Deadline Reports Studios Avoid To Promote Musicals Movie As Is. Will This Affect Gaga

[hieronymus 9,622]

2 minutes ago, Emvee said:

Why did musicals even become a thing if they knew audiences hate them? 
 

Like, why are they now in a position where they even have to trick people into going to see the movie? Are there that many gays in Hollywood now? 

Audiences used to LOVE them. I think they're unpopular now because people have had bad experiences of getting musicals that they didn't like or even hated imposed onto them in schools or maybe by a babysitter or parents. Musicals are just films with a lot of performed musical numbers; it's just a type of film, not so much a genre. They're not all Mary Poppins and West Side Story. It could be Sweeney Todd or Repo: the Genetic Opera or Rocky Horror Picture Show. I feel like most people who "hate musicals" have at least one that they enjoy because musical isn't a singular, all encompassing thing

[LaLa 19,021]

I think there is every reason to believe the studio and marketing will downplay the musical aspect of Joker, but I don't see how that will hurt Gaga at all. 

Critics, journalists and people who follow movie production closely will know it's a musical and that's good and fine. They are trying to "trick" people who don't follow stuff that closely and just hear "Joker" and walk in, but might be turned off if they hear "musical."

It's not a big deal

[holy scheisse 21,514]

Interesting. I just saw Wonka this morning and had no idea it was a musical until it started lol

[hieronymus 9,622]

6 minutes ago, holy scheisse said:

Interesting. I just saw Wonka this morning and had no idea it was a musical until it started lol

If you don't mind me briefly interviewing you on your experience lol, what was your opinion of musicals before going in and how did you react to the surprise of it being a secret musical? Also how was it?

[TimotheeChalamet 4,627]

1 hour ago, River said:

Now that I know that it's a musical I don't want to see it

ASIB was an exception because the music was mostly performances, but this is like "me brushing teeth and music starts to play in the background and uncontrollably I starts to sing and suddenly there is a flash mob and I find myself in the streets with my pants down"

It's not a full musical, there will be a few musical numbers sprinkled into it 

[holy scheisse 21,514]

14 minutes ago, hieronymus said:

If you don't mind me briefly interviewing you on your experience lol, what was your opinion of musicals before going in and how did you react to the surprise of it being a secret musical? Also how was it?

before going in I liked a only a few musicals really-- Sweeney Todd being my favorite one, but also love Wicked, west side story, annie get your gun, and bye bye birdie (all of which I only knew or saw because my sister was in high school productions of them, aside from bye bye birdie which my granny showed me as a kid lol). I never saw or listened to La La Land or Hamilton to put it in context how off the radar musicals are for me  

 

Tbh I rolled my eyes when Timothee started singing and I even commented to my sister "... oh this is a musical......." so kinda started off feeling like a hater a bit the film started slow for me bc i had to accept it was a musical haha BUT.... I loved it by the end of the movie. No spoilers but the last song in the movie made me cry. I think it had to do with nostalgia largely though bc I loved the 1971 wonka film all throughout my childhood. but the plot itself was also touching i ended up enjoying some of the other songs too bc they hit other emotions for me as well.

 

Spoiler

also. this happened to me a few weeks ago when I saw Wish with my nephew. had no idea it was a musical going in, and i was annoyed that time as well hahah but i should've known.. it was disney after all. but even then, there was one song that stood out to me and hit me in the emotions, and a few other that were quite enjoyable, and i ended up liking that movie too.

 

i think as long as at least one song is able to evoke a strong emotional reaction, i tend to like musicals after giving them a chance 

 

[tylerjs 5,369]

With Wonka specifically I was a bit confused why people were surprised by it being a musical when that’s what the story has always been? It’s like getting a remake of Grease and people being surprised it’s a musical, idk. 
 

anyway, I really do not care for musicals. I find the songs super tedious to sit through and they never feel genuine unless it’s like part of a storyline, like ASIB where she’s literally a singer and is shown performing. Even then tho, I didn’t really care for sitting through the songs during ASIB. 
 

personally I’m not hyped for Joker bc it’s a musical. If it wasn’t, I’d be way more excited. I’d be pissed if I walked into  a movie and it was a musical but they never mentioned or previewed it that way. But time will tell 

[HIM820 1,740]

1 hour ago, hieronymus said:

Audiences used to LOVE them. I think they're unpopular now because people have had bad experiences of getting musicals that they didn't like or even hated imposed onto them in schools or maybe by a babysitter or parents. Musicals are just films with a lot of performed musical numbers; it's just a type of film, not so much a genre. They're not all Mary Poppins and West Side Story. It could be Sweeney Todd or Repo: the Genetic Opera or Rocky Horror Picture Show. I feel like most people who "hate musicals" have at least one that they enjoy because musical isn't a singular, all encompassing thing

It’s less about the specific musical or genre itself, and more so a symptom or where we are now in entertainment. Hollywood has always had a super complicated relationship with Broadway, undervaluing it and constantly feeling it has to one up it by changing things. However, we just had a huge renaissance of movie musicals from 2002-2014. Tons of big budget popular Broadway adaptations that audiences generally did like. Two things occurred though that I think really changed how they’re now perceived. Firstly, there was a huge amount of original “musical” content being made for the screen (Glee, HSM, Pitch Perfect) and while I do think these helped popularize the idea of the musical, it definitely muddied the waters and created a perception of what to expect. I get that there isn’t enough new content coming from Broadway to adapt, which is a whole other problem causing this issue, but there IS a difference in quality of story and scope when it was written for the stage first. 
 

Then you have how content is handled during the streaming age. While it’s always been custom to try and appeal to as many types of people as possible (four quadrants) it’s now turning away people who were already fans. It’s counterintuitive because in the end they aren’t actually growing the audience at all. Trying to appeal to the most beige and average people won’t work in situations like this. This is all the more aggravating with this holiday season because all 3 musicals, Wonka, The Color Purple, Mean Girls, are existing books or movies. They SHOULD be marketed as something entirely different than what has come before. The Color Purple and Mean Girls not even mentioning that they were already hits on the stage is just so weird. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by HIM820

[AnglerfishbraBENUS 5,428]

i can say for certain they won’t feature the musical aspect

[Ladle Ghoulash 16,040]

2 hours ago, Emvee said:

Why did musicals even become a thing if they knew audiences hate them? 
 

Like, why are they now in a position where they even have to trick people into going to see the movie? Are there that many gays in Hollywood now? 

Musicals used to be insanely popular (the vast majority of the great American songbook are songs composed for musical theatre). I also think producers are overestimating people’s negative attitudes toward musicals here. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Ladle Ghoulash 16,040]

I honestly really don’t get why people hate musicals tbh 

[androiduser 7,323]

I doubt Joker 2 is a full blown musical, it probably just features a few singing scenes and I exepct it will be promoted as drama, because the scenes with music are part of the characters' reality

[River 104,338]

I think the musical hate comes from tv series, it’s always annoying to have that damned musical episode once a season

[Bowman 7,788]

11 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I honestly really don’t get why people hate musicals tbh 

I don’t really like them because I feel nothing for them, I find them to be tedious and sort of jarring. The actors are usually over-acting too much. 

like you’re watching a movie with a gripping storyline and then the next thing characters are swinging around a lampost singing dramatically and it kills the vibe. 

The only one I remember I kinda enjoyed was LaLa Land. I liked ASIB because that wasn’t a musical

I really hope Joker FAD is GOOD.

[djBuffoon 11,968]

14 hours ago, Emvee said:

Why did musicals even become a thing if they knew audiences hate them? 

They didn’t always. I mean, starting in the late 1920s and 30s, movie musicals were huge. It wasn’t until the late 70s when the form started to die, and then Moulin Rouge and Chicago brought it back in a major way.
For me, when it’s done correctly and unapologetically, there is nothing like movie musicals (and musical theatre in general). I genuinely feel sorry for those who can’t appreciate them. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by djBuffoon