Film Industry: Doctor Strange

Our first Film Industry CSP is Marvel blockbuster Doctor Strange.

For film, we only need to study the industries key concept - so this means the companies behind the film, the budget, the marketing and promotion and finally the box office success.

Reminder: industry terminology

In the Introduction to Media unit at the beginning of Year 1, we learned a range of media industries terminology that we may well be tested on in the exam. Make sure you know the following:

Conglomerate
Most major media companies are conglomerates that own a range of smaller companies (called subsidiaries). An example of this is Disney owning Marvel.

Vertical integration
Vertical integration is when one conglomerate owns different companies in the same chain of production. E.g Disney owns film studios, CGI specialists, film distributors and TV channels such as the Disney Channel. This gives Disney the chance to make money at every stage of production. Complete ownership = more profit.

Horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is when one company buys other companies at the same level of distribution. E.g Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 (at a cost of $1 billion) so that they could cancel out the competition by making money from both. Horizontal integration allows companies to widen their audience and find other ways to make money.

Synergy 

Synergy is when a company creates a brand that can be used across different media products and platforms. E.g Disney makes movies but then also has related stage shows, theme parks, merchandise, soundtracks and events.

Doctor Strange notes

Doctor Strange is a superhero film from the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) which is part of the Marvel media franchise. A film franchise is a series of films film franchises are multi-picture stories, often including some of the same characters from film to film.

Franchises have become even more important than individual stars. They consist of connected universes (Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Middle Earth, and the DC Extended Universe) and many sequels (or prequels).

Blockbuster movies

Doctor Strange is a blockbuster movie. A blockbuster is a major studio movie that's made with a large budget, big stars and often involves a franchise. 

A true blockbuster is extremely popular and brings in a lot of money. Typically, a blockbuster is a summer movie that audiences line up to see the first weekend it's released (which coincides with the school holidays and more family time).  

Disney and Marvel

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment for US$4 billion. The Walt Disney Company now owns Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and Pixar.

Walt Disney Studios are now one of Hollywood's major film studios and generated an income of $2.4 billion (2017).  This means that they can afford to make more expensive films, market them around the world at great expense and ensure that they are hugely profitable.  

Marketing and promotion

Star Power implies that people will want to see a film with a certain star in it. Most mainstream films and blockbusters will use Star Power to attract audiences to their film. The main star in Doctor Strange is British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (from Sherlock) who is very well known and has established fans. 

Walt Disney Studios had a huge budget to make and market Doctor Strange. Some of the strategies used included:

• Traditional methods such as posters and teaser trailers on TV and in cinema.
• Cumberbatch also appeared on a range of TV chat shows and press events.
• Film-based website with gallery, story synopsis.
• Social Media profiles on Facebook and Twitter.  Social Media advertising was also used on Twitter and YouTube. Marvel produced Twitter stickers, Facebook Live events, Snapchat lenses and filters, Tumblr stunts, Giphy content and Instagram special content.

Specific IMAX promotions:

Additional promotion:

• Specific TV campaign with TV-only clips shown.
• Promotional Partners were established and promoted the film in various ways (Mobile phone company Honor, Google, Lamborghini, Microsoft, Yakoult, Skype and Philips).  This resulted in product placement meaning all had some role in the film – for example, Doctor Strange uses a Microsoft Surface Tablet – and were part of the promotion campaign in response to this.  The rationale is the more people that see the film, the more will see their products so they pay for this. 
• Marvel introduced a Doctor Strange character to their mobile and video games line-up.
• Marvel released prelude tie-in comic.

Budget and box office

Doctor Strange cost $165 million to make (which compares with £2 million for ‘I, Daniel Blake’).  This money would have been spent on the huge salaries of the stars of Doctor Strange and the amazing effects and locations (New York, Nepal, Hong Kong and London). In addition, Disney spent many more millions on the huge marketing campaign.

Doctor Strange had box office receipts of nearly $700 million (at a cost of $165 million), so can be viewed a success. However, it is not the most successful film in the Marvel Comic Universe.  Infinity War, for example, has taken $2.03 billion at the Box Office. This places it in the 4th highest grossing movies ever. At the time of release Doctor Strange reached a major milestone by surpassing Iron Man’s box office record and setting a new global benchmark for a single-character introduction film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Film industry: Regulation

Films in the UK are regulated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

Doctor Strange was awarded a 12A by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).  It was deemed to have “moderate fantasy violence and injury detail”, yet was not too graphic. With a 12A, no-one under the age of 12 can see the film unless accompanied by an adult. It is quite a new classification (1989)  and was introduced due to the large gap between PG and 15.

It is important that all MDU films are 12A at the most as the major film companies want to keep the young audience for:

• Merchandising opportunities.
• Better potential box office.
• 47% of cinema audiences were aged 7-24 in the UK in 2014.  Word of mouth and peer influence is important in generating interest.

Doctor Strange: blog tasks

1) List the companies involved in the creation of Doctor Strange.

2) What is conglomerate ownership and how does it link to Doctor Strange?

3) Who regulates the film industry in the UK?

4) What age rating was Doctor Strange given? Why?

5) How was Doctor Strange promoted to an audience? List at least three different methods used by the film's marketing campaign.

6) Analyse the film trailer for Doctor Strange. What aspects of the trailer tell you this is a big-budget blockbuster movie?

7) What was the production budget for Doctor Strange and how much did it make at the box office?

8) Would you consider Doctor Strange a successful Hollywood blockbuster? Why?

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Guardian Film Blog on Doctor Strange - plus the comments below. Did audiences consider the film a success? Why?

Read this feature on whether there are too many Marvel sequels and spin-offs. Do you agree?