Will Universal’s Bruno Kill it at the Box Office Its Opening Weekend or Will it Be Killed?

Yes, I know…it just might be a little too early to ask the question.

After all, it’ll be another month before the comedy hits theatres.

Why Universal didn’t program it for the 4th of July weekend is beyond me.

But oh well. On with the discussion.
Actually asking if the movie will rock the box office or not is indeed a pertinent question, especially considering that the movie’s marketers are trying to create some early interest in the comedy as seen by the Sacha Baron/Bruno and Eminem incident during this past weekend’s MTV Movie Awards outed for the stunt that it was by MTV head writer Scott Aukerman.

And especially knowing from The Dark Knight advance….advance publicity campaign that it’s never too early to start cajoling moviegoers into the movie theatre.

Slate’s The Big Money’s Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans are definitely among those who are doubt that Bruno will live up to its comedy-of-the-summer expectations, writing:

“So far, the appeal of Bruno is not quite as promising as that of Borat. After the first week, the YouTube viewing figures for Bruno are underwhelming, and the comments reveal a more skeptical tone.”

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, reporter Lauren A. E. Schuker thinks she knows why Universal chose that approach:

“How does a major Hollywood studio promote a movie so raunchy and offensive that it initially got an NC-17 rating? By staying under the radar.”

Robert Marich, the author of Marketing to Moviegoers, interviewed for Schuker’s article infers that subtlety is practically Universal’s best ally in the marketing and publicity strategy for Bruno, contending that,

“One of the things about ‘Borat’ was that it surprised everyone. It had a much bigger opening than tracking surveys indicated because it had such a viral buzz. The challenge here for Universal is to sustain that with ‘Bruno,’ which isn’t always easy with high-concept movies because they’re not so fresh the second time around.”

The folks at Gawker blasted the movie (or rather what is implied by Baron Cohen’s subtle promotion), and in particular Sacha Baron Cohen’s antics and the idiosynchrasies of the character, and actually recommends the 29,934 readers who hopped on its site to read the article to go see Outrage—another movie—instead.

The Bruno team is nonetheless tireless when it comes to promotion—most of all Sacha Baron Cohen the zany actor who plays the title character.

Baron Cohen as “Bruno” guest-wrote an article for women’s magazine Marie Claire, appearing on the magazine’s July 2009 cover, a rather significant coup since only women have graced the Conde Nast magazine’s covers—to my knowledge.

And in a publicity bit that’s definitely wasn’t staged, Baron Cohen is being sued by a woman for injuries she allegedly suffered on the Bruno set.

Reuters noted the movie’s publicist strategy of selling Sacha Baron’s personality more than the movie itself, pointing out that:

“Universal Pictures is taking the softly, softly marketing approach for the cinematic release of Bruno, which arrives on the big screen July 10. So far, Universal has spent more time (and cash) plugging the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy on social networks and YouTube. Could Universal be playing it too cool?”

But playing it cool sometimes works.

Photo Credit: Gavin Bond