WSJ: Yao Film Flop, and why

(Wall Street Journal requires a paid subscription, but here is a copied film 'review', Year of the Yao):

HOLLYWOOD REPORT

• Media & Marketing

Hoop Dreams, Corporate Reality

Big Brands Shun Publicity,
And Yao Ming Film Flops;
No Deal With Wal-Mart
By JOHN LIPPMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
April 22, 2005; Page W8

Q: How do you hide a 7-foot, 6-inch Chinese basketball hero?

A: Put him in a documentary.

"The Year of the Yao," a movie about basketball phenomenon Yao Ming, was scheduled to expand next week to about a dozen cities across the country. But after opening in Houston-area theaters this past weekend -- Mr. Yao plays for the Houston Rockets -- the documentary took in just $27,823 in ticket sales. The debut was such a flop that distributor New Line Cinema canceled its plans to put "The Year of the Yao" into more theaters.

Made for between $1 million and $2 million, "The Year of the Yao" follows Mr. Yao's move from sports icon in China to success and celebrity in the U.S. In particular, the film focuses on the bond he forms with his young American translator, Colin Pine. "We discovered one of his key relationships was with his translator," says Jim Stern, who co-directed the film with Adam Del Deo.

Most documentaries have an uphill struggle in the marketplace -- and sports documentaries may be particularly hard to sell. "There's a subset of the public that sees documentaries, and a subset of them that will see a sports documentary," says Gregg Winik, one of the film's executive producers and executive president of NBA Entertainment, the association's production and programming division. (One major exception to this rule: The 1994 documentary, "Hoop Dreams," a story of two African-American high-school students struggling to become pro basketball players; it cost $700,000 to make and took in $7.8 million at the U.S. box office.)

Asking for Help

But another issue contributed to troubles for "The Year of the Yao": Major companies that have marketing deals with Mr. Yao didn't join in publicizing the movie. They include McDonald's, Reebok and Gatorade. New Line, which is distributing the film through its Fine Line unit, tried -- and failed -- to win their participation, but corporate rivalries and business disagreements kept the big companies away, people familiar with Mr. Yao's marketing deals say.

For one thing, any promotion of the film by McDonald's -- which has done product tie-ins with movies such as Disney's "Finding Nemo" -- was out of the question. The fast-food company has a marketing agreement with Disney that bars it from promoting movies produced by other companies.

As for Reebok, Mr. Yao had an endorsement deal with rival Nike when the documentary was made in 2003 -- Mr. Yao's first season with the Rockets -- and he's shown wearing Nike sport shoes throughout the movie. A person involved in Mr. Yao's endorsement deals says Reebok backed off because of the Nike connection. A spokesman for Reebok says he couldn't comment because the executive who could address the matter isn't available. A third company that has a U.S. deal with Mr. Yao, PepsiCo's Gatorade, said the brand "is not traditionally involved in movies."

"There's conflicts all over the place with these conglomerates that own all these different brands," says Bill Duffy, the president of BDA Sports Management, which advises Mr. Yao on his marketing partnerships. "The best thing on that basis was not to do anything." He noted that one scene in the documentary where Mr. Yao walks into a Taco Bell was cut, for example, because of an endorsement deal with competitor McDonald's. Mr. Yao, who plays center for the Rockets, gets about $15 million annually from endorsement deals with various companies.

For its part, New Line says it always intended a modest opening for the movie: "We never bought it with the expectation that the endorsement partners would be involved," says Russell Schwartz, New Line's president of domestic marketing. The NBA entertainment division, which financed "Yao" but doesn't control its distribution, did some promotion in venues it controls -- such as electronic boards in arenas and on its Web site, but didn't pay for any advertising.

Role of Playoffs

Then there's Wal-Mart. Fine Line says it wanted to put life-size figures of the hoop star in its stores. Though the giant retailer doesn't have an endorsement deal with Mr. Yao, it was receptive to the idea, according to people involved in the negotiations. The "standees" would be props alongside which customers would have their photos taken. According to these people, talks broke down because Wal-Mart wanted Kodak cameras to take the photos and wanted to include Kodak's logo on the standees. Mr. Yao's marketing advisers wouldn't go along with the deal, saying it would be an implied endorsement for Kodak. Wal-Mart didn't respond to requests for comment.

The film faced other promotional hurdles. Mr. Yao is about to enter the NBA playoffs, and he doesn't want to be distracted with promotional efforts for the film, New Line executives say. Studio marketers say they realized this could be a problem if they timed the documentary's release to the playoffs, but they went ahead anyway. "That's a risk we were willing to take," says New Line's Mr. Schwartz.

Now, New Line is trying to draw up a new marketing plan. At some point there will be a DVD, and the studio says it may again seek help from Mr. Yao's marketing partners. It may rerelease the film in theaters this summer. A possible strategy: targeting Chinese-American communities, where Mr. Yao has his strongest fan base.

Write to John Lippman at john.lippman@wsj.com