Case Study US Blockbuster: Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek is a sci-fi action/adventure film released in 2009. The original production budget for this film was $150 million, and during its lifetime is has made over $385 million worldwide, $75 million of which was in its opening weekend alone. The films popularity can be attributed to the fact that is a reboot of the star trek franchise, widely regarded as the most profitable sci-fi franchise on the planet.

 The film features several big name stars. Chris Pine as Kirk, whose current success was fuelled by the film. Before star trek he mainly played parts in rom-coms such as 'Just my luck' or insignificant minor roles. Zachary Quinto as Spock, who prior to star trek was mainly playing roles in tv shows such as 'heroes'. Karl Urban as Bones, who prior to starring in star trek, played some minor roles in films such as The Bourne Supremacy and lord of the rings, but has since gone on to star in Judge Dredd and other films. The film also featured Simon Pegg in the role of Scotty, who was extremely well known for his roles in films and tv shows prior to star trek, which tended to be mostly of the comedy genre, such as Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz, which may explain why he was chosen for one of the more comedic roles in the film. The film also featured Leonard Nimoy as 'spock prime' although not a major role in the film, this could be seen as action on the side of the film to appeal to fans of the original tv series the film is based around and rebooted from and persuade these fans to watch the film.

 The genre of the film is largely action, adventure and sci-fi. Which explains the popularity of the film, as blockbusters are usually of the action/adventure genre to appeal to audiences who expect action packed movies from films released during the summer season, the film opened in may and closed in october, meeting the definition of a summer blockbuster. The film made $257,730,019 domestic and $127,950,427 outside of the US, equalling over $385,000,000 worldwide compared to its original budget of $150 million. The film managed to make the number 1 rank at over 3000 theatres. The production company was paramount pictures, who are an extremely famous production company and have produced many other well known blockbuster films, such as the transformers franchise, Iron Man, and Indiana Jones, which are also action films. The film was also produced by spyglass entertainment, who although less successful than paramount, produced wanted and the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, both other action/adventure films.

The film was rated PG-13 in America and a 12A in the UK for "Sci-f1 action and violence" as well as "brief sexual content" this fairly low certificate means that the film can be seen by families together during the summer holidays, increasing the possible audience for the film significantly.

 The marketing for the film began with a trailer played before Cloverfield in 2008, the trailer featured the ship the 'enterprise' under construction while voices from the 60s played in the background, establishing the films connection with the original tv series. However, Paramount found that there was an obstacle to their marketing campaign in that the franchise would be mostly unfamiliar to many of the current generation, as well as the poor performance of the previous star trek movies which were related to the various incarnations of star treks tv shows. Eventually the director JJ Abrams, decided that paramount needed to remove the 'nerdy' stigma, attached to the star trek franchise, Abrams did this by repeatedly stating to the press that the film is not for star trek fans necessarily. There were also several promotional partners connected to the film, including: Nokia, Kellogg's and Burger King.  There were also companies selling perfumes, clothes and other apparel related to the film, as well as several toy manufacturers such as mattel and hasbro, who sold related versions of monopoly and others games.

The film was extremely well received, receiving 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.0 on IMDB most critics agreed that the film was one of the years most accessible and enjoyable, as well as being a much needed 'shot in the arm' for the franchise, and that it honoured the shows legacy while avoiding indulging in pointless nostalgia.

British Cinema Case Study: The World's End

The worlds end is a british made Sci-fi/comedy film. The film had a budget of $20 million and made over $46 million worldwide, making $8 million of which on its opening weekend, and almost half of its profit abroad.

The film stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who have previously been extremely successful with their comedy partnership in other films of the same genre, specifically in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which although extremely popular, only made half the domestic opening of World's End (hot fuzz) whereas Shaun of the Dead opened to only £3 million, making this movie the most successful of the 'trilogy', indicating a growing audience for these types of films, specifically abroad in the US, where some cinemas even held marathons of all three films in the trilogy, which are estimated to have contributed over $800,000 to the final profits according to the distributers. The movie also appeals to fans of these films who wish to see the two reunited in another film. The film co-stars other british household names, such as Martin Freeman, who has recently become a very popular actor due to his starring role in The Hobbit.

The genre is mostly comedy, a genre that british films typically excel at and proves very popular, even abroad, this along with what is termed the 'monty python effect' the appeal of typically 'british' quirky brand of humour having appeal in the US and other places abroad, could explain the appeal of the film to foreign audiences. The film also has strong messages of counter culture, standing against the consumer driven production of hollywood films, which may also explain some of its success to audiences who want to see a movie with underlying social messages, or films different from the usual hollywood fare.

The film is also of the sci-fi/action genre appealing to the average cinema goer and as the release date of the film was late August, appealing to the dwindling summer blockbuster crowds, who typically covet action films. The production company for the film was 'Working Title films', a british production company who have previously produced other british films of note, including Bridget Jones, Shaun of the Dead and Hot fuzz, as well as costume dramas, another genre of british film that does exceptionally well.

The film was rated a 15 by the bbfc for extremely strong language, as well as frequent strong sex references, by rating the film a 15 the audience is significantly limited as it excludes the family and children market, however the films genre would not be one that typically appeals to children, and the type of comedy used in the film would be limited to adult understanding, which is what the audiences would be expecting, given previous films of the same genre such as shaun of the dead. The appeal of the previous films made with the same actors and production companies work towards ensuring its appeal to 15 and above audiences despite. The film was marketed heavily in the media, with tv spots and adverts as well as conventional billboard advertising, but it was also actively marketed on social networking sites, with the director of the film, Edgar Wright actively advertising the film on his twitter account, where he has a large amount of followers, Simon Pegg also mentioned the film numerous times on his own twitter, where he has over 3 million followers, thanking american and canadian fans for their support in the production of the film. The film was very well received, receiving an 89% rating on rotten tomatoes, and a 7.2 on IMDB. Critics were generally very positive, with most saying that the film stands out on its own above the other two films in the trilogy as chaos driven, hilarious fun.