A new, unlikely term has been added to the lexicon of stealth Hollywood marketing stunts — a pesky asterisk.
On Monday, after weeks plotting and planning, Disneys vast marketing machine at last answered the question of why Marvel Studios‘ early summer tentpole is titled Thunderbolts* instead of just Thunderbolts. It turns out the asterisk alludes to a secondary title or tag,*The New Avengers.
But don’t be confused — Disney and Marvel aren’t officially changing the title to Thunderbolts: The New Avengers. Rather, using *The New Avengers is a way to drum up post-opening interest in the film, which brings together a set of misfit MCU outsiders and lesser-known characters who discover their more heroic side when duped by the villainous CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). In particular, they want to protect newcomer Bob (Lewis Pullman), who suffers from a mental illness that has catastrophic consequences after he’s subjected to cruel experimentation.
The official OG Avengers superhero franchise is Marvel’s crown jewel, so it’s no wonder why Kevin Feige and Disney, which owns the studio, would want to connect the two. But the last thing they want is to create consumer chaos and have people thinking that next year’s Avengers: Doomsday is Thunderbolts 2 or, conversely, that the latter is part of the official Avengers series.
At the same time, it’s true that several actors from Thunderbolts* are in Doomsday, including Pugh, Pullman, Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian) and Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost). And there’s no saying beyond that what the future brings.
Disney marketing chief Asad Ayaz and his team thought long and hard about the timing of the *The New Avengers reveal, and ultimately decided to wait until the Monday after the pic’s opening so as to avoid spoilers as much as possible. In early screenings, they asked fanboys to go along with the ruse and not spoil for others.
The ensemble cast had plenty of fun being in on the gag and participated in a video revealing the payoff title that dropped mid-morning on Monday. Digital materials with the reveal are being dispatched to some theaters, highlighted on the film’s social handles and placed on outdoor billboard in select markets, including the much-sought after billboard known as the Sunset Wall high above West Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard close to Beverly Hills.
A flurry of marketing activities were scheduled for filmmaker Jake Schreier‘s project throughout the day, including a Sunset Wall billboard before-and-after reveal and a video of a new Wheaties popcorn box featuring *New Avengers instead of Thunderbolts* (the cereal giant is a promotional partner on the film). There will also be collectible one-sheet giveaways in certain cinemas.
There are also a number of theater circuits taking part in the marketing switch in the coming days. Imax, Dolby Cinema and other premium-large format screens will share revised displays, while there will be retitled one-sheets in more than 600 theaters. There will be also be updated digital standees in more than 40 theaters, including the digital marquee at the Regal E-Walk in New York City and the Disney-owned El Capitan in Hollywood.
And that’s just in the U.S. Overseas, there will be a number of promotions, including select graffiti stunts highlighting the new unofficial name.
Over the May 2-3 weekend, Thunderbolts* opened to $74.5 million from 4,330 theaters, a solid but not rip-roaring start (Sunday’s estimate was $76 million), according to weekend actuals. While Marvel and Disney would no doubt have liked north of $80 million, the biggest factor in its fate will be how the $180 million movie legs out.
On Monday, Stan himself got his hands dirty, putting up a new poster on a bus stop featuring his Winter Soldier character and the new title.
