Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Mexico is the envy of the film world with Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet and a viral commercial

 When the stars of Dune: Part Two visited Mexico, they not only dedicated the brief stay to promoting the sequel and receiving the love of fans while sporting futuristic styles . They also made time in their schedules to film a commercial for Cinépolis , the largest film exhibition chain in Mexico and Latin America, and in the process elevated the country as the envy of the film world.

The story takes us to the sands of Arrakis where a photographer flees from the imminent attack of a sandworm, the lethal monsters of Denis Villeneuve's ambitious adaptation.  But then we discover that she is not a photographer but a spectator who observes the story through the lens of her camera, feeling the adrenaline of the action until she takes refuge in her popcorn. And at that moment the stars of the sequel, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya , appear, but in their characters. As if Paul Atreides and Chani came to her rescue, wrapping her around her and guiding her to the door of the room, inviting her to let herself be carried away by the magic of cinema. Once inside she is accompanied by Florence Pugh and Austin Butler , like the other traveling companions in the same story.

The commercial premiered on YouTube in mid-February although it went largely unnoticed. It is only now that the public is commenting and sharing it upon discovering it as part of the previews that are shown before each screening of the sequel in Cinépolis theaters throughout Latin America.

And the result is going viral with reactions of all kinds : from those who take the opportunity to criticize the network based on their bad experiences, to those who applaud Zendaya 's mischievous faces and those who do not understand the game of seductive glances that Timothée casts (me neither the truth). However, I think this all reflects something much bigger.

A commercial that is the envy of cinema

I think I am not wrong in assuming that the vast majority of viewers hate the commercials that they force us to consume when we go to the movies. After all, these are products that, in general, have nothing to do with the movie we are going to see (cars, cell phones, insurance... we have seen everything). In many cases, they only make the wait for the precious trailers seem eternal but, in the case of Cinépolis, they usually play with completely different promotions.

For example, they did it with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrara for the premiere of Barbie with a commercial where they appeared sharing popcorn in the cinema and greeting viewers in nearby seats. Also they did it with The Little Mermaid along with Hailey Bailey and Javier Bardem watching the remake in the cinema with effects that imitated the feeling of being under love. Or with Jurassic World Domino resorting to special effects that imitated the stalking of giant dinosaurs. But here they go further to crown themselves the envy of the global exhibition industry.

Because this commercial produced for Cinépolis and recorded in the Diana theater in Mexico, is an ode to cinema. We do not know if the leading stars were paid for their work (I am inclined to believe so although I would not rule out that it was part of their contractual promotional obligations), but that two stars as influential, coveted and sought after by Hollywood as Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet lend themselves to take a moment from their busy schedules to travel to a movie theater in the Mexican capital and film a commercial that viewers will only see in movie theaters is an impressive achievement.

In addition, they also have two other rising stars in the industry such as Florence Pugh and Austin Butler and sequences that include special effects as if it were a full-fledged super production. If we look at each one's wardrobe we decipher that they recorded it the same day they posed before the press at the Four Seasons, the five-star hotel located 500 meters from the Cinépolis Diana.


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