#04 – Scary Movie Marketing

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How do you market a movie without sound?

It’s the final episode of spooky season 2020 so OF COURSE we had to cover the best – and worst – of horror movie marketing.  We’re not horror fans ourselves, but it was fun to dive into a few of the best-of-the-best examples of some of the top scary movies to-date.

There are so many great examples to choose from – think Get Out, IT and Paranormal Activity – but the one that topped most lists was A Quiet Place (2018).

This PG-13 Horror/Sci-Fi hit from Paramount Pictures stars John Krasinski (The Office) & Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada) and revolves around a family who must live in absolute silence to avoid ravenous monsters who hunt by sound. Sounds cool, right? Except, how do you market a movie without sound in a world that requires disruption?

“I believe the hardest part was for the marketing department on cutting trailers and commercials where you don’t have the stuff that you’re so used to using to sell product. I think they’ve done an amazing job, but I think they were the ones that really felt the challenge of this movie.”

Brad Fuller, American film & tv Producer

Originally deemed a “Hollywood sleeper” by some this directorial debut by Krasinski managed a $50M opening weekend and earned the right as the 3rd biggest opening weekend for a horror movie, ever (at least in 2018). Listen to our latest episode to learn more.

Check out the original trailer below and be on the lookout for the sequel coming in 2021.

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19 Crimes The Banished

Citations:

• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6644200/
• https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/content-and-experiences/a-quiet-place-film-marketing
• https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/how-a-quiet-place-marketed-a-silent-movie-in-the-21st-century-1.5027638
• https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2397301/one-unique-challenge-that-comes-with-a-quiet-place-according-to-the-films-producer
• https://deadline.com/2018/04/a-quiet-place-success-john-krasinski-avengers-commentary-1202377370/
• https://movio.co/blog/movio-confirms-that-underrepresented-moviegoers-expand-box-office-when-they-are-reflected-on-screen/
• https://cinematicslant.com/2018/04/04/a-quiet-place-marketing-recap/
• https://www.thewrap.com/quiet-place-star-john-krasinski-on-learning-sign-language-for-the-film-exclusive-video/
• https://www.smartcompany.com.au/marketing/awesomely-creepy-marketing-campaign-for-it-horror-movie-takes-sydney-streets-storm-can-business/
• https://www.sentientdecisionscience.com/paranormal-activity-viral-marketing-used-to-generate-100-million-dollars/
• https://www.indiewire.com/2009/10/with-paranormal-activity-paramount-sets-new-marketing-model-239421/
• https://ew.com/article/2009/10/07/paranormal-activity-marketing-campaign/
• https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/10-killer-movie-marketing-campaigns/
• https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2009/10/the-freak-success-of-paranormal-activity/347892/
• https://screenrant.com/10-horror-movies-that-were-victims-of-bad-marketing/