Glorfindela
Valinor
Sep 7 2013, 11:07am
Views: 556
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I have to say that what Warner have shown is rather putting me off the upcoming film.
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It is having the opposite effect on me to the one intended. What we are seeing is principally promotion – including via this site – of two individuals that have nothing to do with the book, and seem to me to be alien to the story. Where are the Hobbit, Thorin and Gandalf, not to mention Beorn, Smaug and Thranduil? The policy of promoting the two afore-mentioned individuals is quite possibly going to backfire against the upcoming film. I, for one, having loved AUJ, am losing interest. Perhaps the first film in the trilogy will be my favourite, as FOTR is in the LOTR trilogy? Additionally, the LOTR films were heavily promoted throughout the whole period before they were released. This was done internationally, in territories ranging from Japan (beautifully designed items), Singapore, the UK, France, Brazil, Mexico, to the Scandinavian and central European countries. There were wonderful promo items with branded products. There was the Decipher game, which had many sets and hundreds of cards with interesting images. There were the Topps card sets, and their Japanese equivalents (the Japanese foil set for FOTR is the most beautiful set of cards I've ever seen). There was a LOTR fan club with a really good magazine that included articles on the characters and actors (none of which were unrelated to the books), by the director, and about all the wonderful costumes and sets. For those interested in figurines, there were the WETA products, as well as the small lead figurines by Eaglemoss, and some plastic-looking figures in boxes. There were also superbly designed and produced DVDs. All this engaged people, so that many could not wait to see the next film in the trilogy. For The Hobbit, meanwhile, there is very little to engage you (the two 'elves' certainly do not and appear to be aimed at the teenage market, though the two characters are actually too old to appeal to it, and 'Legolas' is likely to attract huge criticism purely because of his looks). The UK EE DVDs at least do not sound promising in terms of the packaging, which I think in the case of these films is important – something that Warner appear to have failed to recognise. (The DVDs were really cheap and nasty, especially when compared with what was produced for LOTR.) My one hope is that that what has been shown in relation to DoS is a kind of cover-up for much good stuff to come that has little to do with 'elves', but a lot to do with The Hobbit book and its characters. I'm hoping all this extraneous stuff is being shown because they don't want to release spoilers of Thranduil, Beorn, Smaug and others actually relevant to the book story.
I agree entirely. There's just something about it. I can't put my finger on it. WB seems distant and uninvolved. When LOTR rolled (all 3 movies) there was a lot of chatter from New Line, they participated with the fan community and made an effort to involve the fans and gin up the interest. It just doesn't seem to be happening here. I don't buy that it's a pre planned gap. I think they think it's going to make money no matter what so why bother with a bunch of pre promotion. They just seem disengaged. Before FOTR an the other films New Line was out there and you had SideShow collectibles marketing all kinds of stuff, the toys, the posters etc. All of that generates interest in the film. That is happening much less now. I will say this. WB knows TORN is going to promote the heck out of this (and rightly so) and are literally utilizing the free marketing they are getting off the TORN staff etc. That's all well and fine and I am thankful for TORN's dedication in that regard. I just wish WB was more interested than they are. In the end, New Line were fans (thank you Mark). WB is just a large behemoth corporation that only sees dollar signs. it's sad to me but it's just the way it is.
(This post was edited by Glorfindela on Sep 7 2013, 11:14am)
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