The Story of First Weekend:
If one takes out the collections of some of big hits of 80’s, one would be surprised to note they had collected less than what many movies are collecting in first day of their release today. Though it is worth noting that making these comparisons is unjust as the inflation has taken a toll during these decades and the ticket prices and the numbers of screens today are much higher from that era. But another interesting aspect is that films during that period used to collect this amount over a long period of time, celebrating silver jubilee and golden jubilees during their run. Today the much larger collections are witnessed over a much shorter period of time and even biggest blockbusters today don’t need to (even intend to!) eye a silver jubilee if not more.
The Box office has become huge & so have the efforts to rake in moolah in shortest possible time. Today a shelf life of the film ranges from a week to month, some being very lucky to survive a couple. And thus the concept of “Bumper Opening” has become significant. This makes marketing guys relevant, having a task clearly cut out for them. The film marketing has suddenly become as important as making a movie if not more. The content and quality come more into play from the first Monday, but the weekend is all dependent upon the hype which has been generated by the stars and makers thanks to the positive/negative publicity generated before the release. Earlier marketing would mean a good Premiere of the film with few interviews, but today it is about creative hype across the media spectrum sustained over a period of time. Now even superstars like Shah Rukh Khan realize this importance and go on a marketing blitzkrieg with every release. The results are evident: Ra One has collected a humongous 80.5 Crore on an extended 5 day weekend and collapsing to a total of 115 Cr net lifetime from India (Hindi versions). Similarly Bodyguard collected a thundering 85 crore in its 5 days weekend against a total lifetime of 140 Crs from India. Irrespective of the feedback/content, films are clocking over half its lifetime business in the first weekend alone.
This brings us to a very important aspect: Today weekend is all about Right Date + Appropriate Genre + High Print + High Marketing & Huge Hype which translates into Bumper opening. This wins more than half the battle for the makers. The only rest left is to convince the people through good reviews/paid PR through media that film is good, this gets their shelf life enhanced with greater lifetime for their product. Yes, movies are not only about creative satisfaction for most today, its about a highly entertaining product which is bombarded on the paying public for significant ROI!! You would thereby find big stars like Aamir & SRK going hammer & tongs using their creative thoughts publicising their flicks. Even makers like Karan Johar, Sajid Nadiawala & Farah Khan know this bitter fact "Jo Dikhta hai, Vo Bikta hai".
With increasing channels and exploding media including social networking, the game is simple. From the day of ideation, the marketing shoes need to be ON :)
Generate HYPE to get max. public in to see your movie once it opens and then plant desired PR to get other potential audience making them believe the flick is worth watching!! The 3 M is clear: Manufacture Movies & Market them like hell, I mean well :)
