Keeping a film’s identity as a musical secret is key for box office success – here’s why
However, many cinema-goers would have been surprised to find these were musicals at all, considering the lack of any such suggestion in their marketing.
- However, many cinema-goers would have been surprised to find these were musicals at all, considering the lack of any such suggestion in their marketing.
- Their slogans read “discover how Willy became Wonka”, “a bold new take on a beloved classic” and “not your mother’s Mean Girls”.
- Each indicates originality and change without specifying that the change in question is musical.
Musicals at the box office
- YouTube documentary channel Wait in the Wings has highlighted the stark contrast in box office figures between musical films that market themselves as “musicals” and those that don’t.
- The popularity of “secret musicals” suggests audiences do enjoy musicals, but perhaps reluctantly.
- While musical theatre has long been stereotyped as predominately enjoyed by women and gay men, Hollywood remains largely male dominated.
- However, I believe another reason lies in the “musical” label and its tendency to overpower and absorb a work’s identity.
The power of the ‘musical label’
- Perhaps this has the potential to cause lethargy for audiences, and undesirable limitations for directors who might want their work to encompass other genres.
- Mean Girls (2004) and Mean Girls the Broadway musical (2017) are two distinctly different works.
- Perhaps we must think back to The Greatest Showman (2017) and its disappointing opening weekend.
- The songs were a hit, providing great slow-burn advertising for the film, which grew in popularity with time.
- Perhaps the “secret musical” is not a dig at the genre, but a helping hand – a provocative and necessary “bold new take”.
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Jodie Passey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.