Right behind the holiday blockbuster releases of AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH and ZOOTOPIA 2, the entertainment industry has noted a strong third-place finish for A24’s MARTY SUPREME. A24’s original R-rated drama stars Timothée Chalamet as a Marty Mauser, a money grubbing ping pong hustler in 1950’s New York. This is the type of movie that the industry has long viewed as outside the mainstream and not commercially viable. However, against all odds it has become a box office success, grossing more than $50M in its first week and well-positioned for a productive run in theatres. Many have attributed the movie’s success to Chalamet’s performance and star-appeal and A24’s all-out marketing blitz to promote it.
Over the 15 years since its founding, A24 has had success drawing younger audiences to its films by using inventive marketing campaigns, helping them grow from an indie distributor into a mid-tier studio. For MARTY SUPREME, A24 blanketed various platforms from Times Square in New York and The Sphere in Las Vegas to a MARTY SUPREME blimp flying over Los Angeles. Chalamet himself went all out to promote the film, participating in inventive marketing gimmicks such as a fake Zoom meeting with the marketing team at A24 to appearing at numerous red carpet events in orange outfits that matched the orange color of the ping pong balls in the movie. It all seems to have paid off, proving that an original film can succeed at the box office through a combination of star power an effective marketing.
