Paramount Pulls out of SanDiego ComicCon 08
Posted by Rodneyon 26. 06. 2008in News Chat
**UPDATE** A PARAMOUNT REP HAS CONFIRMED THAT PARAMOUNT WILL HAVE A PRESENCE AT COMIC CON THIS YEAR, BUT WAS UNABLE TO CONFIRM WHICH FILMS WOULD BE REPRESENTED OR HOW BIG OF A PRESENCE THEY WILL HAVE **END OF UPDATE** ComicCon is right around the corner, and John is already gearing up for his big party. And this isnt just for comics. It hasn’t been for a long time. This is the mecca for geeks and all the studios are in attendance to pawn off their wares and make you want to see their films.
Wait? A studio is backing out of ComicCon? Are they insane???? Paramount isn’t going to be at ComicCon??
Paramount has decide to ditch Comic-Con entirely, citing “timing” and immense expenses without payoff. Variety’s Anne Thompson has confirmed that the rumors are true and the studio will only possibly do some viral marketing, but nothing more. This means that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and The Last Airbender will all be missing from the convention this year.
Now I do think this is a HUGE bonehead move, because Paramount once again showing it cares only about paperwork and not the fanbase.
Paramount has some of the biggest franchises in film and a number of guaranteed money machines coming out. And yet they decide not to show up at the premier event to pimp them? Well they figure they will still make the money WITHOUT being there, but this just might backfire.
And by backfire I mean about the size of a ladyfinger firecracker. You will still go to their movies. You will just trash talk the studio on your blog first.
They will be missed at ComicCon, and there will still be plenty else to drool over but imagine the ripples in the fandom that might come of Paramount getting badmouthed for ignoring the fans of their films.
But the bottom line is the same. Paramount buys into these films BECAUSE they are a good financial investment. They know that very little effort is needed to promote things like Transformers, Star Trek or G.I.Joe. All of these have fan bases already and they are going to monopolize on the existing momentum. Yeah it sucks that they wont be there, but I rarely expect feeling out of a Studio that has no heart.
And despite the massive DROVES of fans that will attend the ComicCon… really, they are a small percentage of their target audience. And if they are fanatical enough to go to ComicCon, they are likely going to see these movies with or without Con promotion.
Now if they announced that lingerie wearing cosplayers were not in attendance…. that would hurt business.
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this does suck, i agree people will still go see there movies, I know i will. :)
This isn’t really as bonehead as it looks. I hate to defend a company that is snuffing its fans but, in reality, it changes little. It is true the fanboys won’t get the first teaser for these movies.
But in reality lets face it: who is going to boycott Transformers 2 because it wasn’t at ComicCon? Who is going to not see Star Trek? Loyal fans will go see the movie for the movie, not for some trailer they saw a year before its release.
The sad reality might very well be that Paramount has a point, even if it is seemingly cruel: for what it costs to put on an impressive show, there is little return; they are but preaching to the choir by being there…
comics2film has an update about this stating that Paramount will in fact be at comicon, but with a small presence. Tropic Thunder and some other stuff will be seen there.
Last year Fox and now Paramount.
Fox excuse was that they had more R rated movies on their list to show at comic con which didn’t suit the comic con organizers. Previous year R rated movie clips that were shown made the organizers a but angry so they decided to skip.
Paramount has what excuse??
It’s proably becuase of the actors-strike. If there is a strike no actors will show up and maybe they think that is the draw
@Steven Carrol Yeah, I received an email today from Paramount asking for the names of who would be covering the event from Screen Rant.
I did email back asking what the deal was with all this but haven’t heard back yet.
Vic
If they don’t have enough footage to show, why bother going? I’d rather them not go at all than show up and give a pitiful presentation. Other movies with a ton of great footage would overshadow Paramount and make their product look bad. This is actually a damn smart move.
For the most part, it is a shock, and with one film specifically. That’s Star Trek. Star Trek is one of those old time fan base staples. To not show up at a sci-fi or comic con of any kind is highly suspect. That said, it’s Star Trek and there’s a dozen and one conventions…but they are just about done wrapping this film up? Aren’t they in post about now?
As for Paramount pulling out because lack of footage…? Sorry, I don’t buy that one iota. Several studios go in to CC with announcements, panels, and bits to chew on. (Star Trek and GI JOE should have *some* footage anyway, or it could be behind the scenes shots, something) .
Oh, well. More focus on the other studios. Last year’s absentee, Fox, better be there with Wolverine junkets or there will be hell to pay.
We also received the email asking if we would have a rep attending ComicCon. Since I’m not going to it and since its not really the type of news we cover I didn’t bother inquiring but I would be curious personally to know if they are fully pulling out or just mostly.
Trashtalking films before you see them, who would do that Rodney?
Also the X-Files trailer was a huge yawner.
I said people would likely trash talk the STUDIO, not the films.
If Paramount is pulling out look behind the curtain to the people who run Comic-Con. They are ruffling a lot of feathers behind the scenes this year upsetting longtime guests, supporters, and fans. Paramount’s move is only the first of a bigger backlash against the Comic-Con organizers.