A New Box Office Model - Paramount's 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' - TheWrap

<div readability="86.3779033271"> <!-- <div class="by-image"> </div> --> <p>By<span class="credit"> Daniel Frankel</span></p> <p> He may not have won a Grammy, but Justin Bieber achieved something this weekend no one else has through the first six weeks of the year -- draw large numbers of kids to the box office, and do it without spending a lot of money.</p> <p> With Bieber's "Never Say Never" grossing an impressive $29.5 million in its first three days of release, the movie reversed a steep downward trend at the box office.</p> <p> The movie also commanded an audience that was 67 percent under the age of 25 --  the very moviegoers who are critical to maintaining the theatrical box office.</p> <p> By spending a tight $13 million on production, leveraging tons of free, viral publicity -- everywhere from Saturday Night Live to the pop star's massive Twitter feed -- the movie just might represent a prototype for future theatrical success.</p> <p> <strong>Also read: Grammys: On a Night of Bold Performances, Safe Choice Lady Antebellum Rules</strong></p> <p> Not only was "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" produced for the entirely frugal $13 million but it required a prints-and-advertising spend of only around $20 million, according to Paramount executives.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="http://www.thewrap.com/sites/default/files/images_3.jpeg" title="" width="180" height="281" />"The ad spend was about half of what you would normally have to put out to get a gross like that," noted Don Harris, general manager of distribution for Paramount. For Paramount, which launched the Jon Chu directed film through its Insurge micro-budget label, timing was everything.</p> <p> Within a span of only about six months -- turnaround time for script changes at most major studios -- Insurge was able to conceptualize, develop and shoot the biographically-edged concert movie focused on an emerging star with a big fat Twitter following -- currently at 7.2 million and ever growing.</p> <p> <strong>Also read: 10 Rockers and Rappers to Follow on Twitter</strong></p> <p> But being able to get the movie ready quickly enabled "Never Say Never" to debut at a time when its subject is still very hot ... and has a ton of no-cost marketing opportunities.</p> <p> In the run-up to "Never Say Never," these included an appearance at the Golden Globes, during which the teen icon aggressively hawked his film, as well as spots on "The Daily Show," "David Letterman," "Ellen" and two gigs on "Saturday Night Live."</p> <p> And while Paramount executives say it was never their master plan to have "Never Say Never" debut during Grammys weekend, when Bieber's media presence would be more ubiquitous than usual, the timing was fortunate.</p> <p> "You have to attribute most of the film's success to the passion and awareness that was built in already on the Internet," said a rival-studio distribution executive. "Paramount really did a great job of tapping into that."</p> <p> Added another rival-studio marketing executive: "For this to work like it did, it has to be built around a subject that has sort of an eventized nature to it."</p> <h4 class="related-links">Related Wrap Stories</h4> <noscript></noscript> </div>