Bugonia is the latest film by director Yorgos Lanthimos. The dark comedy stars Emma Stone as a high-powered CEO who gets kidnapped by a pair of cousins convinced she’s an alien. In the process, they shave her head bald.
The film opens nationwide on October 31, but one audience in Culver City, Calif., was treated to a special advance screening this week. It was part of a publicity stunt.
In the lobby of the Culver Theater, a tattooed barber named K.C. shaved heads bald in exchange for free tickets for Bugonia.
First in line was Matt Lopez, a 29-year-old Disneyland ride operator. “Ever since I saw the trailer about six months ago, I’m like ‘yeah, I’m definitely down for this,'” he said as his shoulder length brown locks were lopped off. “So if I’m able to see this early and get a free haircut at the same time, it’s a no-brainer.
Olabisi Kovadel, 29, got her head shaved too. “I can feel some air hitting my scalp right now,” she said. “It’s pretty refreshing.”
Over the years, movies have created buzz with other promotional stunts — famously, a phony documentary for the 1999 horror movie The Blair Witch Project.
The late director, David Lynch, once campaigned for his movie Inland Empire by chain-smoking on Hollywood Boulevard with a piano and a live cow.
The latest stunts are experiences designed to become viral social media moments. The Bugonia promo was set up for Focus Features by TriplePlay Studios, the same company that hyped the creepy, supernatural horror film Smile in 2022.
“We sent people to baseball games to sit behind home plate, knowing they’d be on camera,” says Alex Craig, founder of TriplePlay Studios. “They just smiled for the entire baseball game.”
That whacky marketing stunt put TriplePlay Studios on the map. Last summer, the company plugged the survival thriller The Long Walk by having moviegoers walk on treadmills continuously while watching the entire one hour and 48 minute long movie. If they stopped, they were escorted out.
Beyond using traditional media, Craig says studios are trying everything they can to get people back to the cinema. “Something that’s off the wall and gets the internet’s attention,” he says.
Even if that means getting your head shaved like Emma Stone.
Transcript:
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
“Bugonia” is the latest film by director Yorgos Lanthimos. It stars Emma Stone as a high-powered CEO who gets kidnapped by two cousins who are somehow convinced she’s an alien here to destroy Earth.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “BUGONIA”)
EMMA STONE: (As Michelle Fuller) Where’s my hair?
JESSE PLEMONS: (As Teddy Gatz) Your hair has been destroyed to prevent you from contacting your ship.
STONE: (As Michelle Fuller) What ship?
PLEMONS: (As Teddy Gatz) Your mother ship.
MARTIN: The movie opens nationwide on Halloween, but some people in Culver City, California, got to see it early if they agreed to some special terms. NPR’s Mandalit del Barco reports on movie marketing stunts.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: In the lobby of the Culver Theater Monday evening, a tattooed barber named K.C. (ph) shaved heads bald in exchange for free tickets to “Bugonia.”
(SOUNDBITE OF HAIR CLIPPERS BUZZING)
MATT LOPEZ: It’s happening. OK, cool.
DEL BARCO: First in line was Matt Lopez, a 29-year-old Disneyland ride operator.
LOPEZ: Ever since I saw the trailer about six months ago, I’m like, yeah, I’m definitely down for this. And so if I’m able to see this early and get a free haircut on the same time, it’s a no-brainer.
DEL BARCO: Twenty-nine-year-old Olabisi Kovadel (ph) got her head shaved, too.
OLABISI KOVADEL: Yeah, I can feel some air hitting my scalp right now. It’s pretty refreshing.
DEL BARCO: Over the years, movies have created buzz with other promotional stunts – famously, a phony documentary for the 1999 horror movie “The Blair Witch Project.”
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Hello? Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: “The Blair Witch Project,” the most intense theatrical experience of the summer, has spawned the most frightening investigation on television.
DEL BARCO: The late director David Lynch once campaigned for his movie “Inland Empire” by chain-smoking on Hollywood Boulevard with a piano and a live cow. The latest stunts have become viral social media moments. The “Bugonia” promo was set up for Focus Features by TriplePlay Studios, founded by Alex Craig, the same company that staged an event in 2022 for the creepy, supernatural horror film “Smile.”
ALEX CRAIG: We sent people to baseball games to sit behind home plate, knowing they’d be on camera the whole game. And they just smiled for the entire baseball game.
DEL BARCO: That wacky marketing stunt put TriplePlay on the map. Last summer, the company promoted the survival thriller “The Long Walk.” Inside one theater, moviegoers had to walk on treadmills while watching the entire one-hour-and-48-minute-long movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: If you fall, if you trip, if you slow down, if you stop, you will be escorted out.
(Shouting) Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Shouting) Sir, yes, sir.
DEL BARCO: Beyond using traditional media, Craig says studios are trying everything they can to get people back to the cinemas.
CRAIG: Something that’s off the wall and gets the internet’s attention.
DEL BARCO: Even if that means getting your head shaved, like Emma Stone.
Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles.
MARTIN: Let me mention that Focus Features is a financial supporter of NPR.
(SOUNDBITE OF KERIAN BEATS SONG, “LOFI 2.3”)
