I wonder if we're in the throes of another marketing mishap regarding "Where the Wild Things Are." The film looks amazing but having read the script, I'm sure it was a total bitch for the sales department to fathom...

The film's TONE is gonna' prove a really tough sell.

I hope to God I'm wrong, of course....

The first reviews of WTWTA are so-so:

Daily Variety

Fleet of foot, emotionally attuned to its subject and instinctively faithful to its celebrated source, "Where the Wild Things Are" earns a lot of points for its hand-crafted look and unhomogenized, dare-one-say organic rendering of unrestrained youthful imagination. But director Spike Jonze's sharp instincts and vibrant visual style can't quite compensate for the lack of narrative eventfulness that increasingly bogs down this bright-minded picture. Widespread curiosity about the cinematic fate of Maurice Sendak's childhood perennial looks to spur sizable if not stellar commercial results in all markets, including on Imax screens.

Hollywood Reporter

Bottom Line: A reverential but uninvolving adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic illustrated book for children.

To quote Joel Stein:

"I don't get it. So this is about a kid that goes to Burning Man?"

All that being said about marketing 2-3 months prior to theatrical release, I am surprised we dont see a larger campaign before most movies hit DVD.
The potential for sales there are huge including creating rental interest and forcing Blockbuster, for example, to purchase more copies.
Would love to know what percentage of marketing budget is put aside for DVD release down the road or if the budget is revisited after theatrical success is measured.