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Mmmm... Jägermeister

Kim Hollis: The Hangover, a Warner Bros. comedy starring absolutely no one famous (except maybe Mike Tyson), opened to a remarkable $45.0 million. How do you explain this breakout success?

Josh Spiegel: I think that there are a few things that pushed The Hangover to such a great weekend. First of all, the marketing team at Warner Bros. deserves a collective pat on the back. Despite the fact that the film doesn't star any major celebrities (though most people may easily recognize the faces of Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms), there have been scads of TV ads, trailers, and posters all over the country. Also, the critical response was generally pretty good for the film; maybe not as strong as it was for Star Trek or Up, but still, the overall consensus was that, for a raunchy time at the movies, The Hangover is best. Moreover, the ads teased some of the better gags and reinforced the mystery that drives the plot. Though it's too early to tell how good this film's legs will be, this is a flat-out success all around.

Scott Lumley: There was a really positive vibe coming off this film for a while now, and marketing for this was EVERYWHERE. I think this may have been the most advertised film I've seen in a while with the exception of the Dark Knight last year. I think the studio recognized that this film was even better than they hoped, really cheaply produced and decided to put some major muscle behind it in the marketing department.

Pete Kilmer: The marketing and advertising on this was perfect for this type of film. Plus having the money shot of Tyson knocking the guy out showed that this was going to be a crazy movie.

Max Braden: Twenty-five years ago this would have been called Bachelor Party, which was a favorite then, so it's not surprising that The Hangover would do well, but it did about twice what I was expecting. What's even more impressive is that this is the type of movie Will Ferrell and Danny McBride might have been cast in, and yet they get beaten in the same weekend. Thinking back to Paul Blart's success, appealing to guys with sloppy guy humor seems to be the trick.





Daron Aldridge: For a movie that could have been legitimately retitled Dude, Where's the Groom?, you have to credit the marketing that actually just teased the right bits and gave the audience the feeling that there was stuff just as funny in the movie itself. It didn't give off the air that all the best parts were in the trailer for me. That being said, the film's quality has to meet or surpass expectations and apparently it did. Also of note, Scott, Warner Bros. was the studio behind the saturation marketing of The Dark Knight (which probably didn't really need it) and we know the success of that one, but they were also the ones beating us over the head with Speed Racer last May and sadly, we know the shameful performance it had. Basically, marketing needs a good product to be selling and it needs to be sold accurately.

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