The Movie Marketing Gamemakers have clearly decided that The Hunger Games is bound to be their meal ticket (pun most certainly intended) next year, a fact evidenced by big promotions starting this week with the 100 days countdown to film release March 23. The stunning new poster, with its catchphrase “The World will be watching” is both a reference to the ever-present cameras in Panem, and a bandwagon appeal from moviemakers for viewers to go see the “big” movie “everybody” will be going to see. It should not, then, be astonishing the number of items that have now been rolled out in the hopes that readers will snatch them up for themselves, or that that friends and family will purchase mass quantities of this stuff for all the Hunger Games readers on their lists. Follow me after the jump for some thoughts on the humor and horror of everything from nail polish to water bottles sporting the flaming Mockingjay pin. [Read more…]
Hunger Games Items Just in Time for Giving: MisGuided Merchandising or Brilliant Branding?
Wizarding World coming to the West Coast
After the phenomenal success of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Studios Theme Park in Orlando, Florida, it should come as no surprise that Universal is planning to open a companion section at the park in California. There are also plans underway to expand the Orlando park. Since these plans will not come to fruition for some years, it seems safe to say that, as we’ve predicted here for some time, we’ll be seeing Harry’s world as a permanent part of our culture, much like the elements of Disney World that come from films made long ago (my daughter was fascinated to learn that Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, not to mention the venerable Snow White, are older than Mommy). Unlike the many come-and-go-attractions at Universal, the ones that change with trends and popularity, it seems safe to say that Harry is here to stay. (Hat Tip to James!)
Join us for a live Pundit Podcast!
Tonight, join Elizabeth Baird Hardy and John Granger, along with Dave Kale, as we discuss the new Deathly Hallows part 2 DVD with extra features in a live podcast on Middle Earth Radio!
Come One, Come All (Maybe) to Erin Morgenstern’s Debut novel, The Night Circus
Several months ago, we posted a story about the debut of novelist Erin Morgenstern and her book, The Night Circus, which has been released, and which I have now gotten around to reading. When I wrote the initial article back in the summer, I was concerned about the way the publishing mavens (whom we call Gamemakers for their Capitol-esque approach) were manufacturing Morgenstern into their next cash cow. I was also amazed at all the hoopla surrounding the release of a book by a previously unpublished author, since such shenanigans are usually the norm for highly anticipated later installments of series like those of Rowling, Meyer, Riordan, and Collins. Yet, for her first novel (and it’s a stand-alone, not a series), Morgenstern got the whole bookstore-themes, entertainment, and costumed fans package we’ve come to expect from books 2, 4, or 7, rather than 1. Is the novel a magical must-read or the emperor’s new clothes? Follow me under the striped big top, and we’ll see.
News Flash! Special Call-in Show Tonight to Answer your Questions on the Mythgard Institute!
This just in…
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special broadcast tonight (Sunday, November 27) at 9:30PM EST: The Tolkien Professor!
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