Hollywood hype machine doles out highly manipulative ballyhoo, kool-aid drinkers suck it up.
Show biz bible Variety said that while the Hollywood hype machine was in full blown manipulative mode, the presence of A-listers has become as monotonous and routine as costumed fans.
"Studios are so afraid of messing up at Comic-Con that there’s little room for spontaneity — that magical moment that produces an instant connection between a filmmaker or star and the audience," a Warner Bros. executive divulged. "It’s hard to describe but you know it when you see it. I’ve seen that create a fan for life."
Still, studios rolled out their panels for fan-base heavy TV shows like Fringe, Smallville and Bones and their holiday and summer blockbusters like Tron, Red, Thor and Green Lantern for next year.
But getting positive reaction from the teeming sweaty masses doesn’t necessarily translate to big bucks at the box office.
Last year the big buzz was about the weird western Jonah Hex and a little film called Avatar was dismissed by fans as a Lord of the Rings knockoff. Snakes on a Plane, despite the best ad campaign in recent years, nose dived down the gullet of financial disaster when it finally opened.
But with so many kool-aid drinkers in attendance, Comic-Con is seen as the start of a film’s marketing efforts which can "equal tens of millions of dollars, if not more, from word-of-mouth" and incessant blogging, Tweeting and media coverage on a slow news day.
On the other hand, if a film sucks, word gets out EVEN faster — no matter how great the anticipatory buzz.
YET, Ryan Reynolds DID recite the Green Lantern oath…
