What made Shutter Island Scorseses and DiCaprios most successful film opening?
The nine month slow burn has paid off for the release of ‘Shutter Island.’ The R-rated thriller from Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio opened to a $40.2 million weekend. Comparatively, ‘The Departed’ was the previous largest release for both Scorsese and DiCaprio, opening to $26.8 million. Paramount was criticized by its move to push back the film from its original October release, especially a film by such a big name like Scorsese. However, their claims of insufficient marketing funds at that time allowed the film an extended campaign to seep in to the adult audience base that came out in force this past weekend. A successful Super Bowl campaign paired with the waiting game of picking a weekend where the film would be the only new wide-release was a worth while gamble. ‘Island’ was the fourth film between Scorsese and DiCaprio. The story was based off the Dennis Lehane novel of the same name. Dissecting the overall campaign, what part of film’s release contributing the most t
