El Topo Case Analysis

Although the movie El Topo is widely viewed as a cinema classic within the film industry and by movie critics it still lacks any name recognition on the mainstream, and has almost zero appeal to the modern mainstream audiences. However, despite the challenges of a rerelease of El Topo it still has the potential to make a profit in its rerelease. Due to the popularity of many of its advocates most notable of which is John Lennon, and its strong cult following are the film possesses a very vocal fan base. In order to gain the most traction with El Topo’s rerelease both its lack of name recognition in the mainstream and its critical acclaim and vocal fan base should be taken full advantage of. Used together they will generate more profit from this film in the next two years than it has produced in the last forty-five years combined. This marketing campaign will function like a snowball rolling down a mountain side. At the beginning it is small, but the longer it rolls the larger it will become. In order to achieve this effect marketing should be done gradually, and in stages that will both promote revenue gradually while also driving public interest in the possibility of a re-release. This film at first will be targeted towards students in art heavy cities such as Charleston, Austin, Atlanta, and New York. These types of viewers are more likely to see this film in a positive light, and help promote it through social media platforms such as reddit and 9gag. These forms of social media are at the core of this strategy, and offer the biggest chance of a successful rerelease. The movie jaws experienced a major surge in interest this past summer following a post on reddit about a viewing of it on a beach (unknown; Mazz). Following that event, the reddit post, and its anniversary theatrical release the movie jaws had enjoyed nearly three months of consumer interest (Google).Using a similar strategy with the rerelease of El Topo the profits that could be obtained from this film could reach as high as eight figures. However, several obstacles will stand in the way of this campaigns success most notable of which is its director Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky’s poor public relations and often crude remarks made towards other film makers makes him a considerable threat standing in the way of this film’s success: for example in one instance Jodorowsky called an interviewer “[I] DO NOT HAVE VIEWS ON THE FAILURE OF PEERS. YOU ARE A POISONOUS SNAK” (Hulin). However, Jodorowsky could also be an asset if encouraged to help promote El Topo. In order to gain Jodorowsky involvement in the success of this rerelease the studio should offer a deal that would allow a portion of the profits to fund his next film. Unfortunately the Jodorowsky problem can only be fixed by putting money on table to produce his next film. If money were offered to him directly Jodorowsky would likely take offense, and lash out publicly thus damaging chances of El Topo’s success. Another obstacle is the mainstream audience and this films lack of appeal toward it. …show more content…
This film should be released in small selective viewings at the start so as to minimize the chances of poor reviews circulating the web by mainstream viewers. The mainstream audience needs to be tricked into viewing this movie. Once they get a hold of it, and start pumping out the reviews the word will be out, and no one will want to see the film. Which is why this marketing campaign and the rerelease of this film must be done in stages. While the Jodorowsky issue could be ignored the lack of mainstream appeal in El Topo cannot be. Although advertising and merchandising could help with increasing consumer interest in the movie it is too expensive to incorporate into this budget. Television and print advertisements are too expensive to fit into the budget of a re-release, and with the strategy outlined television and print advertisements, as well as merchandising could create a problem. As stated previously we do not want to peak the mainstream consumer interest until the very last moment. Otherwise word will get out about the movies shortcomings, and any chance of making a profit from this rerelease will be lost.