Push: Lionsgate's Marketing Challenge

People at the office have been mentioning stuff about Push, the very grim/ultimately inspiring film that came out at Sundance, which Lionsgate purchased a few weeks ago for $5.5 million. I came upon this nytimes article recently that discusses the marketing challenges Lionsgate will face with this extremely dark-themed film, directed by Lee Daniels (Monster's Ball). The story focuses on an illiterate and obese African-American girl in 1980s Harlem who is pregnant with her father's child for the second time, and also faces abuse from her mother. Eugh.

Although Push won three top awards at Sundance--the Audience Award, the Grand Jury Prize and a Special Jury Prize for Acting--marketing experts are sayings this is one of the toughest marketing challenges to come along in some time. Any release labeled a black film by the marketplace has usually been a tough sell to mainstream white audiences, with a few exceptions like the Tyler Perry franchise (also distributed by Lionsgate). Furthermore, the negative imagery of this film could find African-American audiences of all demographics less receptive as well.

The film was a critical hit at Sundance, though the MPAA states that such a film could cost around $25 million to market. Also, reception by festival goers and mainstream audiences can often differ greatly. Nonetheless, Lionsgate has the committed support of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, as well as an already established, passionate following for the book the film is based on. Others cite the cultural relevance of the film with the current Obama presidency, as well as test screening results of an 80% "definitely recommend" rating (normal being around 50%). Although the hard economic times have definitely led audiences to lighter films, I think word of mouth with this film--if it is as raw and powerful as people have been saying--could catapult it beyond its immediate demo, as was seen with the indie Slumdog.