Pete is done with Indy

FilmThreat’s Pete Vonder Haar is going to try to avoid exposure to any further Indiana Jones IV plot points. The problem, as he points out, is that this is virtually impossible to do in the current media world, with TV spots, trailers, video game commercials, behind-the-scenes reports and everything else literally everywhere you turn. He illustrates what he already knows about the movie simply by scanning the headlines about the movie’s casting and production.

The state of modern movie marketing makes Pete’s goal extremely difficult to achieve. He says he’d like to avoid knowing every plot point from the film but campaigns nowadays are designed to achieve the exact opposite. They’re mostly planned out and created to minimize the surprise the audience might feel when they eventually go to the theater since “surprise” is in some people’s minds synonymous with “displeasure.”

This gets back to the same reason big studios feel more comfortable greenlighting remakes, sequels and adaptations than taking risks on more original fare: They’re known quantities. Big studios, which are often part of multi-national companies who are beholden to stockholders don’t like to take risks. They need to know that they’re spending their money wisely and will achieve suitable return on that expenditure. So instead of spending a bunch on someone’s original screenplay and then marketing it they opt to buy a franchise and then plug in the production talent later, choosing from the likes of Brett Ratner, Michael Bay, or any other director who has no actual creative vision of his own.

The campaign creators, then, want the movie to feel familiar and safe so as not to scare anyone off. That’s why these casting announcements for the major flicks are broadcast far and wide, and it’s why studios on some level like Web sites that post spoilers. Those plot points reduce the odds of the movie being seen as an unknown quantity by the audience, upping the comfort factor as well as, hopefully, the subsequent desire to see the film.

So good luck to Pete on his quest to remain as in-the-dark as possible on the next Indy movie. I don’t see it turning out well but I certainly see where he’s coming from and wish him well.