‘Twitter Effect’ Hits Hollywood
The time frame for projecting the success or failure of a newly released film has already been compressed to the point of asphyxiation, thanks to the Internet, but with the popularity of social networking services like Twitter, the window of box office opportunity has become even shorter, according to The Wrap's Sharon Waxman.
The time frame for projecting the success or failure of a newly released film has already been compressed to the point of asphyxiation, thanks to the Internet, but with the popularity of social networking services like Twitter, the window of box office opportunity has become even shorter, according to The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman.
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The rise of social networking, studio executives say, is driving a near-instantaneous word of mouth effect that is doing much to hyper-charge Hollywood’s multi-million-dollar marketing efforts…or to defeat them a lot faster than usual.
A movie like “Up,” for example, had Disney executives surprised at its opening weekend success, which outstripped projections and brought in $68 million domestically.
Studio tracking did not indicate that the movie would have strong appeal to adults without children, one executive said, but by Saturday exhibitors were noting that that exact demographic was going to the movie.
“It’s a new phenomenon and we’re really seeing it this summer,” said Dick Cook, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios. “Clearly there’s a Twitter effect.”
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"Deadline Hollywood" proprietress Nikki Finke and her poached Variety scribe Mike Fleming reported, via "Deadline New York" on Friday, that Sacha Baron Cohen, who scored with "Borat" but stumbled with "Brüno," has wooed Paramount to back his newest comedy vehicle (continued).
Vanity Fair's Brett Berk has detected a mini-pattern playing out in the film world, starring (but certainly not limited to) "Brüno," Sacha Baron Cohen's latest attempt at biting social satire. It's "Pinkface" -- or the cinematic phenomenon in which straight guys play gay by way of trying to "lay claim to homosexuality as a 'topic'" with less-than-stellar results, judging by Berk's sum-up of the situation.
Sacha Baron Cohen's latest cultural satire is upon us -- and the host of the "Tonight Show." Conan O'Brien does his best, but all the lap-dancing and Kugel-staring is just too much for him to bear. [Update: Video fixed]
Sacha Baron Cohen is already notorious for his alter ego Borat, and now, fortunately for his career (and unfortunately for those who get caught in his comedic cross hairs), he has another invented personality -- Austrian fashionista Bruno -- who just pulled one over on former Mossad agent Yossi Alpher.
Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat) has secured a salary in excess of $30 million for his next film, in which he will portray Bruno, the gay "voice of Austrian youth TV," who mercilessly mocks denizens of the U.S. fashion and entertainment industry.
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