This spot for the Activision video game X Men Origins: Wolverine, timed to the recent release of the movie, represents a departure from the game advertising norm. There is no game footage in the commercial. Nor is there even a glimpse of the Wolverine character himself.
Rather the viewpoint depicted is that of a caged creature. At first the camera looks out through a cage and surveys the surrounding prison grounds, which are dotted with numerous guard towers, each with armed guards at the ready to thwart an escape.
Next from the creature’s perspective, it uses brute force to break out of its cage to freedom. Guards and soldiers descend upon us as we have the POV of the hunted creature. Tear gas and other ammo is fired at us but we persevere. We knock one soldier off a perch onto the hood of a vehicle below.
A super appears that simply reads “It’s Out.” An end tag announces that the X Men Origins: Wolverine game is now available.
Rupert Sanders of bicoastal/international MJZ directed “Captivity” for New York agency Toy.
The Toy coterie of talent included chief creative officer/copywriter Ari Merkin, art director Gavin Lester and producer Sherri Levy.
Sanders’ support team at MJZ included exec producer Eric Stern and producer Laurie Boccaccio. Linus Sandgren was the DP.
Kirk Baxter of Rock Paper Scissors, Santa Monica, was the editor.
“One of Them Days” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” In Tight Race For Top Spot In Weekend Box Office
The Keke Palmer buddy comedy "One of Them Days" opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney's "Mufasa: The Lion King" by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, "Mufasa" will have the edge, however.
"One of Them Days" cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it's the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since "Girls Trip" came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.
"For an individual film like 'One of Them Days' this was a great weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters."
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror "Wolf Man," which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.
Writer-director Leigh Whannell's monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter... Read More