Wednesday, 8 February 2017

British and Hollywood Case Studies: Distribution


DISTRIBUTION
Hollywood Film: Dawn of the Dead
Brit Film: Shaun of the Dead
Distribution company USA/UK
Universal Pictures (American)
Universal Pictures (American)
Marketing budget
$10 million
$1-2 million
Test screening information

Edgar Wright, writer and director of Shaun of the Dead, said in an interview that in test screenings done before the film's special effects were completed, audiences remarked that the ending was "a bit abrupt" and "lame". After being given a low budget and two days to finish shooting, the filmmakers added a "15 second" ending, which follow up press screening audiences liked, leading to one reviewer changing his earlier bad review, giving "an extra star.
Release pattern
  USA: 10 March 2004 (premiere)
  Canada: 19 March 2004
  Germany: 19 March 2004 (Berlin Nacht der 1000 Schreie)
  USA: 19 March 2004
  Germany: 20 March 2004 (Hamburg Nacht der 1000 Schreie)
  UK: 26 March 2004
  Ireland: 26 March 2004
  Mexico: 31 March 2004
  Germany: 2 April 2004 (Frankfurt Nacht der 1000 Schreie)
  Iceland:2 April 2004
  Thailand: 9 April 2004
  Turkey: 9 April 2004
  Netherlands: 14 April 2004 (Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival)
  Germany: 15 April 2004
  Hong Kong: 15 April 2004
  Russia: 15 April 2004
  Austria: 16 April 2004
  Argentina: 22 April 2004
  Portugal: 22 April 2004
  Singapore: 22 April 2004
  Brazil: 23 April 2004
  Spain: 23 April 2004
  Italy: 23 April 2004
  Taiwan: 23 April 2004
  Croatia: 29 April 2004 (Zagreb)
  Netherlands: 29 April 2004
  United Arab Emirates: 5 May 2004
  South Korea: 14 May 2004
  France: 15 May 2004 (Cannes Film Festival)
  Japan: 15 May 2004
  Singapore: 27 May 2004 (uncut version)
  Egypt: 2 June 2004
  Panama: 4 June 2004
  Finland: 5 June 2004 (Night Visions Film Festival)
  Philippines: 9 June 2004 (Manila)
  Australia: 10 June 2004
  Switzerland: 10 June 2004 (German speaking region)
  Bulgaria: 11 June 2004
  Poland: 11 June 2004
  Czech Republic: 17 June 2004
  Slovakia: 17 June 2004
  Greece: 18 June 2004
  Uruguay: 18 June 2004
  Norway: 25 June 2004
  Sweden: 25 June 2004
  Belgium: 30 June 2004
  Bahrain: 30 June 2004
  Switzerland: 30 June 2004 (French speaking region)
  Denmark: 30 June 2004
  France: 30 June 2004
  Philippines: 30 June 2004 (Davao)
  Israel: 1 July 2004
  Chile: 8 July 2004
  Croatia: 8 July 2004
  Hungary: 15 July 2004
  Finland: 30 July 2004
  USA: 23 October 2004 (Screamfest Film Festival)
     UK: 29 March 2004 (London premiere)
     UK: 9 April 2004
     Ireland: 9 April 2004
     Iceland: 30 July 2004
     Belgium: 11 August 2004
     Netherlands: 12 August 2004
     Norway: 3 September 2004
     USA: 24 September 2004
     Australia: 7 October 2004
     United Arab Emirates: 13 October 2004
     Spain: 29 October 2004
     Poland: 29 October 2004
     Czech Republic: 2 November 2004
     Hungary: 16 November 2004 (DVD premiere)
     Argentina: 17 November 2004 (video premiere)
     Bahrain: 24 November 2004
     Finland: 15 December 2004 (DVD premiere)
     Sweden: 15 December 2004 (DVD premiere)
     Japan: 22 December 2004 (DVD premiere)
     Germany: 30 December 2004
     France: 27 July 2005
     Italy: 31 August 2005 (DVD premiere)
     Sweden: 25 September 2010 (Lund Fantastisk Film Festival)
     Canada: 5 February 2012 (Digital Film Festival)
     Spain: 4 January 2013 (Madrid re-release)
     Sweden: 9 October 2013 (limited re-release)
     Finland: 2 November 2013 (Night Visions Film Festival)

Examples of marketing

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UIP planned a campaign across a diverse selection of media, including posters, press and ambient spots in pubs. Media was selected with the young male focus in mind - radio stations Xfm, Kerrang!, Virgin and talkSPORT, as well as press ads in Zoo Weekly, Nuts, Bizarre and NME. Viral emails launched two days after the premiere. This coincided with online ads on sites including thesun.co.uk and FHM.com.
Examples of other media it is available on

The film was released on DVD shortly after its theatrical run in the US, with a DVD release around December 2004 in the US. Features included several audio commentaries, EPK featurettes about the film's production, pre-production video diaries and concept videos, photo galleries, bloopers, and more. The film also saw release on the HD DVD format in July 2007, with a Blu-ray Disc release following in September 2009.
Any other info. E.g. difficulty getting a distributor?

Was originally scheduled to be released the same week as Dawn of the Dead, so Shaun of the Dead got pushed back two weeks.

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