Apple Products Shown in 30 Percent of Hollywood's Top Movies, for Free

As appeared in THR.com by Eriq Gardner

In the so-called "tech trial of the century," Apple is showing off just how much it has captured the hearts and minds of Hollywood.
Apple is in the midst of a jury trial that accuses rival Samsung of infringing its patents and trademarks on its iPhone and iPad products in creating and marketing the Galaxy devices. The trial continues this week after a San Francisco jury heard testimony from top Apple executives about the making and marketing of the consumer technology that took the world by storm. Apple now demands some $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung. Jury selection began July 30.

Apple has long insisted that it doesn't pay for product placement in movies and television, but that doesn't mean the Cupertino, Calif.-based company doesn't care. In fact, highlights from the trial evidence that Hollywood has been a huge part of the company's marketing strategy over the years.

When Apple first worked on the iPhone, it was called "Project Purple."

According to testimony by Apple mobile software head Scott Forstall, secrecy about the project was so immense that a sign on the front door where the work was being done said “Fight Club." The allusion was obvious. "The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club," testified Forstall.

Apple executives say that building the iPhone was risky, but there were great rewards promised for a successful project.

More than five years ago, when the company was working on the prototypes, Apple saw what cell phones weren't doing well at the time. "We started to look at whether you could put entertainment content on cellphones," testified Phil Schiller, Apple's global chief of marketing. "We realized at the time that some phones weren't any good as entertainment devices."

The iPhone was introduced in June 2007. Before it launched, Apple used a commercial during the Academy Awards to announce its impending arrival. But then the company decided it could “go quiet" on the advertising front, according to more testimony.

How?

For one thing, Apple realized the press would lavish attention on it. But the company also decided that Hollywood would embrace it.

"We would love to see our products used by stars in movies [and] TV shows, and we have a person who helps provide products to people that want to do that," said Schiller.

The jury saw a chart that documented all of the product-placement successes.

In fact, Apple has been getting hundreds of millions of dollars of possibly free publicity over the years. According to a survey by Brandchannel this year, Apple-branded products have appeared in more than a third of all films topping the box office from 2001 through 2011 (and 17 of the 40 top films last year). That's more than McDonald's, Pepsi and the Sony Vaiocombined for the past decade. In Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, for example, Apple got more than five minutes onscreen, which analysis from Front Row Analytics estimates to be worth more than $23 million. Perhaps most amazing, according to Brandchannel, is that Apple says it doesn't pay for product placement.

At trial, Schiller testified that in 2007, the company concluded that it "didn't need" to put any money into its advertising budget. That's changed somewhat. According to what the jury heard, from 2008 to 2011, Apple spent $647 million on iPhone publicity and $457 million on iPad publicity. For a company that has sold some 250 million iPhones, though, that's a rather paltry sum.

Nevertheless, Schiller says that Samsung's introduction of similar smartphones and tablets "creates a huge problem" for his marketing division.

Samsung's lawyer asked whether it's really possible that consumers "accidentally buy the Droid Charge thinking it's an iPhone."

"I believe they may be confused," responded Schiller.

Samsung will have an opportunity to bring its own witnesses and evidence soon. Confusion is one part of the fussing in court. The parties also are debating who gets credit for going first with the important design work on mobile devices. Samsung tried in vain to show off its F700 phone to the jury and got in trouble with the judge for possibly leaking excluded evidence to the media. Samsung also could attempt to show "prior art" by pointing to more Hollywood content. After all, Samsung once brought forward the argument that an iPad-like device could be seen in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Apple doesn't get credit for that one.

Box Office Report: 'Spider-Man' Spins $135 Mil-$140 Mil Debut; 'Katy Perry,' 'Savages' Lag

By Pamela McClintock as appear in THR.com

Oliver Stone's "Savages" opens No. 5 on Friday with $5.6 million, expects a three-day debut of $16.8 million; concert documentary "Katy Perry: Part of Me" places No. 7 with $2.7 million for a projected four-day debut of $11 million-$12 million.

Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man is on course for a six-day debut of $135 million to $140 million, successfully relaunching Sony's marquee superhero franchise and turning in one of the top performances for  the July 4th frame.

Amazing Spider-Man -- headlining Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone -- grossed $20.7 million on Friday for a four-day domestic cume of $95.7 million. The movie, anticipating a $60 million to $65 million weekend, is pacing well ahead of Warner Bros.'Batman Begins reboot.

The news isn't as bright for new entries Savages  and concert documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me, which are trailing behind a trio of strong holdovers -- Universal's Ted, Warner Bros.' Magic Mike and Pixar/Disney's Brave.

Also from Universal, Savages opened to a slightly better-than-expected $5.6 million on Friday to come in No. 5. The R-rated crime drama is now anticipating a three-day opening of $16.8 million, well ahead of Universal's estimated $10 million.

First, however, Savages will have to overcome a C+ CinemaScore, which could hurt word-of-mouth.

Universal was so keen on Savages, based on Don Winslow's best-selling novel, that it moved the film from September to this weekend hoping to woo adults looking for an alternative to popcorn fare. The pic -- costing $45 million to produce -- marks Stone's return to more violent fare and stars Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek.

Paramount Insurge's Part of Me placed No. 7 on Friday with $2.7 million, down from Thursday's opening day gross of $3.1 million. The 3D concert documentary is now expecting a three-day opening in the $11 million to $12 million range.

That's substantially lower than the openings for two other concert docs: fellow Insurge pic Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.4 million last year) and Disney's Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour ($31.1 million in 2008), though those films debuted outside of summer.

Paramount is on solid ground financially, though, since Part of Me only cost $12 million to produce.

Coming in No. 2 on Friday with a stellar $10.5 million was Universal and MRC's R-rated comedy Ted. The film has blossomed into a box office hit, grossing $88 million in its first seven day at the domestic box office. Ted should finish the weekend with a cume north of $120 million.

Disney and Pixar's Brave followed with $6.2 million for a domestic cume of $160.6 million, while Warner Bros.' Magic Mike earned a strong $6.1 million on its second Friday for a cume of $63.3 million.

Friday Report: 'Prometheus,' 'Madagascar 3' in Close Race

By Ray Subers at BoxOfficeMojo. Jun 2012.


Prometheus narrowly topped the box office on Friday, though with family-friendly days ahead Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted seems well-positioned to take the weekend prize. Both movies opened very strong, though, and are each headed to at least $50 million for the three-day frame.

Prometheus opened to an estimated $21.4 million on Friday, which is the 10th-highest opening day ever for an R-rated movie. Impressively, it was about even withInception's $21.8 million debut, and it crushed District 9($14.2 million) and Super 8 ($12.1 million). It also had the highest opening day tally for a movie in the Alienfranchise, though it's about on par with Alien Vs. Predator adjusting for ticket price inflation. The Ridley Scott sci-fi flick should wind up with somewhere between $55 and $57 million for the weekend. 

Madagascar 3 scored $20.45 million from 4,258 locations yesterday. That's higher than Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's $17.6 million debut, and it's way above the firstMadagascar's $13.9 million. In fact, it even edged past the first Kung Fu Panda ($20.3 million) to claim the highest opening day gross ever for a non-ShrekDreamWorks Animation movie. If Madagascar 3 follows the pattern of Cars 2 and Toy Story 3, it will wind up in second place with $53 to $55 million for the weekend; however, if it lines up with Kung Fu Panda it takes first place with over $60 million. 

Madagascar 3's audience on Friday was 56 percent female and 54 percent under the age of 25, and they awarded the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore. 

After its very strong opening last weekend, Snow White and the Huntsman got pummeled in its second outing. The movie dropped 63 percent to an estimated $7.5 million, and it's now earned just under $83 million. MIB 3 fell 48 percent to $4.2 million, which brings its total to $126.2 million. That trails Men in Black II's 15-day total of $141 million, and there's no chance MIB 3 winds up anywhere close to the second entry's $190.4 million final tally. 

The Avengers rounded out the Top Five with $3.26 million, which is off 42 percent from last Friday. The box office sensation has so far earned $564.3 million, and still has a chance at reaching $600 million before the end of its run.

Moonrise Kingdom expanded to 96 locations and moved in to 10th place with an estimated $455,000. That translates to a decent $4,470 per-theater average, and the movie has now earned $2.63 million. 

Weekend Report: 'Battleship' Drowns Under Weight of 'Avengers'

By Ray Subers as published in BoxOfficeMojo


Led by the awful debut of big-budget board game adaptation Battleship, three new nationwide releases tried and failed to unseat The Avengers this weekend. In fact, the blockbuster superhero team-up earned about as much in its third weekend as all three new releases combined, which is the latest sign that the movie is a true box office phenomenon. Without any real help from the openers, though, the Top 12 was down 31 percent from the same frame last year when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opened to $90.15 million.

The Avengers fell 46 percent to an $55.6 million, which is the second-best third weekend on record behind Avatar($68.5 million). The movie passed $450 million on Sunday, which was only its 17th day in theaters. That's a new record for reaching that mark ahead of The Dark Knight's 27 days. So far, The Avengers has earned an incredible $457.7 million, and it currently ranks sixth on theall-time domestic chart. In the next day or two, it will passStar Wars to move in to the Top Five, and by the end of May the movie could pass The Dark Knight to take third place all-time.

Battleship opened in second place with a meager $25.5 million. Among recent Hasbro adaptations, that's a fraction of the three-day start for the first Transformers ($84.9 million) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($54.7 million). It's also worse than middling alien invasion movies like Cowboys & Aliens ($36.4 million) and Battle: Los Angeles ($35.6 million), and is remarkably lower than star Taylor Kitsch's March sci-fi debacle John Carter($30.2 million). The audience was 57 percent male and 55 percent under the age of 30, and they awarded the movie a fine "B" CinemaScore. 

Adapting a naval strategy board game in to an alien invasion movie always seemed like a questionable choice to movie bloggers and the like, and previews only served to exacerbate that sentiment by making Battleship look like a cynical attempt to get in on some of that Transformers money. In this case, though, the real nail in the coffin was The Avengers—audiences had and continued to turn out in droves to see the legendary superhero team prevent aliens from leveling Manhattan, and Battleship's aliens-at-sea premise really had no chance of competing.

The Dictator took third with $17.4 million from 3,008 locations, which brought the comedy's five-day total to $24.5 million. That's less than Borat ($26.5 million) or Bruno ($30.6 million) made over their first three days, but it's still not an altogether awful start considering the protagonist is a North African dictator who hates women, gays, minorities, and America. Exit polling indicated that the audience skewed male (65 percent) and younger (56 percent under 25), and they gave the movie an awful "C" CinemaScore (not entirely surprising for a movie that often crosses the line in to satire, which mainstream audiences tend to reject). 

While Battleship was the more obvious bomb thanks to its enormous budget, What to Expect When You're Expecting didn't exactly have a successful delivery either. The ensemble pregnancy comedy grossed a paltry $10.55 million this weekend, which is off from recent pregnancy comedies Baby Mama ($17.4 million) and starJennifer Lopez's The Back-Up Plan ($12.2 million) and was also down from underperforming ensemble rom-comNew Year's Eve ($13 million). The movie was the only thing targeted specifically at women in May, and therefore really ought to have had a more successful start, but Lionsgate muddled the marketing with the "Dudes Group" ads. The ploy to get men out to see a pregnancy comedy doesn't seem to have paid off—the audience wound up being 70 percent female. That audience was also on the older side (64 percent over the age of 25), and they gave the movie a low "B-" CinemaScore. 

Dark Shadows plummeted 58 percent to $12.6 million in its second weekend. That brought the movie's 10-day total to $50.7 million, and Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's vampire soap opera revival has zero chance of ending up north of $100 million. 

Fox Searchlight looks to have a legitimate sleeper hit on its hands with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The geriatric comedy doubled its theater count to 354 and was up 21 percent to $3.23 million. With $8.23 million in the bank already, Marigold Hotel is now set for a nationwide expansion over Memorial Day weekend. 

Weekend Report: 'Avengers' Smashes Records

(From BoxOfficeMojo by Ray Subers)


It's been clear for a while that The Avengers would be a box office success, though few people could have foreseen this opening. The superhero team-up got off to an unprecedented $200.3 million start this weekend, which obliterates the previous all-time weekend record set byHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last Summer ($169.2 million).

While it fell short of setting a new opening day record (that still belongs to Potter), The Avengers was responsible for new high marks in most other major categories. It was the fastest movie ever to reach $100 million, $150 million, and $200 million, and it set new records for Saturday($69.7 million) and Sunday ($50.1 million) grosses. It also had the highest per-theater average ever for a nationwide release with $46,057.

Through its first three days, The Avengers has already grossed more than Thor ($181 million), Captain America: The First Avenger ($176.6 million) and The Incredible Hulk ($134.8 million). It's still behind Iron Man and Iron Man 2 ($318.4 million and $312.4 million, respectively), though it should pass those movies next weekend.

The incredible opening weekend gross for The Avengersis mostly the result of a lengthy, extremely effective marketing effort which began all the way back in 2008 when Nick Fury made his first appearance after the credits in the original Iron Man. By the time Thor and Captain America opened last year, it became clear that these movies existed in equal parts to make money and to serve as advertisements for The Avengers. 


Still, there was the problem of reaching people who hadn't turned out for Thor, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk. That was solved by Disney's massive campaign that made the movie seem accessible even for people who have never picked up a comic book in their life. The marketing conveyed that there was a major threat, and the only way to combat it was by bringing together the world's greatest superheroes. The "head count" ad was a centerpiece of this campaign: it introduced each of the Avengers with a quip from the most-popular Avenger, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and provided a few brief glimpses of the character in action. By the end of that commercial, even the most oblivious viewers probably had a good sense for who everyone was.

The movie went on to receive strong reviews (94 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), which made anticipation reach even higher levels. It also helped that April's releases were anemic, so The Avengers was able to play on more screens than it would have if another major movie was in the market (like when Thor had to face Fast Fivelast year).

The big question now is how high The Avengers can go—it will obviously hit $400 million, and with exceptional word-of-mouth (rare "A+" CinemaScore) the movie could even be in line for a $500 million total.

The audience was split evenly between those above and below 25 years-of-age, and it was 60 percent male. 3D screenings accounted for 52 percent of the opening weekend gross, which is an improvement from Captain America's 40 percent but below Thor's 60 percent. That 3D share breaks down to 40 percent traditional 3D, 8 percent IMAX, and 4 percent premium large format.

The Avengers accounted for 82.7 percent of the est. $242 million the Top 12 earned this weekend. That's the second-highest weekend market share ever, and the weekend itself ranks fifth all-time in revenue (first for a Summer kick-off).

The titles that made up that other 17.3 percent expectedly took a big hit this weekend. Think Like a Man fell 55 percent to an estimated $8 million, which brings its total to $73 million. It is easily the highest-grossing April 2012 release, and should wind up with at least $85 million.

The Hunger Games stayed in the Top 3 for the seventh-straight weekend, though it dropped 47 percent to an estimated $5.7 million. So far, the movie has made $380.7 million, which ranks 14th on the all-time domestic chart. In the next day or two, it will pass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2's $381 million.

The Lucky One dipped 49 percent to an estimated $5.5 million, and has thus far earned $47.9 million. The Pirates! Band of Misfits added $5.4 million, which is off 52 percent from its opening. That's a terrible drop for an animated movie, and it probably has to do with losing family audiences and some 3D screens to The Avengers.The Pirates! has only made $18.6 million through its first 10 days.

The Five-Year Engagement also took a tumble—the Jason Segel-Emily Blunt romantic comedy fell 52 percent to an estimated $5.1 million, and has to-date earned a paltry $19.2 million. Even worse, though, were The Ravenand Safe. Those movies dropped 66 percent and 69 percent to $2.51 million and $2.47 million, respectively. Safehas now grossed $12.9 million, while The Raven's total sits at $12 million.

While The Avengers was the only new nationwide release this weekend, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotelprovided great counterprogramming and played well in limited release. The movie ranked 15th for the weekend with an estimated $750,000 from just 27 locations, which translates to a strong $27,778 per-theater average. This kind of pleasant, well-reviewed adult comedy is right in distributor Fox Searchlight's wheelhouse, and it should be able to successfully expand over the next few weeks.

Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers. 

Around-the-World Roundup: ‘The Avengers’ Assemble $178.4 Million Overseas Debut

(from BoxOfficeMojo.com by Ray Subers/Apr 29, 2012)

A week ahead of its U.S. debut, Marvel's The Avengersopened in 39 foreign territories and scored a truly heroic $178.4 million. The movie took first place in all of its markets, and set new opening weekend records in a dozen of them as well.

The Avengers had its top start in the United Kingdom ($24.7 million), though that only ranks 16th all-time there. In Australia, the movie's $19.7 million is the second-highest five-day opening ever, while its $15.9 million debut in Mexico is a new record. It also set records in Brazil ($11.3 million), Taiwan ($7.7 million), the Philippines ($6.5 million), Hong Kong ($4.6 million) and seven other smaller markets.

While not quite reaching all-time levels, the movie also had very strong starts in South Korea ($12.9 million), France ($12.7 million), Italy ($10.4 million), and Spain ($7.3 million). Oddly, it only opened to $6.7 million in Germany, though looking at past Avengers movie grosses it doesn't appear the Germans are as fond of the team as the rest of the world.

Across the 12 markets where estimates are available, The Avengers opened over twice as high, on average, asIron Man 2, which currently holds the team's overseas record with $311.5 million (a number The Avengers is going to annihilate within the next few weeks).

The $178.4 million debut ranks ninth on the all-time foreign openings chart, which on the surface might not look all that astounding. However, it reached that level in only 70 percent of its potential theaters, and it has yet to debut in major markets China, Russia, and Japan. Chinese and Russian audiences get the movie with the U.S. this coming weekend, while the Japanese need to wait until August.

Based off this opening, The Avengers could reasonably finish with nearly $600 million overseas, and it could even wind up higher than that.

Thanks to The Avengers debut, Battleship plummeted 63 percent to an estimated $22.5 million this weekend. It added $8 million in China and held first place in Russia with $3.2 million (as previously noted, both of these markets didn't have The Avengers). The movie has now made $170 million overseas, and should be able to push past the $200 million mark with this batch of territories. The board game adaptation opens in Latin America on May 10, and in the U.S. on May 18.

Titanic 3D continued its remarkable run in China by adding an estimated $12.5 million this weekend. That brings its total there to $126.1 million, which is a little less than half of its $260.6 million overseas total. Thanks to the re-release, Titanic's overall foreign gross has now passed $1.5 billion.

American Reunion added an estimated $14.5 million from 41 markets this weekend. In Germany, the movie opened to an outstanding $6.6 million, which ranks second right behind The Avengers. The comedy sequel has so far earned $75.2 million overseas.

In its sixth weekend in release, The Hunger Games earned an estimated $7.4 million overseas. That brings its foreign total to $228.5 million, and its worldwide (domestic plus foreign) total past the $600 million mark.

Casa de mi Padre: Film Review

(por Todd McCarthy extraído de The Hollywood Reporter)


Given that everyone who had anything important to do with Casa de mi Padre is a graduate ofSaturday Night Live, it makes sense that this Spanish-lingo farce plays very much like an SNL sketch. The only problem is that it packs about as many laughs into its 85 minutes as a good skit does in eight or 10. All the same, a mirthful feel emanates from this melodrama parody simply by virtue of Will Ferrell's turn as the slow-witted, black-sheep member of a Mexican ranch family infected by the drug trade. Only a portion of the star's fan base is likely to turn out for this deliberately hokey indie release, which is appropriately debuting at the South by Southwest Film Festival, though compensation could come if smart marketing stimulates curiosity in the Mexican-American market.
While the humor of pretend horses, fake backdrops and extended naked butt groping knows no language barriers, it's likely the most appreciative audiences for this broadly performed goof will be fans of Spanish-language telenovelas, which trade on the sort of sultry stares, emotional overstatements and exaggerated proclamations that are sent up here. The fact that a good half of these declarations are delivered by Ferrell in perfectly fluent but over-enunciated, American-accented Spanish adds to the amusement, even if it's clear within a few minutes that the comedy is going to be one-note, repetitive and within a very narrow range.

After a brash Leone-as-filtered-through Tarantino main title sequence — the film is announced as having been shot in “Mexico Scope” -- dufus grande Armando (Ferrell) and his two ranching sidekicks (Efren Ramirez, Adrian Martinez) witness an execution administered in a remote area by notorious narco La Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal). Back at the hacienda, Armando is ridiculed by his macho father (the late Pedro Armendariz Jr.) for never having had a woman when who should appear but “smart” son Raul (Diego Luna) along with a knockout, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez), he intends to marry.

But the moment Sonia and Armando lock eyes, you know the road's going to get bumpy, especially since Raul has taken up the drug business himself and Sonia has an unsavory history with La Onza.

The latter name means “snow leopard” in Spanish and a fair share of laughs comes from an obviously phony large white cat (designed by the Jim Henson workshop) that mouths mystical phrases and looks out for Armando, who can use all the help he can get.

Even with its brief 85-minute running time (extended post-end credits by a very strange mock promotional clip of veteran wilderness movie star Dan Haggerty basically inviting audience members to come get stoned with him), Casa de mi Padre struggles to achieve feature length with a flashback about Armando's gunned-down mother and incidental scenes with mostly corrupt cops and a DEA agent who speaks Spanish with the broadest of all possible American accents. Hiccups of humor escape from time to time and all the actors ascend to the required over-the-top spirit, but the high times deflate pretty quickly due to the sitting-duck comic targets and the lack of fall-down outrageousness that marks the best Ferrell-Adam McKay outings, notably Anchorman and Talladega Nights.