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Marketing a drama about one of the darkest days in the nation's history presents a huge challenge for Paramount Pictures.
Perhaps predictably, the studio is marketing 'World Trade Center' as a story of heroism rather than a depiction of a terrorist event.
But test screenings of the film, which opens nationwide Aug. 9, persuaded Paramount Pictures to tailor its $35 million marketing campaign to two incongruous demographics -- teens and conservatives.
"Teens and the Christian right tend to never overlap in their moviegoing tastes," says Newsweek senior writer Devin Gordon. "They all liked 'Napoleon Dynamite' -– but that's about it. And so having a crossover for 'World Trade Center' is kind of interesting. (Teens are) an audience they see opportunities with, but they will have an uphill battle to get the teens to go out."
Screenings revealed the film's resonance with teens who experienced the attacks five years ago as kids.
As a result, Paramount marketers changed the film's marketing tagline to "Every generation has a defining moment ... this was ours."
MTV, Paramount's sister company, is airing a 30-minute "town hall" special in which teens, the filmmakers and a 9/11 survivor discuss events depicted by the movie.
Video: Paramount shifts gears for 9/11 film
Oliver Stone, who directed the $63 million film, says it's natural that young people are curious about the attacks that took down New York's iconic towers. "I think there's something to be said for facing fears, confronting it, demythologizing it," says Stone.
To win over conservative moviegoers, Paramount hired the group behind the successful marketing of "The Chronicles of Narnia" to religious audiences. The tactic is curious, considering conservatives' antipathy toward the controversial and combative Oscar-winning director of the violent and antiwar films "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Platoon."
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But Viacom (VIA, news, msgs)-owned Paramount is doing whatever it takes to surpass the disappointing box office results for Universal's "United 93" -– the first Hollywood film to draw its narrative directly from the Sept., 11, 2001, attacks on targets in New York and Washington, D.C. The docudrama took in just $31 million despite its inspirational and emotional treatment of the events aboard a hijacked United Airlines jet.
'World Trade Center' is a crucial film for the studio and represents the first movie to be completed under the auspices of Paramount Chairman Brad Grey and President Gail Berman.
"This is absolutely a big film for them," says Newsweek's Gordon. "When you take over a studio like they have, with their credentials not yet established, both of them new to this work ... people are really watching how their decisions turn out."
It's tough to open a serious drama in the midst of the summer blockbusters. But if 'World Trade Center' succeeds, it will represent a significant comeback for Stone, whose last film, -- "Alexander" –- cost $155 million to make but grossed just $167 million worldwide.
Still, Stone knows more than most in Hollywood about big, generation-defining films.
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