\n
Chairman of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley introduced a crop of new titles – Copyright AFP VALERIE MACON<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nAndrew MARSZAL<\/em><\/p>\nUniversal Pictures was crowned Hollywood\u2019s top studio last year, dethroning Disney at the box office for the first time in nearly a decade with a string of mega-hits like \u201cThe Super Mario Bros. Movie\u201d and the Oscar-winning \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as movie executives gathered at this week\u2019s CinemaCon summit in the face of gloomy industry forecasts and a shortage of upcoming major releases, at least one company had plenty to celebrate in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not much more you could ask for than being number one at the box office, and winning the Academy Award for best picture,\u201d said chairman Donna Langley during Universal\u2019s presentation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been easy enough to just sort of drop the mic after that one, right? But it\u2019s not enough for us,\u201d she said, before introducing a crop of new titles, including \u201cWicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Goldblum were brought on stage to promote the starry movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. The first of two films hits theaters in November.<\/p>\n
For many big-screen owners, Universal \u2014 thanks to a diverse mix of original movies that does not rely on the struggling superhero genre, and some smart viral marketing campaigns \u2014 offers a potential roadmap to recovery.<\/p>\n
They are pinning hopes on \u201cWicked,\u201d and animated films like \u201cDespicable Me 4\u201d and \u201cThe Wild Robot,\u201d to bring much-needed customers\u00a0back at a tough moment for the industry.<\/p>\n
Overall box office receipts had been slowly recovering each year since the pandemic, but are expected to shrink in 2024.<\/p>\n
That is largely due to Hollywood strikes that shuttered film productions for months last year, leaving major gaps in release calendars.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Fresh\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
But while rivals like Disney, Warner and Paramount have struggled for various reasons, these are heady times for Universal.<\/p>\n
Just 12 months ago, Langley brought director Christopher Nolan onto the same Las Vegas stage, to introduce for the first time his movie \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an expensive gamble, Universal had lured Nolan from his traditional home at Warner, promising to give his movie about the atomic bomb lavish backing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOppenheimer\u201d grossed nearly $1 billion. Nolan appeared via video on Wednesday to thank theater owners for their role.<\/p>\n
Speaking with AFP, Universal\u2019s international distribution president Veronika Kwan Vandenberg said it has become clear the industry \u201ccan\u2019t rely on the films that have traditionally been exceptionally strong in the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike competitors, Universal does not have any of the major superhero franchises that until recently dominated multiplexes.<\/p>\n
That had been a stick to beat Universal with in years past. But as rivals\u2019 movies like \u201cMadame Web\u201d and \u201cThe Marvels\u201d have flopped, a sense that audiences are tired of near-identical superhero fare has grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these sequels and franchises coming into the marketplace have done very well for a very long time. But we\u2019re in a place today where\u2026 the audience really wants to know, \u2018what\u2019s different about this?’\u201d said Kwan Vandenberg.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Barbenheimer\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
Social media has become an increasingly key tool for movie studios.<\/p>\n
Universal \u2014 along with Warner \u2014 benefited from capturing last summer\u2019s viral \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Because these trends are typically organic in origin, it is \u201can incredibly hard thing to do,\u201d said Kwan Vandenberg.<\/p>\n
But Universal has been more successful than most, with recent examples including a TikTok dance craze for horror film \u201cM3GAN.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year earlier, the \u201cGentleminions\u201d trend involved teenagers dressing in suits for trips to watch the new \u201cMinions\u201d film.<\/p>\n
In October, a viral trend of stealing posters and promotional cut-outs from theaters for \u201cFive Nights At Freddy\u2019s\u201d broke out.<\/p>\n
While the trend was extremely frustrating for theater owners, it generated priceless publicity for the Universal movie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we launched the first trailer of \u2018M3GAN\u2019 and we saw how viral the TikTok dance became, we started to lean into events all over the world featuring that,\u201d said Kwan Vandenberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something we\u2019re necessarily creating. But we are helping to support the awareness and the excitement around it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Reigning Hollywood studio Universal brings ‘Wicked’ to movie summit
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#Reigning #Hollywood #studio #Universal #brings #Wicked #movie #summit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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