This weekend a showdown initiated by Paramount Pictures, will take place at the cinemas across the country. The reason for this is Paramount’s decision to only screen G.I. Joe, to an exclusive group of (in their eyes) dependable bloggers and other critics, which has created a lot of buzz throughout the net.
I understand that they want to protect their investment, and if I had plowed down over $170 million into something that turned up smelling bad, I too would have protect it, as well.
However, I do not think that I would have gone down the path they chosen, though.
It is ridiculous obvious that they have something to hide, judging by their actions. The movie probably IS sucking old towels and they know about it, hence why they not dare to show it to anyone else, besides people they know will be positive, regardless its performance on the screen.
They were close to get away with it as well.
Early reviews, posted on Rotten Tomatoes, were over 90% positive, nevertheless after all the buzz that is now floating around the net; the movie is down to only 41% positive reviews, right now. That is a heavy drop and a clear receipt from the movie community that they do not tolerate that kind of behavior that Paramount tried to pull.
However, it is too early to say if their shady tactic worked or not. The buzz around the movie, negative or not, may have made people so interested about it that they decide to go out, and form their own opinion.
The danger is if the movie gets a green welcome at the Box Office, then we might start to see more of this from other studios, as well. Maybe next time they do not just only hold private screenings, they might as well start to release promo material, only to a few selected groups of people.
If websites, reviewers and bloggers are writing exclusively positive reviews, regardless the quality of a movie, it might under undermining all bloggers and reviewers, leaving us with no thrust at all from our readers.
Thankfully, the media scene is excessively large these days, for this to happen. Although, I think it is important to speak out and protest, whenever someone is trying to control the opinions. If we become silent bystanders, things can turn ugly, over time.
Nevertheless, when the gun smoke clears, on Sunday, we will now who is still standing and who has fallen.
Photo: Copyright © Paramount Pictures
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