Star Trek XI Marketing Strategies
2 min readTwo new trailers will air before Star Trek XI debuts on May 8.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the first trailer will be seen with Watchmen on March 6. This trailer will “highlight the emotional aspects of Kirk’s story.” The final trailer prior to the release of Star Trek XI will “reach out to families who saw and liked such similar PG-13 fantasias as Indiana Jones and Transformers.”
The goal is to reach a new audience as well as the long-term Star Trek fans. According to co-writer Alex Kurtzman, “Our intention was to make Star Trek something that appeals to everyone who’s ever dismissed it in the past as being too sci-fi or too inaccessible.” Kurtzman and co-writer Roberto Orci are hoping that an unexplored angle of the Trek mythology will do the trick. “There had never been any real story told about how the bridge crew came together,” explained Kurtzman. “For us, there was only one way to do it, which was to go back to Kirk and Spock.” Kurtzman promises an entertaining movie. “Certainly the scope of this Star Trek is unlike any that’s come before. So if you want Transformers-scope action sequences in space? That’s what you will get when you see Star Trek.”
To attract attention before the film release, a tour to cities around the world with a twenty-minute film preview was undertaken. Writers are scheduled to visit sci-fi conventions and interact with established fans on various websites.
Star Trek XI marketing is also being aimed at younger people, with various lines of toys, props and games being released, which include Trek Barbie dolls, play sets, comic books, board games and a forthcoming Burger King promotional tie-in.
It is hoped that all of this activity is not in vain. “Worst-case scenario is they don’t market it correctly and offend the fans,” said Richard Arnold, former assistant to Gene Roddenberry. “And they are going to be an important part of the box office because there are twenty-five million Star Trek fans worldwide. Paramount keeps saying the fans are going to come and see it anyway, and I keep saying, ‘Yes, but you do want the choir to sing your praises, and if they’re not singing your praises, there’s not going to be word-of-mouth, and you’re not going to have that additional audience come to see it.'”
Co-writer Orci sees the risk that Star Trek XI faces. “If it didn’t work, it was going to be a very loud, visible failure.”
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