The lack of success for this movie when it was released, speaks volumes about the failure of Hollywood marketing. They really missed the boat on this one. A nice romantic swashbuckler, tongue firmly in cheek, and they didn't have a clue as to how to sell it.
The fact that it is more successful than ever, shows how wrong those people were.
You've hit the bullseye square in the center. If you read Cary Elwes' book "As You Wish", you'll see how the studio made a total hash of the marketing.
Good thing the vox populi doesn't give a rodent's rectum (even if the rodent is an ROUS) about what the boys in Marketing do.
Many classic movies are poorly received or marketed at time of release only to be brought to cult status down the line. In fairness it's a tough movie to describe and sell I think
shareI would have wanted a video game or at least some action figures. The mobile gambling slot game is just an insult.
shareSame thing happened with its a wonderful life. Both movies are crazy genius. I don't get how they weren't marketed well. Movie trailers weren't an art form like they are now.
shareLots of mistakes in marketing:
1). In wrestling, the WWF decided to book Andre as a heel (i.e. bad guy) instead of a face (i.e. good guy). So WWF didn't do much to promote the movie for Andre. They felt that promoting the movie, which meant pushing Andre as a movie star, worked against their ideas of using him as a heel.
2). They released this movie around Columbus Day weekend, which was a bad time. Movies like Dirty Dancing and Fatal Attraction were still dominating.
3). For the promotional poster, they used a picture of Fred Savage and Peter Falk, instead of using Andre, the princess, the sword-fighting, or the pirates etc. Seeing the poster, many people branded Princess Bride as a kid's movie instead of a universal adventure flick.
good points.
shareFred Savage on the poster??????????????
OMG how f'n stupid.
The last couple of times that I watched this movie I FF past him.
Honestly, i'm not sure how you'd go about marketing this movie even today. It's a very unusual film. It's not a serious all in Harry Potter sort of flick. But it's not really a kids' movie either. It's not exactly a straight forward Robin Hood kind of tale. It's pretty hard to convey what this movie is about with just a 30 second tv spot and a poster.
shareIf it was me I would start the trailer with the scene at the start (with that "in a land" voiceover) where Buttercup and Wesley are about to kiss and it cuts back to Savage and he says "you said there would be no kissing", then show some action scenes with the voiceover saying "it contains lots of sports: fencing, wrestling, riding, torturing", and then at the end you hear Inigo say the line. I think most people would get the gist of the film.
The reason why I pick this scene is because my (female) flatmates said that I would like this movie. I took one look at the cover and said "nah, I'm good". Then one day I could not be bothered to go to the video store and decided to give it a shot. I (now) loved how it plays straight cornball at the start but when I first watched it my face was all scrunched up. The kissing scene comes on and I'd had enough so I begin to lean over, arm outstretched, about to hit the eject when it cuts to Savage saying that line. I was actually shocked and thought to myself "that was actually pretty funny" and in a split second I "got" what the film was about and slowly (with my arm still extended) leaned back to my chair to watch it.
I love all of what you just wrote.
shareI think part of the charm of this movie is how each of us "discovered" it, happened upon it.....with no hype, expectations or the full-on Hollywood treatment. It was one of those hidden gems...and it felt even more special to have found it in whichever way you may have.
If it got the full, glossy, well-marketed treatment, complete with Princess Bride happy meal toys, figurines, stickers, lunch boxes, etc...and if everyone were talking it up, creating a buzz, raising expectations.....and any of the hidden charms within the movie were disclosed ahead of seeing it.....it would have ruined some of the sweet pleasant surprise that was this film, IMO.
Part of the magic was how the story unfolds.....you have no idea going in what you're going to get. First, we have Fred Savage in present day, playing a video game. Then we have the Grandpa reading him a story....then we drift right into that storybook. If any of that unique method were known ahead of time (via word of mouth)....it would dilute some of the magic.
Same with the film "The 6th Sense". Thank goodness it wasn't widely marketed, and there was no word-of-mouth ahead of time. It would have ruined the experience of seeing it that first time in the theater.
So really, the fact that The Princess Bride didn't get the standard, cookie-cutter Hollywood glossy marketing....is one of the best things that could have happened to this movie, and the experience of seeing it.
I had a similar response to TPB. I thought it was a kid's movie and I'd rather watch No Way out or even Spies Like Us.
Then one day it was on cable and it had been around for so long and I heard buzz about it, so I gave it a shot.
What A Funny Movie ! Very unique and hard to describe. Billy Crystal was the only Big Star and I can barely remember what his part was. That's what helps make it a Really Fun Film, because it's not laden with easily recognizable faces dominating every scene.