There
is a reason why the promotion for the soon to be released "Secondhand
Lions" has been so extensive in Japan. There is a reason why
Japan is the only international market to invite Haley over to help
promote the film. There is a reason why Haley has been featured
so predominately in the promotional campaign, that he has overshadowed
the other two iconic actors, Michael Caine and Robert Duvall.
As much of
a solid base of support Haley established with the promotion and
release of his first two films in Japan, "The Sixth Sense"
and "Pay It Forward", I think it was the release of "A.I."
that finally set the foundation in stone. The release of "A.I."
was unlike anything they had ever experienced before. The film seemed
to capture their imagination in the way that... well... in the way
that only a Haley film can.
Just to give
you some idea as to the kind of impact the release of "A.I."
had in Japan, the boxofficemojo.com website wrote up the following
International News report for the opening weekend of the film. I
think it gives a pretty good sense about the influence of the film,
and provides the reasons for how they have based the promotion of
"Secondhand Lions" in Japan.
For those
interested, boxofficemojo.com also has listed the following domestic
and international totals that "A.I." made at the boxoffice:
Breaking
almost every opening weekend record in Japan, Steven Spielberg's
"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" smashed into the
land of the rising sun with $11.6 million in two days on the
widest number of theaters ever in Japan, 524 screens, including
previews. It started screening in some places at 7:30 A.M
to meet the demand and started regular screenings at 10 A.M.
"A.I."
eclipsed "The Matrix" by 164%! to become WB's highest
opening weekend in Japan. It's also the best June entry, trouncing
"The Mummy Returns" by 166%. Beating "Star
Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", it became the
largest two-day opening, exluding sneaks. And it was the highest
for a nonsequel, topping "Independence Day" by 34%.
In
total, the Haley Joel Osment starrer sold 1,037,879 tickets:
an all-time record, crushing the newest Star Wars which sold
916,540 tickets. It did, however, fall just 7% short of the
ultimate honor, the biggest debut ever, including sneaks,
which is held by "The Phantom Menace". WB was, however,
quick to point out that "A.I." would have taken
the crown if its release had not fallen on the first day of
the month, when ticket prices in four-fifths of the country
are discounted by 44%. Bad strategy I say. The key was that
George Lucas' epic had the benefit of two full days of previews,
while Spielberg's had just one.
Illustrating
its dominance, "A.I." garnered 64% of the total
Japanese market for the weekend. WB reported that 65% of the
audiences are female and many found the pic so emotionally
powerful they were moved to tears. WB is shooting for a first-week
haul of $17.5 million - $18.5 million.
@boxofficemojo.com
I think
I like that last part the best, where it said, "...many found
the pic so emotionally powerful they were moved to tears."
Like I said, this film captured their imagination in the way that
only a Haley film can.
Haley is
the best.
A.I.
Artificial Intelligence Press Conference , Tokyo 21st June
2001
This
series of eight pics are from the press conference that
was held one day prior to the special screening of the
film at the "Japanese Martial Arts Mansion".
The
press conference was held in Tokyo on 21-June-2001,
just five months after Haley was in Japan promoting
"Pay It Forward" at the start of the year,
at the Imperial Hotel Ltd. It looks like he spent most
of 2001 travelling the globe promoting his films, and
what a truly amazing time that must have been...
With
the press conference complete, time for a few publicity shots...
Here
we see Haley being presented with a nice bouquet of flowers
from Japanese pop singer, Takako Uehara.
Special
Screening of A.I. Artificial Intelligence at the Japanese
Martial Arts Museum , 22nd June 2001
This
series of photo's is from a special screening of "A.I.
Artificial Intelligence" that was held in Japan on 22-June-2001.
The screening was held at the "Japanese Martial Arts Mansion"
an interesting name for a place that hosts all kinds of events.
It even hosted a concert put on by "The Rolling Stones".
I believe some of the images have been seen before, but I thought
it might be nice to see them all together for the full effect.
One
interesting point is that Haley must have been one tuckered
out little boy during the last few days before the release
of the film. He was in Japan for a few days helping with the
promotion, and then he had to scramble half way around the
world to attend the premiere of "A.I." in New York
on 26-June-2001, before heading out to the LA premiere on
28-June-2001. I'm sure all of that traveling was very exhausting.
Of
note in this first pic is the large screen behind Haley (d'uh),
which will be important to remember when you look at the last
pic, as Haley is up on stage answering more than just a few
questions from the host.
With the question and answer session
out of the way, "Suzuki Apricot" then presented Haley with
a very nice bouquet of flowers.
A
little bit of a closeup on Haley as he stands in front
of the large movie screen that will soon be showing "A.I."
for the crowd that had gathered. Hmmm... how large of
an audience would attend...?
Remembering
the first pic of Haley up on stage answering some questions,
here we finally have a better idea of the size of the
audience that would show up for this special screening
of "A.I." and of course for the chance to see Haley
in person.
I
think this image shows why the release of "A.I." in
Japan was much more than just another film premiere,
rather it was more of an "Event!"
There
was Haley up there on stage by himself in front of that
crowd, ("Dad" would have had to have been way off to
the side of that large screen and stage someplace),
helping to promote the film. I tell ya...
Haley
is the best.
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