don't launch your major would-be blockbuster movie in the same week that 2 super-huge colossi of gaming launch. Move it a week ahead or back. The take you get on the opening week for most films is the majority of it's lifetime earnings.
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
1. I'd probably have to watch TV to have not missed it in the first place (I don't apart from the odd series my wife d'loads and recommends and the local news).
2. I'd have to be interested in going to theatres (I'm not, perhaps 4 trips in the last 10 years and every one of them was disappointing).
I find this comment kinda offensive and true at the same time...
Vincent Bruzzese, president of research firm Ipsos OTX says that there's no effect on overall movie going because the people that are standing in line to buy a game like Modern Warfare 3 probably wouldn't be going to see a movie anyway.
"The people who are so dedicated to playing video games that it prevents them from going out to a movie for a few hours probably wouldn't go anyway," said Bruzzese. "They would be playing some other game."
It's a presumptuous generalisation, but not unreasonably so. Certainly true in my case. Honestly, a thinning of the income from slack jawed gawpers who can be led to any trough of horse piss is a good thing, we might see movies coming out we actually might want to spend some bucks on at the cinema. I don't see how they are going to address losing customers to gaming beyond improving their own quality. At this point, even a significant price drop wouldn't get me in to the cinema.
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
What they fail to realise is it's possibly the lack of appeal to going to the movies that's responsible for the lack of interest. Why would someone want to pay $10 (or more considering the last time I went to a movie it was Freddy Vs Jason) to go sit in a theater where you're pretty much squashed into an unconfortable seat with a bunch of other people who provide a variety of annoyances when you can stay home, lounge on your sofa and watch a movie in better quality without having to deal with some idiot coming in right at an important moment in the movie?
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
Immortals is just a more gory yet crappier version of 300. Hollywood uses the same tired plots for movies, so if you've seen one that was better, all other movies try to emulate it. Overhyped movies don't usually mean good.
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
From what I saw of the previews, been a few months since I don't have tv, it looked more like a clash of the titans 2 than 300.
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
I'm not playing Skyrim or MW3, but I also had no idea any movies of note were coming out this weekend. So... maybe something else is at work besides the usual blaming the game?
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
if ya don't watch much tv, or mute/ignore the commercials as many do, not really that hard.
personaly i don't even have basic anythingin my house, and i know my parents mute the commercials and do other things IF they watch it when aired. otherwise its record and fast fwd through commercials. the only thing plugged into my TV atm is my PS3 so i can watch Discs or Netflix (still haven't found many game titles on the thing i like...)
if this immortal movie was worth a note, i'm sure i'd have heard of it elsewhere BEFORE the release week.
much like how the muppets have been plastered all over the net for months now, including on news sites, and youtube.
i mean they've been posting things all over for nearly a year now it seems...
can't say i've heard a word on this immortals movie, let alone would i go to the theater to watch it anyways. its cheaper to rent the disc when it comes out on DVD, or ends up on netflix/hulu
Re: Immortals in the Wake of Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 ...
Immortal's been all over TV, kind of hard to miss it.
The blame game is probably spot on, though it's not really games vs. movies. Entertainment is a zero-sum game in the short term, there's only so many eyes to go around. It's not uncommon for well hyped movies to suffer because they release at the same time as a better hyped movie. Games do the same thing to each other, too, and it stands to reason there'd be back and forth between the two. Games costing more and eating up more "eye hours" means they're likely to have the bigger impact.