CaptainAmerica:CivilWar(2016)

Asummary:

- ThethirteenthinstalmentintheMarvelcinematicuniverse- DirectedbyAnthonyandJoeRusso,whohadprovensuccesswithCaptain

America:WinterSoldier- HasacastofbignamesincludingRobertDowneyJnr,ChrisEvans,Scarlett

Johanssen,JeremyRenner,andseveralothers- Thefilmdidextremelywell,beatingallcompetitiontobecomethehighest

grossingfilmof2016- Abudgetof$250millionandaboxofficetakingof$1.1bn

ThePackage:

- Ahugelywellknownfranchise- Bigcastoffamousactors- Famousdirectors- Wellknownandprovenstudio(Marvel)- Adaptedfromcultcomicbook,CivilWar- Appearances by new versions of characters including Spiderman and

BlackPanther

Institution

- ProducedbyMarvelstudios,massive,hugelysuccessfulcomicbookstudio

- DistributedbyDisneyStudios,oneofthe‘big6’- Disneyhavedistributed8filmsthathavesurpassedthe$1billion

worldwideboxofficesales

Audience

- Summerblockbuster,soamixtureofyoungandold,schoolchildrenandgeneralpublic

- Fanboys–comicfanaticsthatcanbefoundat‘comiccon’SanDiego- Expectedtobehuge–massaudienceappeal

Production

- FilmedinAmerica,SouthAfrica,Iceland,PuertoRico,andGermany- ShotinIMAX,andconvertedtoIMAX3Dand3D,aswellasnormal2D

format- Over20effectsstudiosworkedonpostproduction,includingILM- Themainfocusoftheirworkwastheairportbattle,inwhichalmostevery

shotcontainedeffects,theendsequence,andtheshotswithayoungTonyStark

MarketingThepost-creditssceneforAnt-ManfeaturedfootageshotbytheRussobrothersforCaptainAmerica:CivilWar,showingWilsonandRogerswithBarnesintheircustody,andunabletocontactStarkbecauseof"theaccords";Wilsonmentionsthathe"know[s]aguy",implyingLang.

ThefirstfootageofthefilmdebutedinAugust2015attheD23Expo(anallDisneyversionofComicCon).AdditionalfootagewasshowninSeptember2015attheAsiaPopComicConvention.ThefootageshownattheD23Expoand2015AsiaPopComicConventionreceivedanoverwhelminglypositiveresponsefromtheaudiences.ThefirsttrailerforthefilmdebutedonJimmyKimmelLive!onNovember25,2015,andwithinhoursbecamethenumberonetrendingtopiconTwitter.Thetrailerwasviewed61milliontimesinthefirst24hoursofrelease,surpassingthe34millionviewsofAvengers:AgeofUltron'sin2014.OnFebruary4,2016,MarvelreleasedtheirownversionoftheFacebook"#FriendsDay"videoforCaptainAmerica.ThevideomirrorsthosecreatedbyFacebookforuserstocelebratetheanniversaryofFacebook'sfounding,andfeaturesimagesofCaptainAmerica's"friends"theWinterSoldier,Thor,Falcon

andHawkeye.ThevideoconcludeswithanimageofCaptainAmericaandIronManbeingtorninhalf.Threedayslater,ateaserdebutedduringSuperBowl50,whichreceivedthemostsocialmediaactivityoutofallthefilmtrailersreleasedthatday.Fourdayslater,onValentine'sDay,theFacebookcampaignwascontinued,withMarvelcreatinga"faux-statusupdate"forCaptainAmerica,showinghisrelationshipstatushadchangedto"InaComplicatedRelationshipwithIronMan".FromMarch7toMarch10,Marvelreleasedindividualpostersforcharactersinthefilm,continueditsFacebookcampaignwithtwoteaservideosshowcasingtheparticipantson"TeamCap"and"TeamIronMan",andreleasedasecondtrailer.Thetrailerwasviewedcloseto95milliontimeswithinthefirst24hoursofrelease,surpassingtheviewsachievedbythefirsttrailer.Inaddition,240,000socialmediapostsacrossTwitter,Tumblr,Instagram,andFacebook,amongothers,weremaderelatedtothetrailer,surpassingthe81,000theAgeofUltrontrailerreceivedin2014.AccordingtointernetanalyticsfirmZEFR,thetrailerwasviewedover62milliontimesfromYouTubeandFacebookoverfourdays,makingitthesecondmostviewedtraileratthetime,behindthe64.6millionviewsforthefirstStarWars:TheForceAwakenstrailer.OnApril10,Evansdebutedanexclusiveclipofthefilmduringthe2016MTVMovieAwards.Throughoutthemonth,theRussobrothersandthecastpromotedthefilminParis,Beijing,Singapore,BerlinandLondon.OnMay2,2016,Evans,Renner,andexecutivesfromMarvelrangtheopeningbelloftheNewYorkStockExchangeinhonorofthefilm'stheatricalrelease.

MerchandiseAtthe2015LicensingInternationalExpo,DisneyConsumerProductsannouncedthattheywouldpartnerwithlicenseesincludingHasbro,Lego,Funko,HotWheels,Rubies,MadEngine,C-Life,JayFranco,GlobalBrandGroup,Kellogg's,HallmarkandAmericanGreetingstosellmerchandiserelatedtothefilmCoca-Cola,Google,Samsung,Wrigley,HarleyDavidson,Audi,SynchronyFinancial,Pringles,Keebler,PizzaHut,PopSecret,MouserElectronics,andVivo,

amongotherbrands,werealsolicenseesforthefilm.Aspartofthe$200millionmarketingeffortforthefilm,HarleyDavidsoncreatedtwocustomizedmotorcyclesforthefilm,AudidebutedacommercialdirectedbytheRussosfeaturingunreleasedscenesfromthefilm,whilePizzaHutdebutedcollectibleboxesandKellogg's,Pringles,andKeeblerproductsfeaturedvirtualrealityexperiences.Thelead-uptothefilm'sreleaseculminatedinamassiveonlinevoteacrossGoogle,YouTube,andTwitterforeitherTeamCaptainAmericaorTeamIronMan.BoxOfficeTakingsCaptainAmerica:CivilWargrossed$408.1millionintheU.S.andCanadaand$745.2millioninotherterritories,foraworldwidetotalof$1.153billion.

Itbecamethehighest-grossingfilmof2016,thefourth-highest-grossingsuperherofilmofalltime.ThefilmopenedinIMAX,IMAX3D,3D,andnormal2D.HowdoIusethisinformationtoanswerthequestionsintheexam?IfaquestionaboutTechnologycomesupontheexam,lookathowthemarketingandmakingofthefilm–internet,websites,IMAXshowingand3Dshowing,CGI–usedtechnology.Compareandcontrast‘CaptainAmerica–CivilWar’withyoursecondfilm.

IfaquestionaboutMarketingcomesup,lookathowthefilmspentmillionsofdollars,andlotsofdifferenttechniquesandmedia,tomarketthefilm–focusontrailers,viralcampaigns,useofsynergy,useofmerchandising,andthepromotionalcampaignasawhole.Compareandcontrastthiswithyoursecondfilm.IfaquestionaboutInstitutioncomesup,oronethatfocusesonmediaownershiporthedominanceoflargecompaniesinthefilmindustry,focusontheinstitutionsinvolvedinyourtwofilms.For‘CaptainAmerica–CivilWar’,lookatDisneyandMarvel,theirrecordforsuccessfulfilms,andhowtheyinvestedsomuchmoneyintothemarketingofthefilmthatitwasveryunlikelyto‘flop’,andhowthefilmindustryisdominatedbyfilmsproducedanddistributedbythe‘big6’–Sony,Warner,WaltDisney,Universal,Fox,andParamount–sothesametypesoffilmsareoftenreleasedagainandagain.Compareandcontrastthiswithyoursecondfilmandtheirdistributor.

Otherpointstothinkabout–Isthereasensethataudiencesarebecomingalittleboredofsuperherofilmsandwantsomethingdifferent?Doesthesuccessofafilmlike‘Deadpool’or‘Logan’suggestthataudienceswantsomethingnew?Orwithaudienceanticipationhighfor‘BatmanvsSuperman’and‘CivilWar’areaudiencesjustasexcitedaboutSuperherofilmsasever?

Furtherreading:https://christhilk.com/2016/05/04/captain-america-civil-war-marketing/