Cater To Adults, Too As They Are An Under-Served Audience
So, remember how I said on the previous page that teenage boys were the prime target audience for the vast majority of big summer movies? Well, the summer usually has a couple of titles to satisfy their parents. However, the last four months have been very dry of films aimed directly at people over 35.
Edge of Tomorrow could have engaged more adults, if only Warner Bros. had not marketed it as a bland Groundhog Day–Starship Troopers hybrid that catered to their kids, instead of the refreshing, witty and exciting genre mash-up that it actually was. The studio did not do much better with the dismal ads for Jersey Boys, a show that was probably a lot more electrifying on the stage. The other core choices for parents and grandparents this summer came from foodie flicks like Chef and The Hundred-Foot Journey, and Sundance darlings Boyhood and A Most Wanted Man. Those were all modest hits, but none will likely make more money than Jersey Boys.
The summer usually has room for a couple of titles set up as counter-programming for older audiences, but adults were starved for something good or engaging. The late summer, when audiences are starting to feel exhausted from effects-driven storytelling, is usually a good time to release a solid adult hit. Films like Seabiscuit and The Help used a late-season start to get a head start on their awards campaigns, and both benefitted from Best Picture nominations. Lee Daniels’ The Butler did strong August business last year, too. This late summer was overwhelmed, meanwhile, by films aimed at younger crowds.
How are you supposed to advertise the more prestigious fall dramas without bringing in adults to the cinema? When too many adult-oriented titles collide at the box office this fall, you can blame the studios for not moving some of them back to July and August.
