Wait, what's that movie about?
Since packaging seems to be the hot topic of the moment, let's expand on it a little to talk about marketing. In all the talk about why movies didn't do as well as expected this summer, the subject of marketing keeps coming up. It's at least one excuse used to explain the failure of The Island. I think they might be on to something there. I can't speak to the quality of the movie, which I haven't seen yet. (I'm waiting for it to hit the local Brew & View rounding out a double feature with Stealth.) But I know I grew a lot less intrigued with seeing it after seeing all the trailers that gave away the secret at the heart of the film. I've always heard that the studios believe audiences want to know as much as possible about a movie from the trailers, but I'm not so sure. Wouldn't a "What is… The Island?" approach have drawn more people in? Maybe not.
I think a little bit of showmanship couldn't hurt, however. To me all trailers have started to look the same. All posters, too. Here's a for instance, a poster for the movie Stage Beauty.