Listening to audiences and creating original content alongside franchises and IP-driven films is critical for cinema to thrive, Universal’s president of international distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg told CinemaCon attendees on Monday.
Three of the top 10 worldwide releases in 2023 were “originals” – Warner Bros’ Barbie, and Universal’s Oppenheimer and The Super Mario Bros Movie – Kwan Vandenberg said, adding that they drove a significant share of last year’s global summer box office.
Universal’s 2023 releases earned $2.97bn at the international box office and $4.9bn worldwide.
“We have learned we cannot rely on just the IP alone,” the executive declared in her International Day keynote. “Fans today have to receive what we like to call a familiar surprise… We have to ask ourselves what is fresh and different that gives this particular movie a reason for being.”
Kwan Vandenberg referenced that with the opening of Oppenheimer in Japan in March, the historical drama has become Christopher Nolan’s biggest film of all time internationally. DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 distributed by Universal stands at $410m at the global box office and ranks as the highest film in the franchise in 29 countries.
The executive continued, “Audiences are saying they want something new… Consumers don’t want to be told what to like. Their connection to the material has to feel organic and real. The ultimate success to a campaign is when our consumers take it over and make it their own.”
She cited as examples the response to Five Nights At Freddy’s, which created a “viral urge” among fans to steal standees from cinemas. “While this was extremely frustrating to [exhibitors] it helped drive buzz,” she said.
The release of Blumhouse’s horror M3GAN inspired the studio to encourage M3GAN dance competitions around the world, and Universal collaborated on community-building events such as a partnership with Pathé in Switzerland to promote The Exorcist: Believer.
And of course audiences took over cinemas for the release of ‘Barbenheimer’ last summer when Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day in July. “It was a truly cultural moment as only a movie event can be,” said Kwan Vandenberg. “The fact that people were planning a day to commit six hours to at the cinemas was increasable and we cannot understate the significance of this.”
Kwan Vandenberg said key Hollywood drivers of global box office for the year to date were Kung Fu Panda 4, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune: Part 2 on $661m, Sony’s Anyone But You on $216m, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire on $361m, and Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love on $176m.
At the start of the keynote sessions in Caesars Palace, Eric Meyniel, chief box office and marketing officer, Kinepolis Group, urged greater collaboration between exhibition, distribution and production.
Marketing to raise awareness is critical, he said, and cited discovery days in Europe as an example of building awareness, where film-goers watch trailers of upcoming releases and cast votes on the films they most want to see.
“The film industry’s enduring allure lies in its ability to constantly evolve,” said Meyniel.
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