Studios, theaters offer special deals

LOS ANGELES — The drama "Cinderella Man," which tells the true story of a legendary underdog boxer, is getting some unexpected help now that it has become something of an underdog at the box office.

With the Universal Pictures release grossing only about $50 million since its release four weeks ago, the AMC and Cinemark theater chains are making an offer they hope moviegoers can't refuse: a full refund for anyone who doesn't like the movie.

"We believe in this movie and we want to draw moviegoers out," AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase said Wednesday. "It may have been lost in the summer shuffle."

"Cinderella Man," starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, was supposed to be summer 2005's "Seabiscuit," another heart-warming Depression-era film that grossed more than $100 million domestically for Universal two summers ago.

But like many of the offerings from the major studios this summer, "Cinderella Man" was largely passed over by moviegoers as the movie industry experiences a record 18 weeks of down weekends with an attendance deficit of nearly 10 percent compared with 2004.

Nikki Rocco, Universal Pictures' president of film distribution, said she got a surprise call last Monday from Dick Walsh, AMC's film group chairman.

"He called and said, 'I have to come up with an angle to tell our patrons how great this movie is,' " Rocco related.

What followed was a quick coordination between the movie chain and the studio with newspaper ads trumpeting the offer created within 48 hours.

"I'm very proud of AMC and other exhibitors for every effort they make to extend the life of our films," Rocco said.

The refund ads for "Cinderella Man" first ran last weekend, and AMC reported Wednesday that "Cinderella Man" had the lowest audience drop-off of any of its top 10 films. It is playing in 150 AMC theaters and in 1,677 locations nationwide.

"The only reaction we are getting so far is not having many people take us up on the offer," Blase said.

"Cinderella Man" is not the only film getting an unconventional marketing boost during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, traditionally one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year. Twentieth Century Fox is trying to squeeze even more business out of the season's one true blockbuster, "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" with a "May the Fourth Be With You" campaign: Buy three tickets to "Sith" and get the fourth ticket free.