Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
January 19, 2010
Shalimar Sahota: The marketing was excellent (even the tagline) because it made you want to find what exactly Eli was carrying. A few TV spots, reviewers and even the Hughes Brothers have let slip what it is, but then that isn't the film's biggest secret. After seeing the teaser trailer back in the summer, I found myself looking forward to this more than Avatar. If word-of-mouth spreads to the same Christian audience that flocked to The Passion of the Christ then it could finish somewhere in the region of $120-$130 million. Maybe even twice as much worldwide. However, it faces another religious firecracker in the shape of Legion.
George Rose: The only answer I can come up with is that we all continue to underestimate Denzel Washington. To be honest, I thought this movie looked stupid. So much is thrown into the trailer and commercials that I actually have no idea what this movie is about. All I can muster up is that there are some religious references and an apocalypse, all tied together with some explosions and Denzel weilding a machette. I was given so little substance in the promotions - letting me know that the letters E, L, and I appear in words like "bELIeve" and "dELIver" is not very helpful advertising - that I decided to skip going to the movies and save my money to buy liqour for the long MLK weekend. Aparently my friends and I were alone in that thinking. We all know that Denzel is a well known actor, but when lackluster commercials came out for this January release, it felt safe to expect the worst. As it turns out, Denzel really is an A-list actor, someone who can open a movie, no matter how bad it looks, during any month of the year. The success of Eli puts a lot of pressure on Mel Gibson and his equally unappealing January release called Edge of Darkness. Denzel proved his celebrity, can Mel?
Reagen Sulewski: I wouldn't read much if at all into the genre of the film being right for the post-Christmas slot, especially since we're just a couple years removed from I Am Legend cleaning up during Christmas. People don't really pay attention to tone so much as whether the movie is sold well, which Eli was. I think there's a little bit of an idea of the film having more attention available to it this time of year though (Avatar aside), and it's gotten huge support from the studio, with the ads being just on the edge of overexposure. This is one of those situations where it's difficult to pin it on any one thing because so many parts were done well.
Kim Hollis: I agree that it's a combination of factors. Great marketing (the ads were everywhere, and they were intriguing), the presence of Denzel and Gary Oldman (not to mention Mila Kunis looking very cool), and an appeal to an oddly conservative audience segment, apparently. Warner Bros. has been on a pretty solid roll with regards to strong pushes for awareness in advance of theatrical release.
David Mumpower: If we want to reinforce the idea that Denzel is the key, nine out of his previous 12 films had opened north of $20 million. Similarly, those same nine films all earned north of $50 million. Anyone who doesn't believe an actor can open/sell movies needs to look long and hard at his resume. Having said that, I believe a key to the success of The Book Of Eli is that Washington was given a worthy foil in Gary Oldman. If you're picking the best actors in the industry in terms of track record of heroes and villains, they're both on the short list of demonstrative greatness. January release or not, this is a must-watch project due to the presence of those two men. And while the story usually isn't enough to sell a film on its own, the premise of a man protecting the last copy of the Bible in a post-apocalyptic word is inspired.
Kevin Chen: Dude, spoiler alert. Based on the trailers, I was convinced the book was the last remaining copy of New Moon.
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