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今天在華爾街日報上看到一篇很有趣的文章，探討本應屬於藝術片小眾市場的斷背山，如何擄獲主流觀眾的心，這篇文章跟電影拍攝手法或演員演技完全無關，單純就行銷的角度切入，看斷背山的成功之處。才看完斷背山沒幾天的我，趁著對這部片熱情未減時趕快翻譯下來，還沒看電影的人可以放心閱讀，本文絕對無雷，也希望你看完文章後走一趟戲院，看看這部我心目中今年最佳影片。

開挖斷背山金礦
片商向女性觀眾招手、評估開演戲院地點、利用紐約客小氣候口耳相傳，打造斷背山亮眼票房

儘管深夜裡電視的脫口秀正嘲諷著同志牛仔，某些小城鎮甚至還在考慮是否准予播放，斷背山已經成為2005年最受好評、最具奧斯卡相的片子之一，同時可能也是今年最賺錢的電影之一，甚至可以晉升為主流片。

到底斷背山是如何成功的？
1) 精確地鎖定開演的地點 2) 將自己定位成女性觀眾最愛的愛情片，而不是爭議性的同志片 3) 跳脫出文化衝突的框框

「我最感到驕傲之處並不在於我們選擇去做的事，而是我們決定不做的事。」 Focus Features的總裁 James Schamus 解釋著他如何以反向思考行銷這部1400萬美金成本的片子。

上個星期成功擴充上映戲院數到 1196 家的斷背山，目前的票房已經突破4380萬美金，超越大導演史帝芬史匹伯同時上映的7000萬美元成本新片"Munich"(慕尼黑)，即便是在許多重要的大城市，斷背山的表現依舊擊敗對手。

「斷背山的票房真的很不錯...」 Nebreska州 Lincoln市 Douglas Theatre的副總這麼說。「它的票房是一直以來是"慕尼黑"的三倍，我想人們並沒有因為它是部同志主軸的電影而不看它。」

撇開2800萬成本卻賣破1億美金的"Walk The Line"(為你鍾情)不談，斷背山很有可能比今年其他任何一部奧斯卡熱門片都來得賺錢："Crash" (衝擊效應)成本750萬，賣5340萬；"Good Night, and Good Luck" 成本750萬，賣2490萬。

對於好萊塢片商而言，最大挑戰之一就是如何將片子跨界行銷出去，尤其是那些看起來只能吸引小眾市場的電影。以斷背山來說，兩個牛仔的愛情故事，常理而言只能吸引到同志族群或藝術片愛好者，但是一旦電影被歸類成這樣的領域，再怎麼行銷也很難改變觀眾的想法，進一步就會影響到票房。

以1999年的Boys Don't Cry為例，雖然影評一致叫好，Hilary Swank也因此片獲得奧斯卡最佳女主角，但這部片被貼上了"變性少女的悲劇故事"標籤，造成票房一厥不振，僅賣出1150萬美金，主流觀眾並不賞臉。

為了避免同樣的悲劇，片商從一開始就刻意遠離同志文化的議題，以免被貼上標籤，他們的訴求是，斷背山不是同志牛仔電影，而是一部不折不扣的浪漫愛情電影。然而片商不誨言地表示，他們的確向同志族群行銷，但卻不把電影當成促進同志人權的工具。

「我們絕對不會讓單純的電影發行捲進政治的馬戲團，絕對不會！」Focus Features的行銷總裁 David這麼說道。

事實上，在好萊塢以同志為主軸或議題來發揮的電影顯少能發光發熱的。根據 BoxOfficeMojo.com 的統計資料，在176部認定為同志主軸或議題的電影裡，只有一部片賣座超過一億美金(in the US)，那就是1996年Robin Williams的同志喜劇"The Birdcage"(鳥籠)

為了打破同志片就不賣錢的魔咒，Focus Features運用了一種獨特的行銷手法：在斷背山初期小規模於紐約市及洛杉磯上映時，他們精心挑選上映的戲院地點。

「就如同酒鄉納帕山谷裡不同區域的小氣候能釀出各式獨特的美酒，在紐約曼哈頓各區的小氣候也能聚集截然不同的觀眾群。譬如說，雀兒喜區的戲院多同志，格林威志村區多學生，林肯中心附近多有錢的嬰兒潮世代觀眾。」

「在曼哈頓這些區域上映後所形成的口耳相傳的力量，能夠決定一部電影所能吸引到的觀眾類型，」 Focus Features發行部總裁 Jack Foley這麼說道。

一般而言，斷背山這類型的片通常會在紐約下城區、蘇活區或東村的電影院開出，這些地區都是傳統藝術片的大本營。然而，斷背山卻選擇在三處開演：雀兒喜區、西上城區林肯中心和格林威志村區。

「我不要紐約客把斷背山歸類成一部傳統藝術片，我要讓不同地區、不同觀眾的聲音傳出去、激盪、討論這部片，撕掉"同志牛仔片"的標籤。」

簡單的來說: 當一個學生說好看，推薦給朋友時，斷背山就成為學生可以看的電影，不再是藝術片怪咖看的電影；當一個住在西上城區有錢的公司主管推薦斷背山時，它就成了那個族群可以看的電影...以此類推。因此，一部電影該給誰看並不是由電影的內容來決定的，而是由觀眾的口碑(word of mouth 口耳相傳的力量)決定的。片商利用紐約特殊的區域小氣候所營造出的多元觀點，成功將斷背山將原本狹隘的電影歸類(非主流同志藝術片)擴展到浪漫愛情電影，打進主流觀眾市場。 (<--- 此段不在原文內，是我自己的總結)

鎖定女性觀眾

片商將斷背山定位為一部淒美的愛情電影，主打女性觀眾市場。電影海報的標語清楚地寫著"Love is a Force of Nature" (愛...是與生俱來的力量)，電影的預告片中也滿是希斯萊傑和傑克葛倫霍的浪漫畫面，以及他們各自婚姻生活的甜蜜鏡頭，僅有三幕關於夫妻間因同志秘密戀情而反目的畫面。

同時，片商小心地挑選與斷背山預告片一起播放的其他電影預告片，他們選擇與同樣主打女性觀眾的電影預告片一起播放，例如茱蒂佛斯特的空中危機(Flightplan)，和莎麗賽隆的"North Country"，兩部都是以女性觀眾為訴求的片子。

觀察過去這幾個星期斷背山的觀眾人口組成，你會發現一個很大的改變，上映第一周同志族群出動，60%的觀眾是男生，40%是女生，接下來的三個星期，女性觀眾開始動心，戲院裡變成女生佔60%，男生40%，到了現在，經過各大小獎項和金球獎的加持，異性戀男生也加入了觀眾的行列，男女比變成50/50。

----
翻譯(by Bryan) 自華爾街日報 1/27/2006 W6版
作者John Lippman - john.lippman@wsj.com

Mining 'Brokeback Mountain'
To Make Hit, Studio Wooed Women, Weighed Venues; New York's Microclimates
January 27, 2006; Page W6

Despite the cracks about gay cowboys on late-night TV and chin-stroking about whether it would play in Peoria, "Brokeback Mountain" is poised to be not just one of the most praised films of the 2005 Oscar class -- it will become one of the most profitable movies of the year, and a mainstream one at that.

How did "Brokeback" break out? By surgically targeting where the movie would play in its initial release; selling it as a romance for women rather than a controversial gay-bashing tale; and opting out of the culture wars rather than engaging them.

"I'm more proud of what we didn't do with this film, as opposed to what we did do," says James Schamus, co-president of Focus Features, explaining the contrarian marketing and distribution strategy behind the $14 million film.

"Brokeback," which expanded into 1,196 theaters last weekend and has now grossed $43.8 million at the box office, is filling seats across the country, and last week passed Steven Spielberg's $70 million-budget "Munich" (a drama about Palestinian terrorists) even in the heart of the heartland. "Brokeback" is "doing quite well," says Debby Brehn, vice president of Douglas Theatres in Lincoln, Neb., where "Brokeback" ticket sales are running 3-to-1 against those for "Munich" since "Brokeback" opened Jan. 6. "I wouldn't say people are not seeing it because of its homosexual content," she says.

Aside from the $28 million-budget Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," which has passed $100 million at the U.S. box office since opening Nov. 18, "Brokeback" looks on the way to becoming more profitable than other Oscar contenders, such as "Crash" (box office, $53.4 million), and "Good Night, and Good Luck" (box office, $24.9 million). Each of those films had budgets of just $7.5 million.

One of the most difficult challenges for Hollywood marketers is how to "cross over" a film that normally would appeal only to a narrow audience. A story about two ranch hands who fall in love, "Brokeback" would seem to appeal mostly to a gay and art-movie audience. Getting pigeonholed by a potentially divisive label can ruin a marketing campaign and doom a movie at the box office. It happened to the 1999 critically acclaimed drama "Boys Don't Cry," which won Hilary Swank an Oscar for Best Actress for her role as a Nebraskan girl who lived as a boy. Dogged by its image as a movie about a teenage transgender tragedy, it made only $11.5 million at the U.S. box office and never won a mainstream audience.

At the outset, Focus executives wanted to keep "Brokeback" from becoming a target in the culture wars, which could have overtaken their marketing message -- that it's a romance, not a "gay cowboy movie." Focus did market the film to the gay community but hasn't used it to push the cause of gay rights. "We will never turn the release of the film into a political circus act -- ever," says David Brooks, the studio's president of marketing.

Indeed, movies with gay themes or issues have rarely been a happy experience for Hollywood. Of 176 movies identified as such by BoxOfficeMojo.com, which analyzes box-office statistics and trends, only one movie with a predominantly gay theme has ever earned more than $100 million at the U.S. box office: the 1996 comedy "The Birdcage," which starred Robin Williams.

To try to beat the odds against a gay-themed film succeeding, Focus chose an unusual strategy when it came to placing "Brokeback" in its first theaters in New York and Los Angeles, says Jack Foley, president of distribution at Focus. Like microclimates in Napa Valley that can produce dramatically different wines, neighborhoods in Manhattan can draw entirely different audiences: Chelsea attracts gay viewers, the Village students, the Lincoln Center-area affluent boomers. Word of mouth from a Manhattan opening can determine with what audience a film succeeds or fails.

Normally, "Brokeback" would have opened in downtown theaters in the SoHo-East Village areas -- typical for an art-house film. Instead, on its opening weekend Dec. 9, Mr. Foley placed "Brokeback" into a megaplex in Chelsea, another uptown at Lincoln Center, and only one near Greenwich Village. "I didn't want New York to say this is an art-house film," says Mr. Foley. "I wanted a mix of voices talking about it to defeat it being called 'a gay cowboy movie.' "

Targeting Female Viewers

At the same time, Focus has been marketing "Brokeback" as an epic romance aimed at women. The movie's poster advertises that "Love is a Force of Nature," and the movie's trailer shows seven shots of tender romantic and happy moments between Mr. Ledger's and Jake Gyllenhaal's characters and their respective wives and families. By comparison, only three shots in the trailer show husband-wife confrontations over the gay affair. (Focus executives say the marketing materials are the same nationwide.)

The studio also carefully selected the movies to which it attached the promotional trailer for "Brokeback," with the idea of targeting female viewers, Mr. Brooks says. One was "Flightplan," with Jodie Foster, whose fan base is heavily female. Another was the Charlize Theron drama "North Country," since its theme -- women confronting bias at a Minnesota mine -- had a strong female appeal.

And as the weeks pass, the demographics of the "Brokeback" audience have shifted. Gays turned out for the first weekend, with 60% of the audience male and 40% female. But in the next three weeks, women responded to marketing and the audience flipped to 60% female and 40% male. Now, as the media attention intensifies in the wake of the film's wins at the Golden Globes, heterosexual men are going to the film on their own and the women are sliding back down to the mid-50 percentile, Mr. Brooks says.

Next: Tuesday's Oscar nominations.

Write to John Lippman at john.lippman@wsj.com 

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