So we have spent hours on Google asking this question, and we lobbed it to some of our people in the film industry. Maybe we have all the wrong friends, but they don’t seem to have any answer that doesn’t involve either stuttering or ambiguity.
The question is simple o: Why does it take so long after a major movie premiere before the movie opens in the cinemas?
It doesn’t make sense when you think of a basic marketing principle: make sure a product is available before you start marketing it. And, in Nigeria these days, a major premiere is the biggest form of marketing.
Now, one answer we got: box office opens Fridays, and most movies premieres at the weekend, so they have to wait till the next week.
Which leads us to the next question: Who died and declared that premieres cannot be on Thursday, so the movie opens on Fridays?
Then someone decides she can be Captain Obvious and tells us: well what damage has been done to anyone? To which, we answer…. you have a point, to be honest. We started hearing of The Wedding Party before Jesus was born, and all it led to was greatness. By the time it came, we were bursting from expectation and we poured it all in the cinemas.
So, our most anticipated film, Banana Island Ghost (BIG), is why this question hit us. Because we had to wait TWO WEEKS from premiere before we go see it today. And we are wondering: beht why? But considering the landmark of The Wedding Party, then we make a safe bet that BIG will be just as successful, and the delayed expectation will make more sense.
Call it the business principle of perceived market value.
That’s all well and good though, until you get to movies that don’t have even a tenth of the buzz aforementioned.
We hear Hakkunde is an excellent film. But we worry about films like that when they follow the same formula of delayed-premieres. Do they get the same buzz effect?
Something to ponder guys. If something is a convention, always ask first how and why it works for you. First!
