Thor: The Dark World RESEARCH

Thor: The Dark World

Research:

Thor: The Dark World is an American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film was directed by Alan Taylor with a screenplay by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The film was produced by Kevin Feige.

The film features: 

Chris Hemsworth, 

Natalie Portman, 

Tom Hiddleston, 

Anthony Hopkins, 

Stellan Skarsgård, 

Idris Elba, 

Kat Dennings, 

Christopher Eccleston, 

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, 

Ray Stevenson, 

Zachary Levi, 

Tadanobu Asano, 

Jaimie Alexander, 

Rene Russ.

The film premiered on the 22nd of October 2013 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. It was internationally released on October 30, 2013 and is scheduled to be released in cinemas on November 8, 2013 in the United States.

The approximate budget used to create this film was $45,200,000.

Principle photography began on September 10, 2012 in Bourne Wood, Surrey.

The film's visual effects were completed by seven special effect studios, including Double Negative and Luma Pictures.

In terms of marketing, in April, 2013, Marvel released the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World. The trailer ensures to include the recognizable actors within the first shot to attract the attention of the viewers. 

In July at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Hiddleston introduced footage from the film to audiences in character of Loki. 

Also, in July, Gameloft announced that a mobile video game titled Thor the Dark World: The Official Game, would be released in conjunction with the release of the film in November.

In August 2013, Marvel released a second trailer for the film as part of Youtube's Geek Week. It was said that "the collaboration between Thor and Loki promises to be very interesting. 

Later in the month, producer Kevin Feige and cast members Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins presented additional footage at Disney's D23 Expo. 

Also in August 2013, Disney announced plans to promote the film with an attraction at Disneyland. The attraction called "Treasures of Asgard", located next to the Stark Industries exhibit inside Innoventions in Tomorrowland, opened on November 1, 2013 and features displays of Asgardian relics and transports guests to Odin's throne room, where they are greeted by Thor.

On November 1, 2013, Marvel announced that an upcoming episode of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., titled "The Well", will take place in the aftermath of the events of Thor: The Dark World.

Examples of synergy with other products/merchandise:

• Action figures, 
• Lego toys, 
• Costumes, 
• Back packs, 
• Teddy bears,
• Props (e.g. Thor's hammer) 

All the examples reach out to the younger target market which could be their secondary target audience, after the teen targets.

• Phone cases
• Posters
• Stationary
• USB Cables

All these examples refer to the teenage target audience, marketing their products in the 13-19 year old directions. E.g. Through social networking sites, etc.


With regards of reaching out to their target audience, which is mainly teenagers as the film is action based, MarvelUK promoted the film on twitter so that it appears on everyone's timeline. The tweet claimed: "Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (@TWHiddleston) return to UK cinemas TODAY in Thor: The Dark World #ThorReturns." As the majority of teenagers use social networking sites, they promoted the film on twitter as it was likely for their target audience to see it. They, also put posters on buses so that everyone can see, whether it is target audience or not, with the intention of attracting others from different age groups, hoping to widen their target market.