American Blockbuster #2

The Lego Movie (2014)

Cost - $60 million

Cast - Chris Pratt

          Will Ferell

          Elizabeth Banks

          Will Arnett

          Nick Offerman

          Alison Brie

          Charlie Day

          Liam Neeson

          Morgan Freeman

          Channing Tatum

(All cast are top billed cast/voice actors and actresses) 

Director - Phil Lord

                 Christopher Miller

Genre - Animated-Adventure-Comedy

Box Office - $457,506,875

Production Company - Warner Bros./Lego System

Certificate - PG

Release Date - February 14th 2014 (UK) February 7th 2014 (US)

Does the cast have audience appeal?
 The cast of the movie is massive, containing mainly A list Hollywood stars like Ferell and Freeman who all widely have universal appeal. This cast provided the voices for the characters and helped the film come to life through the animation of the iconic Lego company. The large cast proved beneficial to the films success although films with all star casts generally do poorly at the box office like; 'Movie 43' or 'New Years Eve'.

Was this film popular?
 The film was incredibly popular with it's audiences, including audiences that weren't specifically targeted by the film including the teen/adult market. It has been considered to be one of the greatest animation films and delivers easily understandable comedic humour with an all star cast. The film commercially did well and went onto spawning the sequel that is scheduled for release in the near future. As expected, the concept of the film attracted audiences as opposed to the cast, as there had never been a Lego film created for the cinema - it has also gone onto inspiring more toy related films, such as the pre-production 'Barbie' movie. 

What makes this film an American Blockbuster?
 This film is considered to be an American Blockbuster due to the sheer scale of production and high budget ($60 million), the film was shown internationally and grossed over $451 million in profits. The production company that commissioned the distribution of the movie was Warner Bros. which is an established and well known production company. The movie was released on Valentines Day in the UK, which was a week before the half term holidays therefore they targeted parents that would take their children to the cinema during half term in order to keep them occupied. 

How was it marketed? 
 Lego released a range of mini figures before the films release, they also allowed fans to create a Lego model of themselves which had the possibility of being featured in the movies trailer. Posters of the characters were given to customers that bought from the Lego website, Barnes & Noble threw themed events for the films promotion. Fast food giant McDonalds released a line of holographic cups in 'Happy Meals' to target the younger demographic. A video game was eventually created during the release of the film which allowed players to play a story loosely based on the plot of 'The Lego Movie'.

Reviews
 The critics like the audience loved the film, it received a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 8.1 rating on IMDB, the film performed well commercially and with the critics which labelled it as a 'beautiful animation' - The majority of critics enjoyed the movie. 

US Independent Film #2

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Cost - $7.5 million

Cast - Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom Hansen) - Top Billed

          Zooey Deschanel (Summer Finn) - Top Billed

          Geoffrey Arend (Mckenzie)

          Chloe Grace Moretz (Rachel Hansen)

          Richard McGonagle (Narrator) 

Director - Marc Webb

Genre - Comedy-Drama

Box Office - $60,722,734

Production Company - Fox Searchlight Pictures

Certificate - 12A

Release Date - September 2nd 2009 (UK) August 7th 2009 (US)

Does the cast have an audience appeal?

 There is a sense of audience appeal from both of the main cast as they had both starred in a range of films. The audience grew to love the quirky acting styles of Zooey Deschanel who had previously starred in films like 'Elf' and 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', therefore having a slight name for herself but not being an A list Hollywood actress. Joseph Gordon-Levitt had the same status as Deschanel as he was not a major Hollywood star but still had a range of films that he'd starred in, such as 'Mysterious Skin' and '10 Things I Hate About You'. The film arguably put more of a name out for the two actors who went on to starring in more known films/television series like 'The Dark Knight Rises (Gordon-Levitt) and television show 'New Girl' for Deschanel. 

Was this film popular?

 Despite being an independent film, this film reached a mass audience and was popular with audiences and critics alike. It went onto making $60,722,734 which was a $53+ million profit, the film also became a cult classic and gained a huge fan-base. The nonlinear narrative again proved popular as it didn't follow the linear typically romantic comedy, but instead chose its own path of showing the relationship between Summer and Tom. It's known as a 'sleeper hit' as it didn't have a massively successful opening or masses of promotion, but became successful over a long period of time and is now a hit. 

What makes this film independent?

 The film was an independent film due to it being filmed independently as opposed to being filmed by a major film studio, the budget was low ($7.5 million) and went onto becoming an international success. The film was designed to be more artistic as opposed to being made for profit like most Hollywood films, the artistic vision seen throughout with sets and timeframes being drawn/animations. Fox Searchlight Pictures deals with distributing independent films, therefore this being a branch from Fox Entertainment Group which distributes more mainstream movies. The film was shown at Sundance Film Festival in 2009 of which it received a standing ovation, before being nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Actor. 

How was it marketed?

 Zooey Deschanel is apart of the duo She & Him and recorded songs for the soundtrack, and both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel starred in the music video for 'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here' which was recorded by She & Him. Both lead roles starred in the debut episode of Microsoft Zune and Mean Magazines 'Cinemash' where they mashed together the characters of Sid & Nancy with the (500) Days of Summer storyline. 

Reviews

 The movie received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, it went onto winning awards from major film festivals such as Hollywood Film Festival award, Satellite Award and was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards. It was an international success and the film was placed in several "top ten films" lists as well as eventually being nominated for Golden Globe awards. The critics and audiences that viewed the movie at the festivals helped the film be widely distributed. 

British Film #2

Gravity (2013)

Cost - $100 million 

Cast - Sandra Bullock (Dr Ryan Stone) - Top Billed

          George Clooney (Lieutenant Matt Kowalski) - Top Billed 

          Ed Harris (Mission Control)

          Orto Ignatiuessen (Aningaaq) 

        Phaldut Sharma (Shariff Dasari)
         Amy Warren (Captain of Explorer)
         Basher Salvage (Captain of International Space Station) 
Director - Alfonso Cuaron
Genre - Science fiction thriller
Box Office - $716,392,705
Production Company - Warner Bros./Regency Enterprises
Certificate - 12A
Release Date - November 8th 2013 (UK) October 4th 2013 (US)

Does the cast have audience appeal?
 The film has a sense of audience appeal due to having A list stars like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as the main characters. Sandra Bullock typically is known for acting in romantic comedies like '2 Weeks Notice' or comedies like 'The Heat' therefore the attraction to see Bullock in a more serious role may be a big attraction - she has been complemented on her work on more serious films like 'The Blind Side'. George Clooney being a star in the film again draws in an audience for this film as he has a huge fan-base and people are still willing to see a Clooney movie, this film was incredibly successful proving that star power still exists to an extent, although the films main attraction was the stunning visual effects.

Was this film popular?
 The film was incredibly popular with its audiences globally as the film captured the absence of space with the fear of being alone within 91 minutes, the film had stunning visual effects which were used in 80 minutes of the 91 minutes. The movie made over $600+ million profit worldwide and received 7 Oscar wins, making it one of the most successful films of 2013. 

What made this film British?
The film was produced by British film producer David Heymen who has been known for producing the Harry Potter films, the film was shot at Shipperton Studios using an entirely British crew of technicians and artists who created the visual effects - they were overseen by British company Framestore. The movie was nominated for 11 BAFTA's and won the Outstanding British Film award. 

How was it marketed?
 The film relied heavily on 3D which interestingly has been criticised in the past for being 'dead', therefore promoting the 3D version as opposed to the 2D version could have been a gamble. As the movie took the 3D route, it made 3D a selling point for the movie by putting 'Must see in 3D' on their adverts, which combined with the visual effects paid off as the film was a box office success. They took the standard route by using billboard/television advertisements, but also relied on word of mouth in order to get people to go see the movie. The film was marketed as a 'sensory experience' as opposed to just a popcorn movie. 

Reviews 
The movie received incredibly positive reviews by critics and audiences alike, it received 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.1 on IMDB. Critics often commented on the stunning visual effects and found the film to be an amazing visual experience, which captured the emptiness of space and fear of the unknown.