LOL, 100mill marketing budget and Lemmy is where I am reading about it first. I guess I am not the target audience.
First I’m hearing of it as well
Anecdotally, we (lemmings) seem fairly well inoculated from ads.
hugs pi hole
Congratulations you run an ad blocker.
Hehe. That is a very good point.
I have seen the trailer many times in cinemas. And there have been constant news about it
And there have been constant news about it
Because it bombed so hard… not sure that was part of marketing budget
I mean, even before that
Oh I see, also agree... I only knew of this movie because the trailer was shown when we saw The Odyssey... I remember thinking it looked odd but interesting and I thought of checking it out later but completely forgot until I read the news about it bombing
Well for 100mill I hope you could afford a Lemmy post or two.
Well he we are!
I avoid advertising to the point that I'm always a bit surprised if I know what is in theaters.
I want to say that Deadpool was the last one to get me, but I think there have been a few others that I just can't remember.
I just checked Wikipedia and this sound like another rich person "washing their hands" over the environment on a private jet. Seems tom cruisey.
It's an arthouse movie with a major Hollywood franchise budget. There's pretty much no way this would actually make financial sense. But you have to give them credit for taking a creative risk. That's far too rare these days.
Matt Damon on Hot Ones discusses a reason why these movies don't make the money they use too, which is sad because those are what I really enjoy most.
Thanks for sharing! That was very insightful!
For the folks who cannot/don't want to open it,
It's because in the past, things like DVD sales were a massive second chunk of revenue, but now most of the revenue needs to be made in the theater.
I do wish he spoke a little more about it though.
I didn't think of that. So a basic, boiled down synopsis of the clip, Damon says:
With the advent of streaming, movies that weren't expected to be block busters and make most of their money in theaters, relied on a second wave of revenue from DVD sales which made the film more lucrative, and more viable to make the more artsy movies (or as I see it dramas, which are my preferred genre).
edit: haha, shit didn't notice your spoiler
Looking at the cast, with the exception of Cruise, this would be a movie I’d check out once it went to streaming (Jesse Plemons is awesome). But in 2026, I have zero interest in watching a film about a wealthy white guy that unleashed some bullshit on the world and is now trying to prove he’s “humanity’s savior.” The US is a dystopian hellscape and I’m not about to subject myself to more of that, even if it’s some sort of dark comedy. I watched the trailer and it made no goddamn sense to me. All I saw was Cruise, an actor I dislike, bathing a weird fucking Muppet cat, while looking like one of the multitude of old white dumb fucks running the US into the ground. There’s a metric fuckload of other stuff I’d rather be watching and I’m over needlessly subjecting myself to more dystopia.
The trailer does the movie no justice. For good reason, it's trying very hard not to reveal too much. It all makes sense in a way you wouldn't expect; Even the werid cat. You should see it sometime
I just saw the film and you're right that the marketing for this film is difficult. The trailer sets up one story, but that is just the start.
I thought the trailer did a good job setting things up because I could tell it was dancing around "something" but didn't want to reveal it. I was intrigued to learn more and figured I'd give it a shot.
I didn't expect what I got, but I really enjoyed it.
I read the synopsis and it was confusing and convoluted as fuck. I might check it out one day, but chances are higher that I will forget and watch other less dystopian things lol.
The biggest issue with marketing this movie is there is no way to accurately tell the potential audience what it is actually about without ruining the experience of the movie. Even by making this post I have ruined it a little because I have set up expectations.
The Wile E. Coyote film gets held for a year then finally releases to tons of money. This gets blasted all over social media and bombs, it's almost like studio execs don't have a fucking clue.
I think this one was Cruise trying to prove he is still a thespian, and not just the last relic of the monoculture movie star system. Also, this:
It marked the first film in a new pact with Cruise — the biggest movie star in the world — to make original and franchise films with Warner Bros. Pairing him with Iñárritu, one of only three directors to win back-to-back Best Director Oscars, seemed like a no-brainer.
They definitely over-committed financially on this Temu Kubrick movie (though from what I understand it's still half-decent), but I think what they're really banking on is whatever franchise or action fodder they extract from his aging bones and veneers.
It's a black satire alejandro inarritu film, that happens to star tom cruise, id never call this a tom cruise film. Never. Inarritu has an amazing ability to elevate his lead actors to career best performances. Keaten in Birdman, Pitt and Blanchette in Babel, Bardem in Biutiful. That guy in Bardo. Revenant, AKA the only movie I felt DiCaprio ever put real acting effort into.
And it's another film that Inarritu gives a giant middle finger to Hollywood California critics. He is unapologetically heavy handed in his message in recent films and I expect this to be even more, if only to piss off the critics.
That being said, audiences looking to movies to escape the the daily news and it's reminders of an encroaching dystopic future are probably not going to find it in this film.
Production costs seem way high, for this type of film, but Hollywood accounting is part black magic anyway.
I know that Cruise is a much bigger household name to sensationalize the headline, but it's really doing a disservice to the film
That's one hot take on DiCaprio
I know it may be a wee bit unfair.
I haven't seen it yet, but I'm getting major "Don't look up" vibes from the trailer, in it's way to portray these people as about as cartoonishly evil as they really seem.
I will definitely be checking it out at some point.
In the days of yore, this would become a cult classic a year after release and the only people to lose out would be the investors so who cares. But now who knows. It'll go to streaming and who knows how many people will look at it on Netflix and think how bad could it be? when it's sitting next to Avengers: The Fortieth One?
Sounds like an ambitious, timely film that made some questionable decisions, starting with making it big-budget and hiring Cruise. It's probably the wrong audience for him, though.
I like the premise and message, but it also sounds pretty self-important. Audiences rarely go for that, it seems.
I agree. This probably would have done much better if budgeted and marketed like an early A24 film. I'm planning to see the Nathan fielder movie, so the timing might not be helping. I don't go to the movies often so I'm pretty picky about which one I see if several come out close together.
The Holmes film is definitely on my radar, altho I worry that sitting through 3hrs of a narcissistic psychopath babbling endlessly feels like it could break me, somehow. 😅
I’m getting to the point where I won’t see a movie because it has big name stars in it. I am so fucking tired of seeing the same faces on movie posters for fucking 30 years.
Saw a trailer which was quite literally just a compilation of Tom Cruise clips from his other movies.
No info on plot, setting or story just "y'all love him" and... no, no I do not. Incredibly off-putting.
So many people complain that trailers give too much away about a movie. Here's a trailer trying real hard not to do that, and people complain it's just a bunch of disjointed clips with no info on the plot.
I'm telling you that's for a reason. It's avoiding spoilers. The trailer is not half as good as the movie. The movie is unique and compelling. The trailer is only confusing. And I don't know how to make the trailer better without messing up the first viewing experience.
The point of a trailer is to get people excited about the movie.
You can do both that and not spoil the entire movie.
Even just playing the first 5 minutes of the movie is enough.
But its Inirratu tho. People just see it as oscar bait movies. He doesn't pull masses like that nor can you make an honest interesting trailer out of this weird movie.
My Spidey sense is tingling. A movie that talks shit about the oil industry and I keep hearing about how really bad it is. Hmmmm.
Tanking a hollywood studio is perhaps the most revolutionary act possible for a director. Kudos to Iñárritu.
I’m actually kind of interested after I heard a synopsis. I just don’t really go to movies these days, and I think a lot of other folks don’t go as much either.
I'll bring this point up again, finances are tight.
I don't thing many people are going to theatres these days. Something like mario galaxy or whatever still holds some grab because it's aimed for kids. Some families can handle a movie night but it's hard to justify a family movie night if it costs $100+ even if you bring your own stuff in; I know that tickets and popcorn and drinks aren't that expensive everywhere. But like hey, the movie theatre is closing down at the mall plaza in a VERY populated area.
Also what is Hollywood thinking releasing movies like Project Hail Mary’s with a runtime 2 hours and 46 minute. Look, I haven't even finished the movie on a stream site. My gaming buddies in their 20's don't go to movie theatres, they mostly watch anime. I don't remember the last movie I watched in a theatre.
I'll guess most people will watch whatever movie at home since it costs what? Going out to see maybe two or three movies for a giant TV these days? There's no burning passion to go to the theatre, I'd rather just stay home.
does this mean we'll just see more Marvel movies :)
I can't tell what this movie is about and was interested because Tom Cruise puts in effort when he takes a role. But then I read the synopsis and don't want to spend 2 hours with a joke based on the very issue frustrating me about the future. Definitely a miss on the topic for the world. The movie makers lack self reflection.
Is this "Cruise's film"? His old age pet project? Or just some film that happened to cast Tom Cruise in a (presumably) main role?
(edit: ok, definitely the latter)
I've seen this film mentioned several times on the fediverse now, is there anything more to it?
I feel like they made a huge mistake with the marketing. I understand why the trailers were the way they were but the bare bones poster design was foolish.
Good. He's long overdue for a reality check.
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