CONFIDENTIAL
To: Sony Pictures - David Kaminow, Abe Recio, Sabrina Yamaguchi
From: Neil Harrison, Sean Steele, Stuart Grant, Sarah McDonnell
Subject: Summary of German Tracking: 21st - 27th September 2009
Date: 28th September 2009
Germany - Market Overview
PLEASE SEE ACCOMPANYING DATA TABLES FOR FULL BREAKDOWN OF TITLES
PLEASE NOTE THAT “DEFINITE” INTEREST IS BASED ON THOSE AWARE, SO BASE SIZES CAN BE SMALL
OPENING THIS WEEK (01 October 2009):
gangs / land of the lost / MÄn som hatar kvinnor / pandorum / shorts / the ugly truthHoldovers Wickie Und Die Starken Männer (Constantin) and Up (Disney) held the top two spots at the German box office over the weekend, and are likely to remain competitive against this week’s openers.
Of this week’s new releases, German moviegoers are most aware of Sony’s The Ugly Truth (9% unaided, 29% total aware) and Disney’s Gangs (7% unaided, 31% total aware). However, The Ugly Truth is best placed in terms of “definite” interest and first choice, in particular, generating higher levels of enthusiasm to see it among the younger female audience.
· Unaided mentions of The Ugly Truth peaks at 14% among younger females and 45% of this quadrant are aware overall.
· “Definite” interest, at an above average 32% overall, reaches 45% among younger females. Of the films opening or in release, 4% pick The Ugly Truth (on norm), and again this measures spikes among younger females (12%).
· Looking at fellow opener Gangs, awareness skews towards the younger quads (8%-9% unaided and 37%-38% total awareness), highest among those aged 13-17 years old (41% aware). Like awareness, “definite” interest to see it is also driven by teens where it is likely to be most competitive (29% among 13-17s).
· The other four titles on tracking have below average awareness levels; Land Of The Lost (16%; Universal), Pandorum (12%; Constantin), Shorts (11%; WB), and Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (8%; WB).
Germany MARKET OVERVIEW
OPENING NEXT WEEK (08 October 2009)
· WB’s Männerherzen has made gains in terms of both awareness and “definite” interest this week. It remains the week’s leader and is tracking best among younger females.
o Unaided mentions increased 1% point to 4%, total awareness rose 4% points to 34%, and “definite” interest (among aware) strengthened from 24% to 33%.
o First choice, at 4%, is unchanged from last week (peaking at 6% among younger females).
· Awareness of the remaining three titles releasing next week (on tracking) are below normative levels, and they register no first choice picks.
OTHER PRE-RELEASE TITLES:
· After moving its release date forward one week, Constantin’s Die Päpstin (Pope Joan) is now three weeks out. While awareness of the title is unchanged from last week (3% unaided, 40% total aware), its first choice level rose from 5% to 6%, and easily leads the week.
· One week later, Sony’s Michael Jackson’s This Is It is the stand-out title of the week. Its total awareness level rose 7% points to reach 42%, and unaided mentions rose from 1% to 2%. “Definite” interest to see it (26%) and first choice (5%) remain at similar levels as last week.
· Six weeks out, Sony’s 2012 continues to register a strong level of “definite” interest (46%) among those aware (22% total aware). It leads the week with 4% first choice, although this measure dipped from 6% last week driven by a drop among younger females (from 5% to 0%).
· Coming on to tracking at eight weeks out, and looking very strong among the younger female audience, is the second instalment of Twilight (The Twilight Saga: New Moon). Key measures among younger females are: 13% unaided, 44% total awareness, 63% “definite” interest and 22% first choice.
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SONY – International Tracking © COPYRIGHT NIELSEN NRG 2009 28 September 2009
Michael Jackson’s This Is ItOpening week / Market / Summary
29 October / / This Week
· Four weeks out, the film has seen a rise in awareness, while “definite” interest and first choice remain at similar levels to last week.
· Unaided awareness increased from 1% to 2%, with the biggest gain seen among younger males (from 1% to 4%).
· Total awareness rose 7% points to reach 42%, with both younger quads showing 10%-12% point gains (to 50% among younger females and 42% among younger males).
· “Definite” interest is at 26% (was 27%), while 5% make the title as their first choice (unchanged).
· Looking at the Likely Attendee profile, there is a skew towards the younger quads, especially towards those aged 13-17 years old.
Competitors
· Die Päpstin is no longer on This Is It’s release date (moving forward one week). Therefore, This Is It easily leads the week with awareness of its fellow releases at below average levels.
2012
Opening week / Market / Summary
12 November / / This Week
· Six weeks out, both awareness measures have increased 1% point each this week (to 3% unaided and 22% total), “definite” interest remains unchanged (at 46%), however first choice dipped slightly (from 6% to 4%).
· Among the quads, younger males are most aware overall (27%), and they are also most “definitely” interested in seeing it (54%). First choice skews towards both male quads (7% each vs. 2% among older females, 0% younger females).
· To note, the dip in first choice was driven by younger females (decreased from 5% to 0%), due to Twilight 2 entering tracking in the eight week window (with 22% first choice among this quadrant).
Comparisons
· In comparison, German moviegoers were more aware of Transformers at this stage (6% unaided, 31% total aware). Although, “definite” interest to see it was not as strong (28% vs. 2012’s 46%).
· National Treasure: Book Of Secrets registered the closet “definite” interest level comparably (45%). However, awareness of it was lower (1% unaided, 14% total aware).
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SONY – International Tracking © COPYRIGHT NIELSEN NRG 2009 28 September 2009
APPENDIX NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE TITLE INFORMATION
Non-English language title information
(GR 182)
13 SEMESTER
A comedy about the highs and lows of student life.
Das Weisse Band (THE WHITE RIBBON)
Set in a Northern German village before World War I during the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the film depicts the emergence of National Socialism. Winner of the Palme D'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
DIE PäPSTIN
A 9th century woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks
Die Tür
A successful artist loses control of his life after his young daughter's death. A chance for a new start appears, but all is not what it seems.
Friendship!
A young man from East Germany travels to San Francisco to search for his father, who fled 12 years ago.
Horst Schlämmer - Isch kandidiere!
Cinematic adaptation of hit the Germany TV comedy featuring Horst Schlammer, the popular character created by veteran TV funny guy Hape Kerkeling. The new film; "Isch kandidiere!" (“I'm running!”) features Schlammer – a sort of a kinder, gentler and German version of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat -- running for the post of German Chancellor. Similar to Cohen, Kerkeling's comedy features impromptu, on-the-street interviews with real politicians, celebrities and ordinary people.
Laura’s stern und der drache nian
In the follow up to Laura’s Star little Laura is this time in faraway China on exotic adventures. There she makes new, unusual friends, like the friendly dragon Nian.
LENTAJAN POIKA
A reindeer boy named Niko dreams about flying like his father, whom he has never met. Despite suffering from severe vertigo, he sneaks out of his home valley to take flying lessons from Julius, a member of a Finnish family of rare flying squirrels.
Liebe Mauer
Sascha has joined the GDR army for three years for the sole purpose of gaining a place at medical school. Franzi is a bold young West German woman who is having difficulty paying her rent. When these two protagonists fall in love and arrange secret meetings, both the Stasi and the CIA believe they are seeing the beginnings of a revolt, while the Berlin Wall starts to tremble.
LIPPELS TRAUM
A 10 year old boy's imagination runs wild, when he is left alone for a few days with a copy of "1001 Nights."
MÄN SOM HATAR KVINNOR (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
16-year old girl Harriet Vanger disappeared without a trace on September 29th 1966. Nearly forty years later a journalist by the name of Mikael Blomqvist gets an unusual assignment. He is contacted by the industrial leader Henrik Vanger, who wants him to write the history of the Vanger family. The family chronicle is just a cover for the real assignment: to find out about what really happened to Harriet.
Männerherzen
German comedy about a group of male friends looking for love, happiness and finding out what it means to be a man.
PETTSON OCH FINDUS IV
Animated sequel from Sweden featuring two lovable characters, Pettersson, the kindly, bearded man and Findus the cat. Based on the popular children's books by Sven Nordqvist.
TANNÖD
Based on Andrea Maria Schenkel's novel about the gruesome murder of a whole family in a rural community.
Unter Bauern
Unter Bauern recounts how some courageous farmers in the Muensterland region gave refuge to Marga Spiegel’s husband Menne, herself and her daughter under false names in their farmhouse between 1943 and 1945. The farmers succeeded in achieving the seemingly impossible: protecting the whole family for two years and saving them from deportation to the death camps without themselves having to pay with their own lives or being punished in other ways by the German government in those days.
WICKIE & DIE STARKEN MÄNNER
Vicky is a Viking boy who lives with his parents Halvar and Ylva in the small village Flake. He is a typical viking boy, but rather fearful. He is also not very strong but smart. One day he sails with the grown up vikings out to the sea and to experience a great and funny adventure.
WÜstenblume
Based on the world best-selling book DESERT FLOWER by Waris Dirie - the autobiography of a Somalian nomad, who was circumcised at 5, sold in to marriage at 13 and later became a supermodel. She is now the UN spokeswoman against circumcision.
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SONY – International Tracking © COPYRIGHT NIELSEN NRG 2009 28 September 2009