The Slate

Beyonce stirred up a lot of buzz recently when she debuted her self-titled album on iTunes - without much prior marketing. As a pop star, it’s the standard that a singer must go through a set marketing strategy: release a hit, maybe another, perform on a big, well known TV show, and then rake in the profits. But, Beyonce went against all that as Beyonce came out on iTunes without any previous announcements. In return, it sold more than 800,000 digital copies within three days. Could her sneak-attack release strategy be the future for the movie industry as well? It’s possible.

Just like pop stars, movies also go through a strenuous marketing process, but things might be different if studios started spontaneously releasing flicks. With the constant push of new films, whether through commercials, talk shows, or ads, people sometimes feel they’ve already seen what they need to and decide against going to see the film in theater. But, what if it was quickly released after an announcement through one simple tweet? Say, Will Ferrell lets fans know through his Facebook page that Anchorman 2 will be out at midnight: pandamonium would ensue. This tactic could be a way to save money for some middle-budget movies as well because they wouldn’t need to spend thousands of dollars on strenuous marketing. While some skeptics believe this could only work for movies that already have a built-up fan base, like Paranormal Activity or The Hunger Games, it might be the new norm for the movie industry if executed perfectly, like Beyonce.