There was a time when a movie marketing budget was used just on posters and trailers and that would suffice. It created the buzz needed to fill seats. Occasionally, fans of a franchise will take it upon themselves to create one-of-a-kind souvenirs to further enjoy the movie-going experience. These were usually custom-made tickets or posters. Now, movie marketing has evolved into a whole new behemoth. From limited edition drops to pop-up cafes to customised popcorn buckets as the new souvenir replacing the ticket.
It’s a total 180 from how we used to consume movies. But it’s all in the numbers. According to a report by The Numbers, ticket sales at North American movie theatres peaked in the early 2000s. Understandably, box office sales plummeted in 2020 due to the pandemic and are still struggling to get those numbers up, showcasing a long-term decline in ticket sales. Simply put, people aren’t going to the movies anymore. Since 2020, streaming platforms have boomed, with a catalogue of iconic films, new releases, and original stories. The 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike further pushed people out of going to the theatre, with a lack of blockbuster films driving the appeal.
The only thing that suddenly pushed people to go to the cinema again was the strange case of ‘Barbenheimer’, a cultural moment born out of spontaneity as two anticipated films brought a fan-made crossover. The duality of the two films, from their colour stories down to their narratives, was the perfect recipe for a viral meme. And this meme, in turn, grew beyond the internet, encouraging people to dress up and attend both films consecutively. It brought theatricality and fun back to the cinema despite the ongoing strike. Now, studios are only trying to recapture that mania, and the result is the series of immersive experiences that we get.
It’s especially prevalent with the upcoming release of The Devil Wears Prada 2. A cheeky reference during the Grammys, multiple commercials featuring the Runway office, the magazine itself becoming a tangible object, both through digital and print, and the popcorn bucket turning into a devil red bag as a keepsake. It’s the immersive experiences that fans of this movie always wanted. Especially when the original release had designers refusing to participate and the movie being boxed into a “chick flick”. Now, we’re drawn deeper into the film’s worldbuilding, and it’s all so exciting.
As always, this evolution doesn’t come without its flaws. With every movie trying to craft its own “moment”, it creates a status quo that leaves independent filmmakers and low-level studios behind. Not to mention the economic impact of these one-of-a-kind collectables, as well as their cost, as more and more sections of the population struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living. The evolution is not a self-sustaining one, and despite all these new strategies, box office sales have yet to reach the same calibre as the early 2000s.
This might just be the fate of movies now. Straight to streaming with the occasional visit to the big screen. However, considering that The Devil Wears Prada was also up against big risks back in 2006, its switch from cult status to mainstream love shows us that despite the odds, good storytelling will persevere. So time will tell how movie studios plan to continue marketing their movies; cinema sales might continue to dwindle. But at least we will never run out of good movies.
