Promotional tie-ins are nothing new in the movie marketing business. In fact, they have been pretty commonplace for almost three decades. The NBA, in particular, has made a killing at it as summer blockbusters have wrapped themselves around the sport’s stars to highlight their upcoming releases during the highly-rated playoff season. It’s become so prevalent that Paramount Pictures, the NBA and ESPN recently teamed up on a “Terminator: Dark Fate” spot that tied into the kickoff of the new season and featured stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton as well as new L.A. Clippers Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
The spots have become so creative that sometimes, as in the case of the “Terminator” ad, they are more entertaining than the movie itself. Studios are always looking for the next trend to get attention whether it’s the afformentioned NBA, NFL, WWE or BRAVO reality stars. One aspect of the entertainment industry that is increasingly becoming fodder for Hollywood is, surprise, Drag Queens. The popularity of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is evident throughout Hollywood with HBO, Netflix and TLC all debuting new series featuring familiar faces from the Emmy-winning reality show in 2020. Warner Bros.’ “A Star is Born” and Walt Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” each had unique promo campaigns featuring “Drag Race” talent over the past 12 months or so, but today Sony Pictures took it to another level.
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The studio worked with Viacom to commission a 3-minute piece that not only features director Elizabeth Banks but a cameo from the new angels themselves, Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. The real stars of the piece are well-known queens Alaska 5000, Peppermint and Nina West. RuPaul even stops by as well as another fan-favorite we won’t spoil here. It might have only taken an hour of their time to film their portion of the segment, but it’s rare for studios to get their stars to participate in these cross-promos unless it involves a live event.
This entire tie-in would have been unheard of three or four years ago but as pop culture evolves, movie marketers do whatever they can to get attention with audiences that align with their films. And in the cast of “Charlie’s Angels,” Sony is hoping the primarily under 35 women and gay men who watch “Drag Race” head to the theater for their latest reboot. Of course, there have been many WWE and sports leagues tie-ins that haven’t moved audience tracking an inch. Sometimes a film is just gonna do what it’s gonna do because…that’s the movie. But it’s worked enough to drive awareness for titles that studios keep doing it. And judging by the production value of this “Charlie’s Angels” x “Rupaul’s Drag Race” promo (cough, it appears to be better lit than the actual movie) these queens might be racking in more and more promo coin in the months and years to come.
“Charlie’s Angels” opens nationwide on Nov. 15.
