On that day, there was a big mass awareness but you have to put it alongside the fact that it’s actually highlighting a negative review we received, so how much you can actually take from it is very hard to say.”Įither way, the enhanced online presence for the film is unlikely to have hurt, potentially among a younger audience than many might have predicted for a film about infamous 1950s/60s gangsters. “Before it started, we had really amazing advance ticket sales from all the major circuits so we knew the film was hopefully going to do well,” he says. You can never really tell.”Īrguably it led to a positive outcome as the general response praised the ingenious aspect of the use of Lee’s two-star take, but Spearing isn’t too sure how much of an impact, either way, it had on the opening. “It’s interesting to see what people respond to. “The most interesting thing to come out of it was how big a thing like that, which wasn’t even a poster, can become these days and be something people talk about,” recalls Spearing.
On the day before release, Guardian reviewer Benjamin Lee had noticed that his two-star review of the film was ‘hidden’ in a new social card for the film. It was a campaign aimed to be “unmissable”, especially during its opening weekend.įor many though, there was one particular aspect that caught the attention. As well as the ubiquitous image of back-to-back Hardy on the posters, the creative for the campaign also included TV spots that specifically focused on Ron or Reggie and an innovative cascade advert in the Metro that revealed the two Kray twins. “When you get a very unique selling point like that for a movie, it is very hard to resist.”ĭouble the Hardy meant double the opportunity. “The idea of Tom Hardy playing both roles in the movie was something that made people think this is going to be something very special because he is an amazing actor,” explains Spearing. Having opened on Sept 9, Legend went on to enjoy a five-day opening of $8m (£5.19m) from its 522 sites, surpassing Paddington’s $7.97m (£5.18m) from 518 sites.Īs well as setting a distributor record, it was the biggest ever September opening and the biggest British 18-certificate opening at the UK box office.įrom a marketing perspective, the hook of Legend was obvious.
“At the time it was our biggest trailer launch to date and that gave us a good indication that people were interested in the movie and the concept.” “From when we started working on the film, we wanted to put the film in the period so we used period music in the first trailer in the UK to create that distinctive feel,” outlines Hugh Spearing, head of UK marketing at StudioCanal. While it has surpassed all expectations for the distributor, the signs were there early on that it had strong potential. Having posted StudioCanal’s biggest-ever opening, Legend hit the £10m ($15.2m) mark at the UK box office this week.
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