IT'S ALL IN THE 'TIMING'

A CMG summer 'sleeper' pick, The Purge, will hit it big this weekend!  As tropical

storm Andrea beats up the East Coast from Florida to Maine people will flock to cinemas and the big beneficiary will be The Purge - a semi-horror thriller from Universal, and an unlikely blockbuster that will gross over $50 million this weekend (my prediction).  That is a huge number when you consider the movie only cost $3 million to produce and carries an 'R' rating.

The premise of the film is that once every year for 12 hours, anyone can commit any crime they wish. All social violence thus is compacted into a dawn-to-dusk time frame.  This 'purging' rids society of all undesirables, wackos, social misfits, and unfortunately , good folks as well.  Boiled down, The Purge, is another run-of-the-mill home invasion film be it a decently made one.

Who was it that said, "Timing is everything".  Well, in this case, The Purge's, couldn't have been better. Bad weather and no other weekend releases to complete with combine to make a so-so thriller best in show.  Yea, that's Hollywood.

Movie Trailers - Time For A Change?

Many moviegoers complain about coming attractions (termed trailers or previews). Too long, too many, give away too much story, they are all the same, etc.  But it's not just moviegoers but movie owners that are complaining.  In fact, the lobby group for theatre owners, the National Assoc. of Theatre Owners (NATO)  wants to establish a new rule that would limit the length of a trailer to two minutes.  This would be down from the current average of two and a-half minutes.

Today, unlike the past - where trailers could be viewed only at cinemas - they are now seen as 30 second spots on TV and full-length on-line (which is another controversy as some studios love it when the movie's website gets favorable hits and tweets but hate it when the tweets go negative).

The question is, would a mandated two minute length change the make-up of trailers? CMG asked Mark Woollen, President of Woollen & Associates, which produces trailer spots for the silver screen, as well as, 'small' screens, just that. "I'm definitely in the less-is-more camp. There are plenty of trailers that reveal too much. I would be interested to see if the two minute format would force us all to be more creative. On the other hand, many people want more information on films and want easy access to it."

Let's have your comments.

Best
Jim Lavorato