There are some new images for Dune 2021, and in
particular, we got a new official poster and some looks at the merchandise for Denis Villeneuve's
Science fiction epic.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing these new images along with giving my own
thoughts towards whether the marketing campaign so far is actually any good.
Before I get into it though, if you want to see much more videos on DUNE leading up to
its release date, then don't forget to support this video by giving it a like rating, subscribing
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But without further ado, let's discuss the newest photos and looks at Dune.
So the official poster for Dune was released a few days ago and it's quite different from
the IMAX poster we saw a few weeks back.
This new theatrical poster isn’t as good or stylish as the one we got before and it
contains the somewhat traditional head collage of characters with a handful of separate screenshots
combined.
Now while this isn't exactly poster art, as a piece of marketing,
this new Dune poster is exactly what it needs to be.
To put it more simply, the film offers up plenty of empty space to suggest a sense of
scale and scope, with the blue-ish sky engulfing the piercing orange sand.
But the main thing it highlights is the film’s biggest asset and this is namely its stacked
all-star cast.
You’ve got a cast roll-call above with 13 names listed, and eight of those actors get
faces on the poster.
Right now, we haven't got an exact idea of how much general audiences know about
Frank Herbert's Dune, but there may be an audience for a big-scale fantasy adventure
featuring well-known actors.
And alongside the main stars getting a position on the latest poster, you also get a full-body
shot of Paul Atreides looking serious and contemplative, along with the release date
and the 'in theatres and on HBO Max' confirmation
at the bottom.
Again, it's not the best poster in terms of its artwork but it is intended to turn the
disinterested or unaware audience types, rather than continue to build the audience and fans
that are already really excited.
It primarily sells the scope, the scale, the diversity of its core cast and the sheer number
of known actors making up its initial roll-call.
It's a reverse to the IMAX poster that I really love, but I can understand why they went in
that direction.
The IMAX one is striking in a theatre environment where the theatrical sheets are much bigger
to advertise that and it really acts as a great initial teaser poster.
But this latest one is like I say, calling to the people who aren't as attached to it
as much as most of the people watching this video are or to be more specific the core
fans.
They also followed this route with the second trailer, making it more suitable for general
audiences which retaining looks at all the cast and the heady science-fiction
concepts on display.
It's gonna be intriguing to see how this will develop in the marketing as we get closer
to the release of the film, but right now, this poster is doing its job in selling what
can be sold well.
It’s no secret that I’m concerned about Dune not doing well at the box office, with
it namely being an expensive adaptation of a cult sci-fi property.
Audiences don’t generally show up for new adaptations as much as they did even a decade
ago, so the idea of a never-before-seen fantasy world is only part of the sale.
But Warner Bros is selling Dune via its many movie stars and the implicit promise of big-scale
adventure.
I still think that the studio selling it as this year’s Lord of the Rings or Star Wars
is the best shot for commercial success.
And before you say Dune is not star wars, I'm not talking about the quality or content
of the film, I'm specifically talking about the marketing itself.
Dune, in my opinion, has the content to be way more compelling than star wars and it
was one of the original inspirations for it.
But by marketing the film as that next big property like Star Wars, then this is a page
that you can take out of that book.
But nonetheless, WB has just over two months to convince people who don’t know or care
about Dune to show up in theatres.
And right now, the best way to sell an unknown property is to highlight what is known, and
in this case, the actors and actresses appearing onscreen.
So it is a step in the right direction but they need to do much more.
With it being my most anticipated film of the year, loving the source material and loving
the filmmaker, I'm hoping that Dune doesn’t become the next John Carter or even Blade
Runner 2049.
Hopefully, all ranges of audiences will want to get involved with a film that has the potential
to be as impressive as Dune's material is.
But moving on from the poster, the merchandise that has also been revealed this week is a
step in the right direction too.
We got our first full look at a sandworm for Dune
with authentic bookend images from Dark Horse.
These are fantastic and really show the detail that has gone into the design of the sandworms.
Denis Villeneuve had previously said that he and his team spent an entire year working
on the design and appearance in the film and these bookends really show that to a great
degree.
We know that the sandworms will most likely not be in the
film for more than 4 or 5 scenes but their presence is massive in the Dune saga and this
merch really does sell them as an iconic feature of the story.
The scene I did see of the sandworm in IMAX was fantastic and I can't wait for even more
tie-ins on them with the merchandise.
But alongside the extended look at the sandworms, we also got some other merchandise which was
revealed this week too.
We got new designs on mugs, mousepads and backpacks along with
the previously revealed character posters on t-shirts.
There was also some cool looking designs on travel mugs, coffee mugs and another t-shirt
with new artwork.
So all of this is great to see, as most big franchises need this kind of marketing to
spread the word and create tie-ins that make the fans happy too.
This is the stuff that most of us want to see and expected, so I'm glad we have got
some cool merchandise coming out.
All of these products and designs will be available down below in the description if
you're thinking of buying any or if you want to see a greater look at the images themselves.
But overall, I'm sure we'll get many other projects and merchandise for Dune over the
coming months and I will definitely be buying a lot of it myself.
But they were all the latest details surrounding the new poster and merchandise for Denis Villeneuve's
Dune.
Now while I think it's great that we are finally seeing the marketing begin for the new adaptation
of Frank Herbert's world, it will be interesting to see if it all pays off to some degree later
this year.
As I said, a Dune film releasing in the pandemic will of course not
do as well as it potentially could have but hopefully, the studio and the filmmaker can
pull in some decent numbers to warrant a sequel.
We'll have to see but it will of course be interesting to watch how it performs regardless.
I think the film will be incredible in terms of quality and for it to
gross anywhere over $400 million worldwide, I think that would be considered a success
for the film.
It would be able to gain a profit over time with those numbers and it
would mean a sequel would be coming later down the line too.
But let's hope that this marketing at least helps the film in that regard.
Let me know down below in the comments section what you personally think towards the marketing,
alongside your own thoughts on the poster and merchandise that we seem to be getting
for the film.
For more videos surrounding DUNE leading up to its release this year, then subscribe to
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I will be continuing to cover news and topics for DUNE whenever new information comes out
alongside episodes of my road to Dune series later next week, so look out for all of these
uploads.
But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been
Cortex and as always make some noise.