"Act like a criminal to catch a criminal."
Vertigo Films is a British film production company which promotes commercially driven independent films, that is to say, independent films that may become mainstream and have a larger profit margin than most independent films would. The majority of the films are either action, thriller, or rough comedy.
A recent film made by Vertigo is "The Sweeney", based on the TV show from the 70s of the same name. It is about a detective who enters the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police. The film was premiered in Switzerland, at the Locarno Film Festival (August 1st) and was subsequently released in the UK on the 12th September. It was not highly anticipated by the US audience, due to the story as well as the fact that it was mainly promoted in the UK. It was promoted with Orange, as a pre-film advertisement in cinemas across the UK.
The film had an original budget of £3,000,000, however, after production, the final budget ended up being less than £2,000,000! The film made a box office total of £4,474,661, successful considering the lower box-office returns of the UK. It topped the box office in the opening weekend, bringing in 1.5 million and replacing Dredd at the top of the chart. It was advertised well, mainly appearing as posters in tube stations or in newspapers. Facebook pages and Twitter were also means of promoting the film.
This film was set to target the 15-35 male audience that Vertigo has targeted in the past (The Football Factory, Monsters, Retreat) and was a success. It was released in December 2012 on Blu-ray and DVD.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is one of the big six, that is to say they are one of the six highest profit film companies in the world. They are vertically integrated, owning almost everything from production to post-production to distribution to merchandise.
A successful film recently made by WB Pictures is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Released July 7th, 2011, to coincide with the school holidays, this film was the ultimate of the Harry Potter series. The pre-sold elements of it being a sequel, a franchise and already having a fan base from the books, as well as having well-known actors and a high-concept, simplistic storyline made it an obvious success.
Its budget was $250 million, mostly spent on above the line costs such as set, special effects and props. Marketing for the film included posters ("It all ends 7.15"), Facebook groups, Twitter, a website, behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and merchandising.
$1,328,111,219 was its worldwide earning, making it the fourth-highest grossing film in history and the highest grossing film of 2011.
Distribution of the film for home-media began in December 2011. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray, in both single set and box set format. It became the fastest-selling pre-order on Amazon as well!
Contrasts
While Vertigo makes mainly British, lower budget, experimental films, Warner Bros. makes high-budget, high-concept, franchise films destined for global success.
This is due to the conglomerate status of WB Pictures, as well as the fact that the American film industry is much more vast and rich than that of Britain.
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