Ebr717’s Weblog

George Clooney starred in, directed, and helped write the movie “Leatherheads.” However, despite the fact that George Clooney’s high profile name was attached to the project, the movie “bombed” at the box office yielding $13.5 million in sales. “Leatherheads” followed behind the gambling drama “21” and struggled to compete with the fantasy film “Nim’s Island.”

It appears that it isn’t just any Hollywood A-list actor’s name that can draw moviegoers to theaters. For example, according to the ABCnews article “Stars: They Ain’t What They Used to Be,” Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible” was the third highest grossing film of 1996 but his most recent movie, “Lions for Lambs” was a box office disaster. Additionally, the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” with A-list actors Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman had low opening weekend box office numbers. The high profile names alone were not able to fulfill the high box office expectations.

There is an increasing difference between the type of star that sells tabloids and the type of star who sells movies. Determining which stars fit into each category is uknown. “There’s a distinction between being a movie star and being a box office star. Being a movie star means you get on the covers of magazines, you get a lot of tabloid coverage, you’re talked about a lot. Being a box office star means you put moviegoers in theater seats,” said Nikki Finke, producer of the blog, Deadline Hollywood Daily. “Right now, you’re hearing Hollywood ask, ‘Who is box office?’ It’s been extremely difficult to pinpoint. Will Smith is a box office star. Adam Sandler still has an audience, if it’s a comedy. Will Ferrell has stumbled several times.”

Predicting the success of a film has become more complicated than it used to be.  With the proliferation of celebrity tabloids and gossip magazines, moviegoers are constantly overexposed to celebrity faces. “Ben Affleck’s career went down when he was on the cover of every magazine. Maybe it’s a fatigue factor, maybe it’s knowing too much about these people. There’s a whole industry devoted to celebrity and it’s removing magic, it’s removing mystery,” said Finke.

This industry situation not only presents a unique predicament to celebrity publicists but also to all entertainment public relations specialists in how they promote their celebrities and clients. Is the problem a result of the amount of overexposure in the media? Are audiences just disinterested in the movies being released? It is important for the public relations experts to recognize these questions. Public relations specialists should conduct industry research and carefully tailor their campaigns while keeping in mind the uncertainty of box office success. It is crucial to acknowledge the possibility that a name value alone might not draw theater moviegoers.