As the saying goes, ‘no publicity is bad publicity.’ While that is not always the case in marketing, a good marketer can almost make the best out of any type of publicity for their product or service. With this in mind, the movie, “The Interview” should have become a runaway smash hit thanks to the MASSIVE amount of attention it received over the past month.
Ever since Sony was hacked, allegedly by North Korea in retaliation for the making of this movie, it has been discussed endlessly on almost every platform. You could turn on any mainstream news media from CNN, MSNBC and Fox news, or you could scroll through Facebook and seemly everyone was talking about the movie, or the events surrounding it.
For the producers of the film, this should have been an absolutely incredible opportunity. What was expected to be a fairly small comedy movie was now on the minds of literally everyone in America, and most people around the world.
According to the latest data that was just released, the movie was rented or purchased 4.3 million times since it was made available online. That translates to approximately $31 million in revenue from these online sales. Add on to that the $5 million it grossed in theaters thanks to the very limited number who carried it and you’re looking at a gross of just $36 million.
While this may sound like a lot of money at first, it is absolutely insignificant when it comes to a major movie. In addition, the movie cost $44 million to make, and another estimated $35 million was spent marketing it (before, during and after the hacking incident). The fact is, Sony will almost certainly be taking a loss on this movie.
Sure, movie studios know that occasionally the movies they make are not going to do well and they will lose money. Not a big deal. The big question, from a marketer’s point of view, however is HOW DID THEY LOSE MONEY!?!
As any marketer with any experience knows, if you can get your product in front of enough people, you’re going to make a killing. Well, this movie was in front of EVERYONE for a solid month straight, and the promoters of it still can’t even manage to break even? I can’t speak for Sony, but I have to wonder how those in charge of promoting the film will walk out of this with their jobs after this HUGE missed opportunity.
