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Blockbusters Als Event Movies: Over De Lancering Van the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King

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Blockbusters Als Event Movies: Over De Lancering Van the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King Daniel Biltereyst Blockbusters als event movies: over de lancering van The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Films als Titanic en The Lord of the Rings worden veelal gezien als mijlpalen in de geschiedenis van de hedendaagse blockbusterfilmcultuur. In de litera- tuur over New Hollywood en blockbusters worden dit soort films veelal aan- geduid als event movies. Aan de hand van de lancering van The Return of the King in België tracht deze bijdrage enkele cruciale dimensies in het eventkarakter van hedendaagse blockbusters te begrijpen. Inleiding Titanic (1997) van de Amerikaanse filmregisseur James Cameron wordt in de literatuur over de hedendaagse ‘filmed entertainment industry’ in vele opzichten beschouwd als een absolute mijlpaal. Titanic was niet alleen een grandioze spektakelfilm met ongeziene special effects en bijzondere produc- tiemiddelen. Camerons film brak ook alle records inzake productie-, distri- butie- en releasebudgetten en releasestrategieën. Titanic werd het school- voorbeeld van de manier waarop de Amerikaanse filmindustrie een wereldpubliek wil bereiken. De productiehuizen achter dit succesvolle megaspektakel (Paramount en 20th Century Fox) slaagden erin om de film te laten uitgroeien tot een wereldwijde hype en een publieke gebeurtenis (of event) van de eerste orde. De film staat symbool voor de manier waarop Hollywood op een geïntegreerde wijze invulling tracht te geven aan de defi- nitie van blockbusters als event movies (o.a. Elsaesser, 2001; Blanchet, 2003, pp. 255-256; Neale, 2003, p. 47; Stringer, 2003, p. 2). Binnen het onderzoek en de literatuur over hedendaagse populaire (film)cultuur groeit de interesse voor het fenomeen van de global block- busters (Stringer, 2003). Deze aandacht neemt verschillende gedaanten aan, maar het aspect van de event, het evenementiële karakter of de publieke gebeurtenis rond specifieke films, blijft onderbelicht. In deze bijdrage con- centreren we ons op dit bijzondere aspect van blockbusters. Hierbij beschouwen we event movies als filmproducties die erin slagen om het Daniel Biltereyst is verbonden aan de Werkgroep Film- en Televisiestudies van de vakgroep Commu- nicatiewetenschappen, Universiteit Gent. De auteur dankt Ann Leysen en Philippe Meers. Correspon- dentie: Vakgroep Communicatiewetenschappen, Universiteit Gent, Universiteitstraat 8, 9000 Gent. E-mail: [email protected]. 28 Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, Jaargang 34/2006 nr. 1 Guest (guest) IP: 170.106.202.8 Daniel Biltereyst domein van de cinefilie, het filmbedrijf en de filmbeleving te verlaten, om zo uit te groeien tot een ruimere publieke gebeurtenis. Event movies doen dit door de aandacht te trekken van actoren, die zich doorgaans buiten dit veld van de filmsector, de filmkritiek of filmfans bevinden, zoals journa- listen, politici en andere opiniemakers. Ze betreden op deze manier de publieke ruimte, groeien uit tot een prominente, breed herkenbare media- of maatschappelijke gebeurtenis, en kunnen zelfs referentiepunten wor- den in discussies over andere publieke kwesties (bijv. politiek, cultuur, wetenschap). Het kan hierbij gaan om referenties aan blockbusters zoals Star Wars in discussies over de toekomst van onze planeet in wetenschap- pelijke publicaties, of verwijzingen naar Titanic als ankerpunt in discussies over de mogelijkheden van digitale technologieën. In dit artikel gaan we in op de manier waarop de derde film in de Lord of the Rings-serie, The Return of the King (2003, Jackson) van productiehuis New Line Cinema, wist uit te groeien tot zo’n ruimere publieke gebeurtenis of event. De keuze van The Lord of the Rings is interessant omdat deze trilogie Titanic in vele dimensies wist te overvleugelen. Jacksons drieluik geldt dan ook als een nieuwe mijlpaal in de geschiedenis van Hollywood en van het globalblockbusterfenomeen. De basisstelling van het artikel is dat block- busters er pas in slagen alle records inzake publieksopkomst, recettes en publieke aandacht te breken, wanneer ze kunnen uitgroeien tot een event. In onze analyse maken we hiervoor een onderscheid tussen drie niveaus, met name dat van de marketing event, de media event en de social event.1 In zijn poging om het evenementiële karakter van een blockbuster als The Return of the King te begrijpen, neemt dit artikel grotendeels de vorm aan van een essay. Op basis van verschillende empirische onderzoeksbenade- ringen willen we diverse dimensies in de analyse betrekken, gaande van concrete marketing-, distributie- en lanceringstrategieën, het promotiedis- cours omtrent de film, tot de filmkritiek en de mediaverslaggeving over de film.2 Een blockbuster die erin slaagt een (succesvolle) event movie te wor- den, betreedt immers op een extreme wijze (deze diverse terreinen binnen) het publieke domein. In dit artikel plaatsen we de Belgische case centraal, om naast gegevens over de distributie, marketing en exploitatie van de film, ook rekening te houden met het promotiediscours omtrent de film, de res- pons door de filmkritiek en de ruimere media-aandacht. Hierbij laten we ons, naast inzichten uit marketingliteratuur, inspireren door discoursana- lyse en -theorieën om te begrijpen hoe The Lord of the Rings vakkundig werd geconstrueerd tot en gerecipieerd als een historisch, artistiek en zelfs maat- schappelijk niet te missen gebeurtenis. Blockbusters, filmstudies en event movies Situering van de blockbuster Binnen film- en populaire-mediastudies is de aandacht voor het block- busterfenomeen de afgelopen jaren in aanzienlijke mate toegenomen. De blockbuster is uiteraard geen nieuw gegeven en, afhankelijk van de defini- tie, gaat het fenomeen al terug tot de eerste decennia van de filmgeschiede- nis. Al voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog werden, voornamelijk in enkele West- Europese landen zoals Frankrijk en Italië, peperdure, spraakmakende films 29 Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, Jaargang 34/2006 nr. 1 Guest (guest) IP: 170.106.202.8 Blockbusters als event movies: over de lancering van The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King geproduceerd (bijv. Cabiria, 1914, Pastrone), waarbij kosten noch moeite werden gespaard om de aandacht van het publiek te trekken. Al tijdens en vooral na de Eerste Wereldoorlog nam Hollywood het voortouw in de pro- ductie van dit soort grootschalige spektakelfilms (bijv. Ben Hur, 1925, Niblo), die echter pas in de jaren 1950 werden aangeduid als blockbusters (Blanchet, 2003, p. 254). Naar analogie met een bom, die een heel huizen- blok in de as kon leggen, verwees een blockbuster naar groots opgezette films, die met een massieve publiciteits- en lanceringstrategie op het publiek werden losgelaten. In deze periode zocht de filmsector naar midde- len om het publiek van het televisietoestel weg te lokken. Films als The Robe (1953, Koster), Spartacus (1960, Kubrick) of Cleopatra (1963, Mankiewicz) slaagden erin om tijdelijk als een magneet de publieke aandacht op te slor- pen, zowel van de filmkritiek en filmfans, als van de overige nieuwsmedia en het ruimere publiek. Het begrip blockbuster begon echter snel te verwijzen naar films, die met soms (relatief) kleine budgetten een recordpubliek bereikten, of, ook net andersom, naar films die ondanks een groots opgezette productie en distri- butie faalden aan de kassa (zgn. blockbuster failures). In de jaren 1960 en 1970 leken de afbouw van het klassieke, logge studiosysteem en de overna- me van grote Amerikaanse majors de filmsector in een ongeziene crisis te dompelen. De jaren 1970 zijn fundamenteel voor het groeiende belang van de blockbusterfilmcultuur zoals we die vandaag volop kennen. In deze peri- ode wisten Amerikaanse majors zich geleidelijk aan te ontplooien tot meer flexibele productie-entiteiten, die minder films gingen produceren, maar hierbij wel nog hogere budgetten gingen pompen in de productie, de speci- al effects en de hele releasestrategie. In deze periode groeide het budget vooral voor distributie, promotie, marketing en merchandising. In deze transformatie van het klassieke Hollywood naar New Hollywood speelden films als Jaws (1975, Spielberg) en Star Wars (1977, Lucas) een fundamente- le rol. Ze toonden aan dat high concept movies (films met een eenvoudige, gemakkelijk aan een ruim publiek te communiceren basisidee) ongeziene winsten konden opleveren, zeker in combinatie met doorgedreven mer- chandising en met nieuwe exploitatiemedia zoals de video en (later) dvd. Deze hervorming van de Amerikaanse filmindustrie in de richting van een ruimere filmed entertainment industry (Wasko, 1994) leidde tot een nieuw gouden tijdperk voor Hollywood, waarin de blockbuster centraal staat. Jon Lewis (2003, p. 61), die een politiek-economische analyse van het feno- meen voorstaat, stelt dat: ‘… over the last thirty years, the revamped conglomerate, multinational, vastly diversfied studio owners have more and more completely devoted their time, energy, and, most importantly, money to the production of formulaic blockbuster-style movies’. Het is dan ook niet verwonderlijk dat blockbusters in de literatuur door- gaans op een vrij negatieve manier omschreven worden. Hierbij verwijzen high concept blockbusters naar films voor een massapubliek, waarin spekta- kel en grootschaligheid ten koste gaan van diepgang en originaliteit. De blockbuster lijkt dan veraf te staan van auteurscinema. De blockbuster laat zich ook niet definiëren als een genre met eigen thema’s of een specifieke wereldvisie, maar eerder als films waarin alles draait om extravaganza (de 30 Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, Jaargang 34/2006 nr. 1 Guest (guest)
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