‘Prometheus’ (2012) – Case study

“Big things have small beginnings.”

Prometheus, directed by Ridley Scott and released on 1st June 2012, is a sci-fi film that acts as a prequel to the Scott’s famous sci-fi classic Alien, released in 1979.  The film is set in the year 2093, and follows a team of explorers led by two scientists on an expedition to a planet in the furthest and darkest part of the universe in an attempt to discover mankind’s origins on Earth.  However, what they find is far more terrifying than they could ever have imagined, and when they realise they are not alone, their voyage of discovery turns into a desperate fight for survival.

Production budget: $130,000,000

Genres: Adventure/Mystery/Sci-Fi

Media Ownership

Director: Ridley Scott

Producers: David Giler & Walter Hill

Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Michael Ellenberg & Mark Huffam

Production companies:

• 20th Century Fox
• Dune Entertainment
• Scott Free Productions
• Brandywine Productions

Distribution company: 20th Century Fox

RSA
RSA was a company that promoted Prometheus, and with the help of the creative team Ignited, they used innovative guerrilla marketing strategies to do this, resulting in three billion media impressions worldwide.  Their marketing campaign, which they considered ground-breaking, won multiple awards: it won three Cannes Lions, two D&AD Pencils, and both Gold and Silver BTAA Arrows.  The viral videos they created to market Prometheus were very successful, with Luke Scott winning silver for the TED Conference video, and Johnny Hardstaff winning gold for the Happy Birthday David clip.

Box Office

Total Lifetime Grosses – 

Domestic:  $126,477,084     +    Foreign:  $276,877,385

=   Worldwide:   $403,354,469

Opening weekend:  $51,050,101

There was some debate between the director and distributor over the film’s budget; Ridley Scott wanted $250 million dollars to make the film.  Fox agreed to give him the budget he wanted if he dropped the rating from R to PG.  In the end, with script re-writes and compromises from Fox, a budget of between $100 million and $150 million ($130 million) was decided.

Marketing

When it came to marketing Prometheus, Ridley Scott and Fox were very successful.  The marketing and promotional campaign for the film was prominent and persistent, as well as highly innovative.  Of course various different trailers were released as part of the marketing strategy, differing in length and content; there was a short and ambiguous teaser trailer, and a much longer one with more information about the film’s plot.  Various different movie posters were also released, as per usual with films, as well as images, clips, set reports and ‘making of’s’ videos.  The innovative side of the campaign came in the form of several viral videos released by Fox.

The first example of these viral videos was a fictional TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talk given by Guy Pierce playing the character Peter Weyland, head of the fictional Weyland Industries (the company running the Prometheus expedition  in 2093 in the film) in 2023.  This video was first shown at a real TED conference in February 2012, and the TED organisers helped to make this video look like how they imagined a TED talk from the future would look.  The clip introduces the viewer to the Weyland Cooperation, a company that plays a large part in the film, namely what the company produces and why it exists.

After this Fox released a second viral video as a precursor to Prometheus, which was called Happy Birthday David, and it is about an extremely realistic humanoid robot with artificial intelligence called David, played by Michael Fassbender.  David talks about how he understands human emotions but cannot feel them, about how he thinks about whatever he wants, and how he is grateful for his creation.  It is designed to look like a corporate video, created by the Weyland Cooperation, for a new product, which is a new design of robot.  It can be assumed that David is the convincingly human robotic system that Weyland talks about at the end of the TED talk clip.  The video is not only entertaining, but it also introduces the viewer to one of the main characters in Prometheus.  It also gives an idea about the fictional company Weyland Industries, which features heavily in the film, just as the TED talk does.

A third viral video was then released, titled Quiet Eye, which appears to be a video sent to Peter Weyland by Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, one of the main characters in Prometheus.  It introduces her as a character and her motives and desires, suggesting at the premise of the movie.

The fourth video, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, is exceptionally ambiguous and much shorter than the other four, simply showing Guy Pierce as Peter Weyland talking to himself, possibly preparing to go on stage for the TED talk.

The fifth video, which has no name, appears to be a test video, featuring Idris Elba as the character Janek, although the only name he gives in this video as he is being asked questions by an unseen interviewer is ‘Captain’.  Elba seems to be testing a space suit of some kind, perhaps one that will be used on the Prometheus expedition.

However innovative this marketing strategy and technique was, it wasn’t pleasing to some.  Many fans stated online and on social media after the release of Prometheus that their enjoyment of it was diminished due to the high level of promotional material the preceded the films release, particularly articles that discussed the plot in detail.

Part of RSA’s marketing strategy was allowing the general public to sign up and receive access to exclusive content.  For example, at WonderCon in March 2012, an annual comic book, sci-fi and entertainment convention, attendees were given a futuristic Weyland Industries business card.  This card contained a phone number for the company which, when called, texted the caller a video of the unboxing of the “humanoid robotic system” mentioned by Peter Weyland (Guy Pierce) in the viral TED Conference video.

RSA also created various challenges that were available for the public online, namely on the Project Prometheus Training Centre, which allowed participants to take part in activities, which tested their physical and mental abilities, allowing them to discover their fitness and ability to join the space crew of the ship Prometheus on its expedition.  This was available on the website projectprometheus.com, along with content such as the viral videos.  A game, called Project Genesis, was available online on weylandindustries.com, a website for the fictional company created especially for the purposes of this film, in which players , as RSA said, “could assist in finding artifacts of ancient Earth cultures throughout outer space”.

RSA also launched a guerrilla marketing campaign on LinkedIn, using people’s affiliated email addresses to reach out with offers of fictional prospective jobs at Project Prometheus.

New Technology

The marketing strategy created by RSA for Prometheus involved lots of new technology.  It relied heavily on social media for the distribution and viewing of the viral videos and trailers.

The viral videos and other marketing aspects of the film such as games and exclusive content were available online on websites such as projectprometheus.com and weylandindustries.com.

Prometheus was released on DVD and Blu-Ray several months after the film’s theatrical release, as well as various VOD providers such as iTunes and Amazon.

Digital Distribution

Prometheus premiered in the UK on 31st May 2012 in Leicester Square in London at the Empire Cinema.  It was then released in the UK the next day on 1st June and then in the USA on 8th June.  It was released at the same time in IMAX theatres and in 3D; it was also encoded for D-Box motion seats that provide physical feedback to the audience during the film.

It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray several months after the film’s theatrical release, as well as various VOD providers such as iTunes and Amazon.