Pushing pedigrees used to be reserved for the Westminster Kennel Club. But if bloodlines can help elect a president, why can’t they market movies, too? That’s why we’re now seeing Hollywood ads that rekindle memories of earlier movies-rather than selling the new offspring. “XXX,” an upcoming action movie, is being peddled as “From the director and producer of ‘The Fast and the Furious’.” “Signs,” a Mel Gibson thriller debuting this summer, is advertised as “From the writer and director of ‘The Sixth Sense’.” The plugs for the baseball story “The Rookie” read, “From the studio that brought you ‘Remember the Titans’.” And the advertised heredity for “About a Boy” is more complicated than a genetically engineered sheep: “From the producers of ‘Meet the Parents’ and the makers of ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’.”
It’s a reverse twist on guilt by association, but hardly a novel idea. Hollywood has long realized that the reputations of everyone from Hitchcock to Spielberg help sell tickets to their new movies. The latest wrinkle is to hype filmmakers who are complete strangers to the moviegoing public. Handed a title with few recognizable names or a presold concept, the studios try to convince the audience it is about to get something as familiar as a sequel … except it really isn’t one. The tactic makes sense: It’s a lot easier to subliminally pitch “Human Nature” as “Being John Malkovich 2” (which New Line practically did in saying “Human Nature” is “from the makers of ‘Being John Malkovich’”) than to describe it as a movie starring Rhys Ifans about an ape man, a hirsute nature writer, and mice familiar with Emily Post etiquette. People might not instantly recognize the name of writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, but they certainly remember how much they enjoyed his movie “The Sixth Sense.”
Problem is, selling previous credits has become so rampant it’s turned pointless: Hollywood is essentially telling you to buy a used Hyundai because its spark plugs were once changed three years ago by a Mercedes mechanic. The direct-to-video title “A Girl, 3 Guys and a Gun” was advertised as “From the executive producer of ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’,” and the pay-per-view showing of “Bubble Boy” trumpets that it’s “From the producer of ‘Austin Powers 2’.” Both pairs of movies have actors speaking lines, but, outside of that, there are no other similarities.
The proof of how consumed the studios are with these ancestry tactics comes courtesy of Sony’s invented movie critic, Dave Manning. One of the fake quotes attributed to the nonexistent critic last year was this line for “The Animal”: “The producing team of ‘Big Daddy’ has delivered another winner!” But wait, there’s more. Even without Manning, Sony is selling the upcoming Adam Sandler movie “Mr. Deeds” as “From the producers of ‘Big Daddy.’” And even good movies can fall victim to meaningless citations: A poster for the critical and commercial hit “Ice Age” noted that it came “from the Academy Award-winning creator of ‘Bunny’.” (For those of you who must know, “Ice Age” director Chris Wedge won the 1999 Oscar for animated short film.)
Like anything carried to excess, the proliferation of selling new movies with old credits is sparking lawsuits. Universal successfully sued MGM earlier this year after MGM attempted to peddle “Rollerball” by claiming it came “from the filmmakers that brought you ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘Die Hard’.” While the family tree connecting “Rollerball” and “Die Hard” is indisputable (both were directed by John McTiernan), the direct connection to Universal’s “The Fast and the Furious” is a stretch: “Rollerball” was co-written by John Pogue, who was an inconsequential executive producer on “The Fast and the Furious.” The actual producer and director of “Furious” had nothing to do with “Rollerball”: we know from the “XXX” ads they were off making that movie.
It wasn’t the first-nor will it be the last-time that someone desperately tried to hitch a movie to an unrelated predecessor. Five years ago, Miramax sued Sony for saying Sony’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was “From the creator of ‘Scream’.” The movies did share screenwriter Kevin Williamson, but Wes Craven, who directed Miramax’s “Scream,” didn’t work on “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Miramax won in court, too.
Sometimes, though, selling earlier credits is the best alternative. When Disney executives took an early look at “The Rookie,” they knew they had a solid, satisfying movie. But how in the world could audiences be lured into seeing it? It starred Dennis Quaid, who isn’t a box-office superstar. It was about a 35-year-old baseball player, but it also was a G-rated family film. And it ran more than two hours, longer than most young children can sit. So Disney decided it would link the film to 2000’s “Remember the Titans,” a vaguely similar feel-good story that defied easy categorization. The strategy was a home-run: “The Rookie” has sold more than $54 million in tickets.
The same kind of thinking is shaping how Sony is marketing “XXX.” Even though star Vin Diesel, who also anchored “The Fast and The Furious,” is poised to become Hollywood’s next action hero, the studio wants to buttress the connection between last summer’s street-racing hit and “XXX” at every turn. Despite the fact the movies follow completely different plots, it’s bound to help sell tickets.
What would be amusing is if Hollywood caught itself at its own game. So rather than sell “Spider-Man” as, well, “Spider-Man,” maybe Sony should say, “Produced by the assistant to the producer of ‘A Star is Born’!” That’s the kind of truth in advertising show business needs.
