Six Days in August D.O.A.?

[drumdude]

I think the problem can be summed up in one word: marketing. This event IS dramatic and inherently interesting. Even a flawed attempt at rendering it in film should do much better. Lack of adequate marketing is the problem.

Which additional audience would you target in a marketing campaign? They already had billboards in the Salt Lake area, per Daniel’s blog.

I don’t think non-Mormons would be very interested in the film, what do you think?

[Doctor Scratch]

I think the problem can be summed up in one word: marketing. This event IS dramatic and inherently interesting. Even a flawed attempt at rendering it in film should do much better. Lack of adequate marketing is the problem.

Which additional audience would you target in a marketing campaign? They already had billboards in the Salt Lake area, per Daniel’s blog.

I don’t think non-Mormons would be very interested in the film, what do you think?

I think it would be a hard sell no matter how you slice it, but let's face it: this is essentially Mopologetic propaganda. To make this dramatically interesting, they would have had to craft the narrative so that there was actual tension and uncertainty surrounding the succession. So, it would have needed to seem like a legitimate possibility that Joseph Smith III or Strang, etc. might have been passed the mantle. But you know from the outset that this is about "propping up" BY, and trying to show that he's something other than a "racist" and a "tyrant," and that just isn't interesting. It's spin-doctoring and PR masquerading as a movie. I mean, do you think Dallin Oaks would have shown up to a film that gave equal dramatic consideration to the other contenders for the "Succession"?

[drumdude]

Which additional audience would you target in a marketing campaign? They already had billboards in the Salt Lake area, per Daniel’s blog.

I don’t think non-Mormons would be very interested in the film, what do you think?

I think it would be a hard sell no matter how you slice it, but let's face it: this is essentially Mopologetic propaganda. To make this dramatically interesting, they would have had to craft the narrative so that there was actual tension and uncertainty surrounding the succession. So, it would have needed to seem like a legitimate possibility that Joseph Smith III or Strang, etc. might have been passed the mantle. But you know from the outset that this is about "propping up" BY, and trying to show that he's something other than a "racist" and a "tyrant," and that just isn't interesting. It's spin-doctoring and PR masquerading as a movie. I mean, do you think Dallin Oaks would have shown up to a film that gave equal dramatic consideration to the other contenders for the "Succession"?

Yep. At the end of the day it’s a propaganda film, and audiences don’t appreciate that very much. Remember Battlefield Earth? Word got around pretty quickly about the Scientology connection.

Meanwhile many great films deal with religion more honestly. The Mission(1986) comes to mind. Imagine if that film was produced by the Catholic Church instead, how much poorer we would be with that version of the movie.

[drumdude]

It’s not that it’s entirely bad. I liked some of the music and I liked when Brother Brigham spoke the Elvish language.

I got a chuckle out of this rotten tomatoes review

[Doctor Scratch]

Desperation is sinking in: he’s practically begging people to go see it at this point. It’s pathetic.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

It’s truly sad watching the Executive Producer beg and plead for people to purchase tickets.

It almost makes me want to purchase another ticket. Almost.

[drumdude]

There were a couple large auditoriums which sold a majority of the seats for today’s screenings. I skimmed the cinemark website for 4-5 Utah theaters. I expect the totals for Monday to be substantial.

[I Have Questions]

There were a couple large auditoriums which sold a majority of the seats for today’s screenings. I skimmed the cinemark website for 4-5 Utah theaters. I expect the totals for Monday to be substantial.

It strikes me that a Monday evening is the best time for this movie to be screened.

[Kishkumen]

I doubt most people would understand what it is propaganda for, even Mormons. Mormons will just assume that this movie represents more or less what happened in accordance with divine will. It tells them what they want to believe. Why would they have a problem with that? To the contrary of what most people seem to think here, I would imagine that most LDS people would find it entertaining, if they but knew about it. Marketing has gotten very sophisticated and requires a certain level of saturation in order to be effective. You also have to start a lot earlier, in my opinion, than they seem to have had the funds to do.

Although I am not a fan of Brigham Young . . . at all . . . I am sorry that the movie is doing poorly thus far. I was hoping it would do better, but I was worried by the late fundraising call, which seemed to me to be a bad sign.

Regardless of what happens, I will see the movie, and I will probably enjoy it, regardless of the fact that I don't care for Brigham Young. The transition from Smith's assassination to the leader who would take the Mormons across the plains is a naturally interesting and dramatic set of events. I am eager to see what these filmmakers have done with them. Unfortunately, I will have to wait a very long time to do so.

[I Have Questions]

While it is not officially made by the church it has history and doctrinal content that will be confusing for non-members. For example, a whole section at the end is about members waiting at the temple to get their endowments before they leave Nauvoo. Non-members will have no idea what this means or why it is so important to the characters they are seeing.

https://rachelsreviews.net/2024/10/12/c ... in-august/

I wish screenwriter Mark Goodman got to the 6 days of the title sooner and built up Brigham Young (John Donovan Wilson) more as opposed to spending so much time with Smith. Why was he more worthy by God than Sidney Rigdon (Joseph Carlson)?

It’s a shame the Producers didn’t use a less biased test group to review the film as it went along. They might have picked on these important points in time to save it from being simply a film for Mormons.