Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN HORN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
In keeping with the serial killer movie's surprise ending, though, ``Seven'' is murdering the conventional wisdom. The movie is not just the fall's biggest surprise - it's also the season's biggest hit.
The once lightly regarded ``Seven'' has battled Sylvester Stallone, Demi Moore, Denzel Washington and a ballyhooed stripper flick, handily winning every showdown. (It's showing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View 6 theaters in Roanoke.)
``I've had five hits in a row,'' says the movie's producer, Arnold Kopelson, whose credits include ``The Fugitive,'' ``Falling Down'' and ``Outbreak.'' ``But I feared `Seven' would not reach a general audience.''
Indeed, preview audiences gave ``Seven'' mediocre marks and the testing service CinemaScore found equally marginal enthusiasm, with ``Seven'' earning a grade of B.
Moviegoers nevertheless embraced the film. In its first month, ``Seven'' has grossed more than $60 million for New Line Cinema, finishing atop the box-office charts each of its first four weeks of release. The movie is poised to make close to $100 million in North American theaters.
``Thank heaven for `Seven''' has been the resounding echo for the entire industry,'' says Dan Harkins, whose Harkins Amusement Enterprises operates 114 movie theaters in Arizona. ``It's very rare for a movie to open in September and be on track to make $100 million.''
Much of the film's success can be attributed to a marketing campaign that sold the movie to a skeptical audience, shifting the campaign as the movie rolled out. ``Seven'' is riding a wave of positive word-of-mouth, but establishing a beachhead to launch that buzz was difficult.
Although stars Pitt (``Legends of the Fall,'' ``A River Runs Through It'') and Morgan Freeman (``Driving Miss Daisy,'' ``The Shawshank Redemption'') are proven draws, ``Seven'' director David Fincher was coming off the 1992 disaster ``Alien 3.''
Furthermore, scary and violent crime movies tend to have limited appeal: For every ``Silence of the Lambs'' hit, there are three ``Virtuosity,'' ``Hideaway'' and ``The Mangler'' bombs. Reviews of ``Seven'' were generally devastating, with Time, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times all delivering pans. Smaller publications were hardly more supportive: ``A film only a sadist could love,'' was the Richmond Times-Dispatch's verdict.
So-called genre films - the ``Friday the 13th'' series and their ilk - typically debut strongly, and then collapse. New Line thus could hawk ``Seven'' as a scare fest, knowing the returns would be short-lived. Yet, selling the movie based on Pitt was equally risky.
``Our concern was the typical Brad Pitt audience was teen girls, and we didn't think this was a teen girl movie,'' says Mitch Goldman, New Line's president of marketing and distribution. New Line couldn't hype the handsome Pitt to young men, either, studio surveys suggested.
``The research showed us that young males didn't want to take a date to a Brad Pitt movie. They were threatened by him,'' Kopelson says.
So, New Line first sold the film itself, touting the movie's unique concept of a serial killer whose victims are paragons of not virtue but the seven deadly sins - gluttony, pride, wrath, envy, greed, sloth and lust.
The initial surge of TV, newspaper and radio ads and the movie's trailer played up the morbid story line. Instead of plugging it as a hide-under-your-seat genre film, New Line made ``Seven'' look sophisticated, edgy.
The company did not shy away from the mayhem. People who turned out for the opening weekend, consequently, were not surprised when mutilated corpses started piling up.
``Brad and Morgan have tremendous fan bases - but they are also fans who do not seek out rough psychological thrillers,'' says Chris Pula, New Line's president of theatrical marketing. ``If you had sold this as `Shawshank 2' or `Legends of the Fall 2' you could have got a lot of people opening weekend, but you would have severely compromised the word-of-mouth.''
In its debut weekend, ``Seven'' made $13.9 million, easily defeating the NC-17 rated ``Showgirls,'' which earned $8.1 million. ``Seven'' has been in first place since.
As moviegoers began talking up ``Seven,'' the ad campaign switched subtlely, targeting Pitt's female fans. Co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, the film's only major female character, had been featured in early trailers, but more Pitt photos were added to newspaper ads.
Even though negative reviews were mounting, New Line advanced by a week its ``quote'' advertisements, giving moviegoers the misleading impression that ``Seven'' was critically acclaimed.
``Seven'' obviously benefited, too, from its competitors' shortcomings. The audience clearly said ``Showgirls'' was unworthy, and also rejected major stars Moore (``The Scarlet Letter'') and Washington (``Devil in a Blue Dress'') in period films. Moviegoers wanted a modern-day thriller - and ``Seven'' was in the right place at the right time. (Politicians keep saying America is tired of violence, yet ``Seven,'' arguably the most violent movie in theaters, is the most popular.)
What is most surprising about the success of ``Seven'' is its audience profile: More than half the patrons are women. When CinemaScore queried several hundred ``Seven'' viewers, it found 54 percent were female.
``That's very high for the genre,'' says CinemaScore's Ed Mintz. ``It should be about 42 percent. The 54 percent? That's attributable to Brad Pitt.''
It is now the Pitt fans - the very ones New Line initially avoided - who are pushing ``Seven'' toward $100 million.
``But women aren't just coming to see Brad Pitt in the fifth week,'' Kopelson says. ``It's way beyond Brad now.''
by CNB