THE FIFTH ESTATE

BY IMOGEN, JAMIE & CALISTA

About the filmSummary

The Fifth Estate is a dramatic thriller based on real events that show the quest to expose deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organisation.

Director

Bill Condon (Also known for directing Chicago and Dreamgirls)

Writer

Daniel Domscheit-Berg

Stars

Benedict Cumberbatch

Daniel Bruhl

Carice van Houten

RELEASE Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed The Fifth Estate globally through its Touchstone Pictures label, except for territories in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, where the film's rights were sold by Mister Smith Entertainment to independent distributors, including Entertainment One Films in the United Kingdom. DreamWorks' financial partner, Reliance Entertainment, released the film in India.

Traditional marketing techniques

The movie poster is basic and contains the face of the main actor and star (Benedict Cumberbatch).The only trailer is the main theatrical trailer which highlights the plot line and shows who the actors are - mainly Benedict Cumberbatch as he is the most popular and so will entice fans of his to view the movie, even if they are not interest in the film itself.The well-known empire magazine did a review of the film and this can help people to get excited for the film - although it only got 2 stars.

Empire film review of the fifth estate

NEW MARKETING TECHNIQUES

The film has its own website that was used throughout the build up to the release date and still is up and running now. The website contains info on cast, trailer, synopsis, a gallery and links to get tickets. The film also created a facebook page connecting and grabbing the attention of their younger audience as this is what the younger generation are seen to connect with the world through.http://www.thefifthestatemovie.com

USE OF STARSBenedict Cumberbatch was the main star used in the Fifth Estate in an attempt to gain a wider audience.

Using a well-known actor in a film will not only make people who like the actor go to see the film but will also be great for marketing as the film will become more widely spread and their will be more interest and curiosity e.g magazine/news articles of films the actors will be featuring in and this might actually make people want to go see it in cinemas.

However, in regards to the Fifth estate, although they had intentions of using a star to draw in a new audience the possibility that Benedict Cumberbatch was not as widely-known or popular most definitely affected the films success - especially the global market at the time might not have known who he was. Maybe as well as using Benedict Cumberbatch they should've used a more widely known global star to attract other countries to view the film, not just the british audience - using the star now though would be more effective as he has now reached the american audience.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Unusual marketingThe Fifth Estate didn't really get much marketing at all whether that be traditional or new techniques. Therefore there were no unusual marketing techniques used, whereas there really should’ve been seeing as this is a film to do with high levels of technology, so some interesting and unusual marketing really could have helped with the advertising of the Fifth Estate and could possibly have engaged people with the film and as a result more people would have gone to see it in the cinemas.

Overall effectiveness

Due to the way that the Fifth Estate was market it did not appeal to the audience or reach the audience's awareness. As well as this the attempt to target a global market was unsuccessful as even the star actor - Benedict Cumberbatch was not as well known an actor at the time as he is now. The overall effectiveness is clearly shown in the box office figures, with a $28 million budget and only making $8.5 million, therefore the marketing and advertising for the Fifth Estate drastically needed improving.