Starting with Matthew’s interview for Entertainnt Weekly, the team behind I Am Legend entered the final leg of their pre-release promotion. Warner Bros. had confird the film for a North Arican release during the first weekend of mid-December, just over a month away.
As the film was a Warner Bros. investnt, Matthew had no say in its release schedule.
The holiday season was not as saturated with major blockbusters as the sumr, but the weekends leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas were pri ti. For a high-profile film like I Am Legend, it was undoubtedly an excellent release window.
Besides, Matthew paid little mind to Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the film scheduled to follow I Am Legend. The 20th Century Fox movie was in a completely different league, a full tier below I Am Legend in terms of both budget and the scale of its release.
All he knew about it was that the director was Francis Lawrence, with whom he was on bad terms.
Matthew had no ti to dwell on such an insignificant person. Once production on Twilight and Fast & Furious 4 was underway, he set them aside for the ti being, leaving the projects in the hands of their respective producers and focusing the bulk of his efforts on promoting "I
- Legend".
Warner Bros. poured considerable resources into promoting the film, employing a variety of unconventional advertising thods in addition to standard tactics like print and digital dia, roadshows, and trailers.
In November, the viral marketing website that had been set up in the first half of the year changed its pace, suddenly erupting with a series of news stories.
The site advanced in tandem with nurous gossip outlets, feeding the public one sensational story after another.
In early November, many dia outlets once again began frequently ntioning the research on a virus capable of targeting cancer, a story that had been reported the previous year. After a week of relentless dia saturation designed to capture public attention, the website and several print dia outlets simultaneously broke the news that the virus had undergone nearly six months of clinical trials. The study had yielded enough data and samples to demonstrate that the virus could effectively kill cancer cells, was harmless to the human body, and could even enhance the vitality of normal cells!
The resources a major dia conglorate can mobilize are simply staggering, and this is where the power of Hollywood's big six studios cos into play. With Warner Bros. pushing the story with all its might, it was reposted by countless outlets, from print to the internet.
Of course, it wasn't difficult for experienced observers to see through the ruse, and those in the serious, official dia simply watched with a knowing smile.
The story festered for a while, and people from the dical profession began to issue rebuttals. dia squabbles, as a rule, are always more entertaining.
By mid-November, a number of dia outlets unexpectedly published a leaked email in which a virus researcher reported that people in the clinical trials had suddenly beco irritable and extrely aggressive. So dical staff had been bitten, and the virus clearly had side effects, but the institute had suppressed the news and used its security to control all personnel to prevent any leaks.
The researcher discovered that the people in the clinical trials were undergoing horrifying mutations, that the dical staff they bit were suffering from similar conditions, and that even people who hadn't been bitten were beginning to mutate. He feared the virus was airborne and genetically mutagenic, and he pleaded with the dia for help.
In late November, a military expert nad Robert Neville announced that a virus capable of turning people into bloodthirsty monsters was spreading across the globe, with New York City as its epicenter. He warned that it could destroy the world if a vaccine wasn't found in ti.
By this point, it was clear to practically everyone that this was all part of a film's promotional campaign.
And so, Warner Bros. finally released the poster and trailer, which had been held back until now.
"New stills from I Am Legend show Matthew Horner alone in an empty New York!"
"The poster for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama I Am
- Legend has been released, featuring star Matthew Horner as Robert Neville, surviving in the ruins of the city with his dog. The film is set at the end of the world, where the only man on Earth to survive a horrific biochemical war faces a group of creatures bent on destroying humanity. The film is based on the novel by Richard Matheson. But the true nature of these creatures remains hidden in the posters and stills released so far."
"I Am Legend will be released in North Arica on December 14th of this year."
After that, a massive blitz of trailers for I Am Legend began, appearing online, on television channels, and in movie theaters all across Arica.
The dia, for its part, launched an even larger promotional campaign based on the trailer.
"A terrifying viral plague has swept through New York, turning everyone into bloodthirsty zombies who hide in the darkness and devour any living thing that crosses their path."
"Matthew is a guaranteed Hollywood box-office hit, and his presence will make the film even better!"
During this ti, Matthew also embarked on a promotional tour, traveling from Los Angeles to New York, from Seattle to Miami. As the sole male lead, he was expected to attend nearly every relevant promotional event. He also covered famous overseas cities like London, Paris, Madrid, and Sydney, essentially completing the circuit before Thanksgiving.
These were all standard promotional tactics, but Warner Bros. also resorted to many unconventional ones.
As Thanksgiving approached, a piece of information leaked out of nowhere: Matthew wanted to run for president.
The news imdiately caused a sensation. It wasn't unprecedented for Hollywood stars to enter politics, not to ntion successful examples like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The latest issue of Empire magazine featured Matthew on the cover, dressed in a suit with his gaze fixed on the distance.
A hero who has been saving the world for years.
This image, combined with the caption on the cover, gave him a particular power.
"Matthew Horner wants to run in the general election and hopes to beco president in ten years!"
Flipping past the cover, the carefully crafted profile in Empire magazine was no less stunning.
"Fad actor Matthew Horner has starred in several popular blockbusters and was nad the 'World's Most Influential Movie Star' by Newsweek in 2007. But strangely enough, Matthew apparently has more ambitious goals: he plans to run for president and hopes to be in the White House within 10 years, thus becoming the most powerful man in the world."
The story spread quickly across North Arica and beca a topic of widespread discussion. One journalist specifically asked Matthew about it, but he, of course, knew it was a story concocted by Warner Bros. with his permission and gave no response.
He stuck to the most effective strategy: neither confirm nor deny.
Now that the end of the year was approaching and it was ti to take stock, news about Matthew continued to surface, which could only be good news for the film as well.
In a joint list of Hollywood's most influential stars compiled by several entertainnt dia outlets, Matthew took the top spot for the first ti, surpassing a host of stars including Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, Tina Brown, accompanied Matthew's na on the list with the following entry: "Matthew Horner is the only reassuring star of this era, whose presence is a guarantee of box office success! For Hollywood filmmakers in the 21st century, there are two sure bets: one is a sequel, and the other is a film starring Matthew Horner."
The two films Matthew had worked on that were released this year had both beco box-office hits.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 had practically just finished its run in theaters worldwide, finally settling at $360.08 million at the North Arican box office and surpassing $1 billion globally with an impressive total of $1.0356 billion.
Transforrs had also concluded its North Arican run, grossing a colossal $375.6 million dostically. While its overseas performance was clearly no match for the now-trademark Pirates of the Caribbean series, it had so far grossed just over $750 million worldwide.
As a star who relied on strong box office performance, Matthew didn't so much as raise an eyebrow at topping this list of Hollywood's most influential stars.
Much like the rumored future presidential race, Warner Bros. was using Matthew to the fullest to promote the film, while other tactics abounded.
With Hollywood films conquering the world at every turn, Warner Bros. made sure to include many famous locations in its advertising campaign to create a sense of apocalypse.
Posters were adapted to their locations: Ro, the Tokyo Tower, central Osaka, London Bridge, Seoul, a square in Madrid, and more were chosen to give audiences worldwide a sense of impending doom and gloom.
It was as if these cities, like New York, had been struck by a terrifying virus and turned into ghost towns.
Furthermore, filming crowded scenes on the Brooklyn Bridge in the middle of winter, where people learn of their impending deaths, not only mobilized a large number of people but also required the bridge to be closed for six consecutive days. Both New York State and New York City were on high alert for the shoot, and U.S. Army Blackhawk and Coast Guard Dolphin helicopters were temporarily loaned to the film.
By December, I Am Legend had unsurprisingly beco the biggest event in film, completely overshadowing the movies that had previously been garnering awards buzz.
Many across Arica, especially Matthew's fans, were eagerly awaiting the film's release.
Phyllis Beretta was among them, but she wouldn’t be able to make it to the theater.
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