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Why New Line 'Air-Balled' on Semi-Pro's Marketing

Industry expert Dusty Thomas is a contributor providing editorials and other articles related to the ins and outs of the business side of the movie industry and Hollywood.

As if we ever needed a reason why New Line needed to be swallowed by Warner Brothers (read about that here), the miserable performance of Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro would be it. With a marketing campaign that was spread across all media and a weekend with no strong competition, Semi-Pro should have been a sure-fire comedy success, one that closed near the successes of Blades of Glory and Talladega Nights. Instead it suffered through the weekend pulling in just over $15 million (via Box Office Mojo) as a direct result of marketing directed at the wrong demographics, an R-rating that further restricted those that would be interested, and poor release scheduling.