Having your vehicles prominently featured in a big-ticket Hollywood film is any automaker’s dream, but Ram’s starring role in the upcoming movie Monster Trucks has turned into a nightmare.
Apparently, the film is so awful that Paramount Pictures has delayed its release three times and taken the odd step of booking a $115 million impairment charge, Automotive News reports. A write-down, in other words.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles wants the promotion, but could it end up gaining notoriety by starring in a mega-dud?
When the studio basically states loud and clear that it expects to lose money on a box office stinker, it’s not an ideal place for any automaker. FCA chief marketing officer Olivier Francois might want to leave it off his list of accomplishments.
The movie stars Lucas Till (born in 1990) as a high school student who shelters aliens with the help of his friends, including a girl he’ll totally kiss by the end of the movie. Oh, and the aliens take up residence inside Ram trucks, giving them super powers. Monster Trucks…get it?
The movie’s trailer, which is unwatchably bad, only broadcasts to would-be viewers that this flick is an epic turkey in the making. We’re talking about a “10” on the Pluto Nash scale. According to the Wall Street Journal, the movie’s plot was hatched from the fertile minds of a former studio president and his four-year-old son, so Paramount has no one to blame but itself.
For FCA, the situation couldn’t be more different than 1996, when its Dodge Ram pickup warranted third billing alongside Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister. That role helped Dodge move its recently redesigned merchandise, because who doesn’t like watching flying cows?
Not everyone is convinced Monster Trucks is a bad thing for Ram. Stacy Jones, CEO of Hollywood Branded, tells Automotive News that FCA’s gambit could still pay off.
“There is a lot of value there, even if the film is a horrible bomb,” Jones said. “As a marketer, you can hit a segment audience, target a specific consumer demographic” with a movie product placement.
[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
Thanks for the trailer. The 14 year old in me wants one!
Holy crap, it’s awesome! Kids will love it!
This is in no way intended for adults, even the nominal ones into monster trucks. I think the studio is reverse marketing it.
Ahh the elusive target demographic.
Yeah, 14 year olds with $40,000 in disposable income.
How dare you suggest the truck-formerly-known-as-Dodge is DISPOSABLE?
They should dispose of that ugly plastic grill.
Looks like it belongs on the SyFy channel. They sure know how to come up with some stupid $#¡Г.
SyFy : horror films :: Porn Parodies : current events.
They should have stayed with Ambiln-Universal for exposure in the Jurassic Park series. None of the Mercedes vehicles have ever been a stand out in the series. Last summers Jurassic World got the 22- year-old Jeep nod.
I remember the demise of poor Eddie in Lost World when I think of Mercedes in Jurassic Park.
I remember Muldoon, Sadler, and Malcolm narrowly escaping the T-Rex when I think of Jeep in Jurassic Park.
Quite a world of difference!
I guess a Cummins not able to haul an rv & trailer up a cliff would have been a bit of a downer…
took the family out to see a similarly bad movie last night “Middle School the worst years of my life”, and the Monster Trucks trailer was in the previews. My wife and I exchanged mutual WTF looks after seeing that trailer. Horribly. Bad. Movie.
Looks appropriate for 10 year old boys.
So I must be one inside. Loved the trailer! (NOT the target audience for the truck though.)
Other than being a sort of knock-off of Transformers, it didn’t look too bad. Of course I have the same taste in movies as a 12 year old as well. Life’s to short to watch boring crap, I need explosions.
Pure pablum for the tween boys and younger who will feel attached to it and eat up the following toys, clothes, and inevitable cartoon series…
The same RAM…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0THMwP_MXE
The same RAM…
Fun Fact – Pluto Nash featured a Chrysler.
Would you have paid $12 to see any of the Sharnado movies
That is the new McGyver as the leading guy, let’s see him get out of this mess!
So why are we getting a Herbie Fully Loaded remake?
This movie makes Sharknado look like high brow theater.
The trailer is not close to unwatchable. With 3 boys aged 4-13, I am sure we will end up watching it at some point, though not at a full price theater–drive-in, budget movie, or video most-likely.
Movies that sometimes look awful pleasantly surprise you.
Of course, they’re usually just as bad as they look at first glance.
Hey–at least, for once, it’s not another reboot.
This looks like a great 60-120 minutes of mindless amusement to me. If you go in expecting that, then the movie should be just fine.
My 4 year old son will love this. I can already see toy versions of these trucks under the tree lol.
Even adjusting for the fact that those are all the best scenes in the movie, it doesn’t look THAT bad. High art, it’s not. But it’s amusing, the trailer made me laugh.
I’ll wait for the RiffTrax.