The summer movie season is now in full swing and the pace of major releases is picking up -- War of the Worlds opens tomorrow (Wednesday, June 29th) and has only one relatively competition-free weekend before the Fantastic Four debuts on July 8th.  Twentieth Century Fox, which has had lots of success with the Marvel-based X-Men films, is mounting a major marketing campaign for its Fantastic Four adaptation.  Fox's marketing efforts have included lots of TV ads running in prominent positions (the NBA Finals) on both network and cable TV stations.  In addition to TV advertising Fantastic Four movie marketing extends to a wide variety of consumer goods including FF Popsicles, branded Brach's candies, Samsung electronics (which are featured in the film), and even SBC phone bills.

But one of the biggest marketing ploys for the film could be a cover story, backed with five different covers featuring the individual members of the FF team plus their nemesis, Dr. Doom, on the July 3rd cover dated issue of TV Guide.  Although the circulation of TV Guide (like most magazines) is not what it once was, the popular small screen news and listings publication remains one of the best-selling publications in the U.S. -- and its prominent placement in supermarket checkout lanes provides unparalleled exposure for a movie property such as the Fantastic Four.

The Fantastic Four film is opening during the most competitive stretch of the summer season -- it was originally supposed to debut for the July 4th weekend, but was pushed back when War of the Worlds was announced for June 29th -- and this summer Hollywood has suffered through its longest series of year-to-year declines (18 weeks) in two decades.  Both Marvel and Fox have a lot riding on the success of the FF film -- Marvel desperately wants another top tier property to go along with Spider-Man and the X-Men, which bring in millions in toy and video game licensing revenues, but Hollywood doesn't fear the FF yet, witness Paramount's willingness to go head-to-head with the FF over the July 4th weekend with War of the Worlds.  The TV Guide exposure will surely help, but only time will tell if Marvel can make the Fantastic Four into a movie franchise capable of consistently earning over $60 million during its debut weekend.

For retailers a the launching of a successful Fantastic Four film franchise could mean a gradual growth in readership for FF comics and graphic novels (as successful as they have been the Spider-Man and X-Men films have not led to dramatic growth in comic book readership) as well as opportunities for those who deal in toys (where there is a full line of FF releases) and those who sell movie-based books, souvenir magazines (see 'Titan to Release a Series of FF Pubs') and trading cards (see 'Upper Deck's Full House for 2005').