FILM ART AND FILMMAKING

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36 CHAPTER 1 Film as Art: Creativity, Technology, and Business
gets a bit of the business. One film can even advertise another within its story
(1.42). Although synergy sometimes fails, multimedia giants are in the best position
to take advantage of it.
Distributors arrange release dates, make prints, and launch advertising campaigns.
For big companies, distribution can be efficient because the costs can be
spread out over many units. One poster design can be used in several markets, and
a distributor who orders a thousand prints from a laboratory will pay less per print
than the filmmaker who orders one. Large companies are also in the best position
to cope with the rise of distribution costs. Today, the average Hollywood film is
estimated to cost around $64 million to make and an additional $35 million to
distribute.
The risky nature of mass-market filmmaking has led the majors to two distribution
strategies: platforming and wide release. In the platforming strategy, the film
opens first in a few big cities. It’s then gradually expanded to theaters around the
country, though it may never play in every community. If the strategy is successful,
anticipation for the film builds, and it remains a point of discussion for months. The
major distributors tend to use platforming for unusual films, such as Munich and
Brokeback Mountain, which need time to accumulate critical support and generate
positive word-of-mouth. Smaller distributors use platforming out of necessity, since
they can’t afford to make enough prints to open wide, but the gradual accumulation
of buzz can work in their favor, too.
In wide release, a film opens at the same time in many cities and towns. In the
United States, this requires that thousands of prints be made, so wide release is
available only to the deep-pocketed major distributors. Wide release is the typical
strategy for mainstream films, with two or three new titles opening each weekend
on 2000–4000 screens. A film in wide release may be a midbudget one—a comedy,
an action picture, a horror or science fiction film, or a children’s animated movie.
It may also be a very big-budget item, a tentpole picture like War of the Worlds or
a Harry Potter installment.
Distributors hope that a wide opening signals a “must-see” film, the latest big
thing. Just as important, opening wide helps recoup costs faster, since the distributor
gets a larger portion of box office receipts early in the run. But it’s a gamble. If
a film fails in its first weekend, it almost never recovers momentum and can lose
money very fast. Even successful films usually lose revenues by 40 percent or more
every week they run. So when two high-budget films open wide the same weekend,
the competition is harmful to all. Companies tend to plan their tentpole release
1.42 In Lethal Weapon, as Murtaugh and Riggs leave a hot-dog
stand, they pass in front of a movie theater advertising The Lost
Boys, another Warner Bros. film (released four months after
Lethal Weapon). The prominence of Pepsi-Cola in this shot is an
example of product placement—featuring well-known brands in a
film in exchange for payment or cross-promotional services.