Matrix: Reloaded' producers calculate marketing success
By Patricia Jiayi Ho
Senior biology major John Eghoian will not be joining the long lines of theater goers to see "The Matrix Reloaded." Like many others, Eghoian saw 1999's "The Matrix" and enjoyed it. But unlike many others, he does not feel compelled to watch the second installment on the big screen, citing crowded theaters and ticket prices as the main deterrents. "I'll probably just wait until it comes out on DVD, if at all," he said.
On Eghoian, Warner Brothers' "Matrix" marketing has failed. On others who flocked to see the movie in 3,603 theaters around the country, it has been a huge success.
"Matrix Reloaded" took in about $93.3 million over the weekend, making it the highest opening weekend gross of any R-rated film, according to the Associated Press. It is second only after 2002's "Spider-Man," which took in $114.8 million its opening weekend and is rated PG-13.
"'The Matrix' is this generation's 'Star Wars,'" said Stephen Lee, a professor in the communication department who teaches a course on film and popular culture. Like the trilogy that spanned the years from 1977 to 1983, "The Matrix" also chronicles the epic battle between good and evil. While "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" were produced in the wake of the Cold War's Space Race, "The Matrix" similarly grapples with contemporary issues, this time raised by computers in an increasingly technological era.
"It can almost be a rite of passage to call yourself a teenager - you gotta go see this thing," said marketing professor Shelby McIntyre of the films' appeal.
According to McIntyre, there are many factors involved in marketing a movie. Timing, for one, is crucial. Whether a movie is released to coincide with Thanksgiving weekend or not can make a world of difference. As Lee notes, producers have chosen to release "Reloaded" at the start of summer vacation, perhaps anticipating a summer-long run.
Although "Reloaded" opened a mere two weeks after another highly-anticipated science fiction action movie, 20th Century Fox's "X2: X-Men United," there was apparently no competition between the two. "X2" has been bumped from number one to number three in the box office by "Reloaded" and the Eddie Murphy comedy, "Daddy Day Care."
Producers must also take into consideration things like "word of mouth," critics' reviews, the possibility of repeat viewing, "the tag along factor" and how many screens a movie opens on. "There can sometimes be more advertising for a bad movie than there is for a good movie," explained McIntyre.
While it is anybody's guess whether "Reloaded" will be remembered as a flop or as the movie of summer 2003, McIntyre points out that the amount of hype and anticipation a movie has generated can, in the long run, work against it.
"[The audience] measures their experiences against those expectations. If it is over-hyped and they go see it, they might come away thinking, 'That was a cruddy movie.'
"When actually if they had not known anything, they might think, 'Well, that was a pretty good movie,'" said McIntyre. "There is a gap between expectations and reality."
What would work in "Reloaded's" favor is the fact that it claims to be much more than just another movie. "When you have a film that fashions itself as a mythology. Audiences are trying to dissect the film for its philosophy, its religion - the symbolism of names like Trinity, the role of Neo as Christ - you're getting a lot of free press," said Lee.
While "Matrix's" clever marketing translates into revenue for the AOL-Time-Warner conglomerate, it has greater repercussions on popular culture.
"It's one of the most homogenizing factors in the world," said McIntyre, referring to the domestic movie-making industry. "It's exporting American culture. There's nobody dominant like the U.S. Everybody in the world, billions of people are exposed to American movies, American lifestyles, American products, American actors."