The Lessons of Super 8

The film Super 8 may not necessarily be everyone's cup of tea--I know I had my issues with it (as articulated a few posts back with my review)--but its apparent success at the box-office means it has a thing or two to teach people about how to make a hit movie. It may not have pulled in Avatar numbers, and at least one box-office analyst has described it as a failure given the aggressive marketing campaign, but J.J. Abram's love letter to Spielberg and his coming-of-age movies in the 1980s, when all is said and done, will be remembered as one of the true financial successes of the 2011 U.S. summer movie season. It has a few lessons to teach about selling a non-franchise film to today's summer audiences, in particular the coveted 18 to 35 demographic:

1. Familiarity is Essential - people embraced Avatar because, like it or not, James Cameron was the biggest upfront attraction, and people wanted to see what he could do twelve years after Titanic. Peter Jackson's name on District 9 made sure that Neil Blomkamp's film got noticed; it could have just as easily have been an obscure art-house affair or, even worse, been consigned to direct-to-DVD oblivion. People went to see Super 8 because of Steven Spielberg, whose name featured prominently on the marketing materials and because the film was pushed as an homage to his earlier work. These days, and in this economy, people want to see names they know.

2. Starpower NOT Essential - This one's a no-brainer and is a lesson already borne in mind by most people launching franchises; don't waste money on "name" actors. Megawatt movie stars like Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise all have one thing in common: none of them have headlined 300+ million blockbusters, and those angling to launch franchises are all aware of this. It's a fact made even more dramatic in movies like Super 8 where, apart from having no big name actors, there is no merchandising angle to be found anywhere.

3. Style Must Be Accompanied by Substance - Now, this maxim may be easily debunked by referring to the runaway popularity of things like the Transformers movies, but at the end of the day it's still important to make a good movie, especially when the filmmaker doesn't have the strength of a popular toy line or comic-book character to lean on. I may have had my issues with Super 8 but I certainly respect J.J. Abrams' craftsmanship in creating this film.

The rules sound simple, but it's amazing how many filmmakers still manage to stumble on the last part, what with all of the scripts written by committee and the marketing execs dictating what goes into a movie.

Anyway, it's still gratifying to know that in a time when franchises generally rule the box-office there are still movies that can buck the trend like Avatar, District 9 and Super 8.