Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: any Kill Bill double feature? Miramax marketing issues

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 04-14-2004, 02:57 AM:

Does anyone know if Kill Bill is being shown as a double feature anywhere other than a couple of venues in CA and Austin? I know of quite a few people personally who want to see it, but have no clue if this is happening anywhere.
MIramax has done a terrible job with the kill bill website which lags behind other sites with respect to news and features about its own movie which is inexcusable because judging by imdb numbers, KB's popularity among internet surfers is disproportionate to its limited popularity among the typical moviegoing public. Why not cater to the fans first who will buy special edition DVDs instead of the casual moviegoer who will not make this movie a huge blockbuster. Actually, it's not Kill Bill's marketing which annoys me as much as the puzzling treatment of Shaolin Soccer and Hero. It took Quentin to agree to "present it" for them to agree to release Hero uncut after a couple of years. They paid decent money for the rights and seemingly no plans for the remake. What's the logic in delaying this? And I have seen the Shaolin Soccer trailer many more times than the KB 1 and 2 trailers combined. Yet Shaolin Soccer has yet to be released in Atlanta and even if it does, it is so late, I might as well catch the uncut version on some asian import DVD. Let's not forget sister company DImension's hacking of other HK classics.

I realize that Kill BIll has a niche audience not even a quarter of Lord of the Rings size. Still , it would be nice if they at least had a very limited rollout in 50 venues(one in each of the 50 big markets) or so for a double feature showing.

instead of spending all that money on last minute TV ads, I wonder if Miramax could have used the same money to better market this movie. Come up with the trailers on time. The new trailer gets released just one week before the movie comes out.

Aren't trailers free to be shown in theaters? I think I have seen the Man on Fire, Hellboy and Van Helsing trailers 10 to 15 times while I have seen KB teaser just once(Placement could also be an issue as I usually come in the middle of trailers).

Also Miramax seems to be marketing KB2 as a non stop action movie when it supposedly is slower paced and has much more dialogue than Vol 1. I hope this doesn't create misplaced expectations among those who loved the lengthy action sequence in Vol1 while scaring away those who didn't like the extra violence in Vol 1.

Oh, and no way I am buying that initial version of a joke of dvd. They better deliver in the future on the special editions.

Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-14-2004, 07:14 AM:

Kill Bill Vol.1 Theatrical was heavily marketed all over Asia except in India. And I believe that paid off very well too. It is more likely that there could be a combined showing in parts of Asia like Singapore, Japan, Hongkong, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

The release strategy for Vol.2 appears to be the fastest rollout for any Miramax film in this part of the world. All of Asia except India will get to see this film in theatres this month itself. That is somewhat spectacular in itself.

Coming to marketing issues concerning Vol.2, is it possible that the combined costs have been already recouped by Miramax even before the theatrical debut of Vol.2 ?

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-14-2004, 10:54 AM:

There doesn't seem to be a problem in the NorthWestern part of the US. We're putting it into our indoor house, and it's a pretty normal booking.... a little long, though.

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 04-14-2004, 11:41 AM:

The Skyline Drive-in theater in Shelton, Wash. is showing Kill Bill vol 2 doubled with The Alamo.

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 04-14-2004, 01:43 PM:

Ken
Kill Bill 2 with The Alamo?
At least that way they'll get someone in to see that Disney turkey! That is if anyone stays for it.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-14-2004, 03:26 PM:

Not knowing anything about the two films, "JEAN de FLORETTE" and "MANON OF THE SPRING" by Claude Berri, I was fortunate to see both films on laserdiscs in one evening. I have heard how people who saw and fell in love with "JEAN de FLORETTE" had to wait a couple of months to see the 2nd part to find out what happens next . "KILL BILL" uses the same marketing strategy at the two French films and I think it is great. Again not knowing anything about this fiim, I saw "KILL BILL" for the very first time on DVD last night and now cannot wait to see part two in a theatre this week end. I never cared very much for Torentino's other films but I was hooked from the beginning with KILL BILL and loved every minute of it. I think it is a tremendous marketing strategy on the part of Miramax to release part two of the film in theatres the same week as the DVD of part one. If a double bill is offered for both part one and two in theatres, it makes sense for it to come after the initial first run showing. I am hoping there will be two versions of "KILL BILL #2 on DVD. First a stand alone version and a full version of both films as it was originally intended. The full combined version might also do well in theatres instead of showing the two separate parts together as a double feature.

-Claude

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-14-2004, 04:51 PM:

quote:
The Skyline Drive-in theater in Shelton, Wash. is showing Kill Bill vol 2 doubled with The Alamo.

That'll make it a late nite for them!

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 04-15-2004, 04:35 AM:

Jack
Actually, here in the great Pacific Northwest, it won't be a late night for them but an early morning for them.
I miss working drive-ins.
I worked one that ran A-B-A on weekends and I used to stop the last film when the sun started to appear and the screen had that sunrise glow to it.
My favorite double bill at that venue was GRAND PRIX and THE DIRTY DOZEN. Never made it through the last showing of GRAND PRIX.
I think my age is showing so
Good Night all.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-16-2004, 11:17 PM:

Hi, Peter.

Yah... you got me there... early mornings for sure!

That ABA practice was pretty standard with United, wasn't it? I don't remember if SRO did it or not. We used to be able to pick out customers from King & Pierce counties by the ones that were still parked after we turned the booth off, since nobody did that West of the Sound.

Posted by Bryan J Arseneau (Member # 1832) on 04-17-2004, 02:26 AM:

Docks Drive-Ib Toronto, Canada.
Kill Bill II and the Punisher

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-17-2004, 10:26 AM:

quote:
Kill Bill II and the Punisher

Together?

The percentages must be killer, or someone owns a lot of studio stock! [Eek!]

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 04-17-2004, 12:52 PM:

The Regal Perimeter POint 10 in Atlanta showed Punisher in their biggest house while KB 2 was in some other house. How dumb can these managers be? I went 10 min early and still had trouble finding seats because of the auditorium being not as huge.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-17-2004, 04:19 PM:

I admit to the same blatant lapse in judgment. I screened both prints on Thursday (yawn!)... enjoyed them both, but thought Punisher would draw more... silly me!

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 04-17-2004, 08:41 PM:

Pravin -

The true test ... did they move the prints for Saturday based on business? Seeing as how Kill Bill Vol. 2 did 4 times the business for them that Punisher did on Friday.

It may not have been a stupid mistake ... there were at least 4 theatres in metro Atlanta where the Punisher had a higher gross then Kill Bill Vol. 2.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 04-25-2004, 02:43 PM:

Looks like Miramax's marketing has not worked to build word of mouth as much as the buzz it created. 2nd week grosses seem worse than vol 1 despite vol 2 getting off to a better start. So I guess it's a tradeoff. Either come up with a slower trailer reflecting the mood of the movie and risk losing a couple of million the first week , but hopefully put fans in teh right frame of mind or go for the first week kill. What counts is seats in the theater long term and not just the first week. THey did a bad job of spreading the word that the violence is minimal and vol 2 is slow paced. If the trailers reflected the movie better, maybe some of thepeople who didn't like the VOl1 violence would have given this a chance. Do you know Bill actually has more action scenes in the trailers than in the movie itself? That will only create some disappointment among the casual viewer who didn't follow the news as closely. And at the same time, the vol1 viewers who loved its action, would have been more patient with vol 2. I saw most of the movie a second time to see if the image was better in another regal theater(my review explains what went wrong) and i liked the movie better the second time around. I would still prefer to see the bill action scenes with michael jai white rather than the budd's prolonged bar scenes. ( i liked the larry bishop scenes, but was there a need to drag that scene past the calendar joke.)

Also I wonder if most of the people responsible for the dvd rentals and sales in the first week are just people who have already seen vol1, not adding to the potential base for vol 2.