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Wednesday
11Nov2009

Weinsteins and ABC Team Up for 'Nine' Media Blitz

DateWednesday, November 11, 2009 at 7:14AM
I don't know if it's water under a considerable bridge or what, but Harvey Weinstein and Disney are working together again. You'll remember that Harvey and Bob split from Disney several years ago, leaving Miramax behind and forming the company that bears their name. The final straw was Disney pulling its support for Fahrenheit 9/11, reportedly amid pressure from then-Florida governor Jeb Bush. Of course, Disney has some Florida connections, and that's how that story goes.

Variety says The Weinstein Company and Disney/ABC Unlimited have agreed to a massive cross-platform marketing campaign for Nine, Weinstein's best chance to win Best Picture in the company's brief history. Oddly enough, Harvey and Bob last won Best Picture with another musical, Chicago. But rather than rely solely on ads in the trade publications and the usual Academy Awards channels the brothers have become infamous for exploiting over the years, Nine is taking an aggressive populist approach.

You can catch the first tie-in on November 17th during Dancing With the Stars, which will carry a "Be Italian" theme, inspired by one of the songs in the musical. On the 22nd, a new Nine trailer will run simultaneously across seemingly every non-ESPN property owned by ABC. And it will run during the American Music Awards that same night.

That's a lot of Nine...but wait, there's more: Throughout December, the film will be written into All My Children, One Life to Life, and General Hospital. Beyond that, "The customized campaign also includes a microsite on ABC.com devoted to the release of the movie, including a sweepstakes, streaming of the movie trailer and a half-hour "Making of Nine" special.

This is an incredibly shrewd move by The Weinstein Company, because if you look at the Oscar landscape, it's anyone's game, if you're one of five or six movies. But in the public marketplace, Nine might have the most potential long-term sizzle at the box office because of the big cast and the lack of films competition for this target audience. So these movies will piggyback nicely - adding very little duplication - with whatever the Weinsteins will do to push Nine through the usual industry channels.

In their heyday, the Weinstein brothers were a step ahead of the major studio competition this time of year. They took risks on projects and got behind them like no one else in the business, in large part because they had to. And once again, they may have just outsmarted everyone else.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

What I wouldn't give too see Daniel Day-Lewis forced to serve as a guest judge/host on a reality show.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterD

Nine FTW!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAlpal

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