'Whatever Works' is Afraid of Woody Allen?
Filed under: Comedy, Tribeca, Sony Classics, The Weinstein Co., Movie Marketing
I just came across the new poster for Whatever Works on IMP Awards (check it by clicking the image below), and beyond the too-perfect Larry David pose, I'm struck by the utter lack of Woody Allen on the thing. Beyond the billing block and maybe an especially sharp sense of font, how would anyone know that this was the latest film from the guy who made Annie Hall and Manhattan?It was the same thing with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and I'm wondering if potentially interested people would find themselves turned off upon finding out just whose movie they've been lured into. It's the same sense of un-branding (non-branding? anti-branding?) that kept most passersby from realizing that Zack and Miri Make a Porno was a Kevin Smith joint, and really, if you're already past that title, is his presence in the trailers and posters going to keep you away?
If anything, might the name recognition lure a couple of more people to either film (not that Larry David fans probably aren't already fans of Woody Allen, and not that Kevin Smith films probably already know which new movie is his)? Have you ever been sold on a movie until you got a glimpse of the name at the helm? When? Where? Why?
Gallery: Whatever Works
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-06-2009 @ 6:38PM
tumplet said...
Spike lee has done this for all his more mainstream movies which makes sense because to most people his name is equivalent to movies with messages about African Americans. I only watched Zack and Miri because of Rogen and Banks who made the ridiculous Smith style dialog work in the first act but couldn't save the plot from falling off a cliff. Honestly had Smith cast his regulars in Z&M I would have skipped it because it was Kevin Smith. Woody Allen just makes so many films that get mediocre reception and disappear, his name isn't a selling point anymore unless you are a film geek.
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5-06-2009 @ 7:29PM
Midnight13 said...
Fans of Woody Allen have been hearing about this movie for awhile thanks to sites like Cinematical. Fans of "Curb Your Enthusiasim" are probobly already big fans of Allen's and will be seeing this to see what thier collaboration has created. Since this is a teaser poster its not unusual to not put a title on the poster. It is a little TOO simplistic perhaps.
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5-06-2009 @ 8:48PM
MichelleK said...
Yeah it also sucks that Evan Rachel Wood is not on the poster...and the credits are in Alphabetical order! You can't even tell she is the co-star.
I wouldn't go see this without her in it.
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5-08-2009 @ 5:27PM
Nick said...
Re: Midnight13
I don't believe this is a teaser, it's likely the only poster.
Re: MichelleK
The alphabetical credits are an Allen staple. All of his films have had them and all of his posters and trailers for the past twenty or twenty five years. I assume it's a contractual thing Allen has.
I saw the poster and the lack of name too, and I've long ago stopped trying to guess the motives behind certain marketing decisions. I've seen posters for recent films of his that just say "From the Director of Match Point."
I always imagine the scenario inwhich a fickle moviegoer sees that poster and says "Oh,ok it's from the director of Match Point" and then walks away and forgets all about the movie being advertised. If you don't know that Woody Allen directed a film you've seen, are you going to remember the new one when it came out and see it because of that? It seems unlikely.
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5-08-2009 @ 6:40PM
Nick said...
The trailer for "Whatever Works" does say "written and directed by Woody Allen" pretty prominently.
5-08-2009 @ 6:41PM
William Goss said...
It does, but the trailer wasn't online two days ago.
5-12-2009 @ 6:36PM
Nick said...
I know, it wasn't online when I first commented either, just updating.
"written and directed by Woody Allen" can probably be forgotten by people who don't like him if they're laughing in the trailer, but not on the poster.