The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

A case study for reference for the exam

Production• Director: Peter Jackson- previous films

such as, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) and King Kong (2005)

• Production budget of $250,000,000!• Produced by “New Line Cinema”,

“WingNut films” and “Metro-Goldwyn Mayer”

• The film was filmed on the various islands of New Zealand, for the setting of the shire on the scenes of walking to the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

• The film has a worldwide Box Office of a massive $833,695,000 and it was only released on the 13th December 2013.

Important factors in the success of the film

• MARKETING campaign• VIRAL marketing• LORD OF THE RINGS history and

contract with the audience• CASTING• DIRECTOR’S PORTFOLIO• DISTRIBUTION most cinemas to date• Online ticket sales

Traditional forms of marketing

• Peter Jackson told the first details about the second film at a live event on March 24, 2013.

• The access code to view this live event was attached to the DVD editions of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

• The live event revealed some plot details, he said that the role of Taurial, acted by Evangeline Lilly, is a part of the elven guard and a bodyguard of the Elvenking, Thranduil.

• He also revealed a scene from the film in which Gandalf and Radagast the Brown search for the Necromancer fortress and discover that the Ringwraiths have been released from their graves.

• The first trailer for the film was released on June 11, 2013• On November 4, 2013, an extra long 3 minute trailer/sneak peek was released

and revealed new footage and major plot points• Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans,

Evangeline Lilly, Peter Jackson and, to a lesser extent, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen, took part in the press tour, appearing on talk shows and giving interviews before the film's release.

• They also released a whole range of The Hobbit Lego, character figurines, board games and toys. (this is horizontal convergence and examples of synergy)

13th December 2013

24th March 2013

Told the first details at live event

June 11, 2013 first trailer released

November 4, 2013 extra long 3 minute trailer

Viral marketing

• On November 4, 2013, a special Desolation of Smaug live online fan event, hosted by Anderson Cooper in New York, was held across eleven different cities with participants including Peter Jackson, Jed Brophy, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Andy Serkis and Richard Armitage

• The first trailer for the film was released on June 11, 2013• On November 4, 2013, an extra long 3 minute trailer/sneak

peek was released and revealed new footage and major plot points

• These become viral by people sharing them on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

• They created a website called http://www.thehobbit.com/ and also released a game called ‘Barrel escape’ to engage the audience this is another example of synergy and cross media convergence

Technological Convergence• The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug have

released a game on their website called ‘Barrel Escape’

• Social media was part of the technological convergence. Trailers and posters were released onto sites such as facebook.

Technology used

• Filmed in 48 frames per second, rather than 24.

• including 2D, 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D and HFR 3D.

Issues a/effecting Production • MGM nearly went bust a year before The Hobbit

was made. This may have affected the production as money used to produce the film may have been tight or reluctant to spend a lot.

Distribution

• Distributed by Warner Bros• Warner Bros owns New line cinema who

were part of the production process• Furthermore, Peter Jackson (director)

owns Wingnut films which was also a part of the production process

• This is an example of vertical integration, saving companies millions of dollars on hiring other companies.

Cinemas

• Friday 13th December 2013 – Shown in 3,903 cinemas

• Increased to 3,928 on the Friday 20th December

• Decreased over the next three weeks to 1,815 on Monday 20th January 2014

• On the day of release cinemas made $31,190,587 with an average of $7,991 per cinema

• This gradually increased to $249,340,000 to date.

Star Appeal

• “The Lord of the Rings” Franchise• Peter Jackson• Martin Freeman• Ian McKellen• Orlando Bloom

Posters• There is several different posters for the

main characters of the film; here are some examples…

Issues effecting Distribution