On a cool October evening, Timothée Chalamet summoned New Yorkers to arguably the least desirable part of Manhattan to preview a movie they wouldn’t be able to see until the end of the year.
“Show up here. 9pm. I’ll show you the first 30 minutes of ‘Marty Supreme,’” the 29-year-old actor posted on Instagram, scrawling in orange letters over a map of Regal Times Square.
Fans had filled all 354 seats of the auditorium — and hundreds more gathered outside — by the time Chalamet arrived, flanked by men in giant orange ping-pong-ball helmets. Unusual? Sure. Exciting? Definitely. Effective? We’ll see when “Marty Supreme” opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
It’s not hyperbole to say that getting audiences into cinemas — especially for indie films — has never been harder. Chalamet’s Regal event was one of many buzzy stops on his unconventional press tour, which pairs the A-lister’s flair for promotion with A24’s iconoclastic sensibilities. The 1950s-set film, from director Josh Safdie, follows the fictional table-tennis champ Marty Mauser’s pursuit of greatness — an ambition that’s reflected in Chalamet’s hardcore attempt to turn “Marty Supreme” into the art-house event of the year.
“Timothée Chalamet is a generational talent both in his skills as an actor and in his understanding of the attention economy and social media landscape,” says an executive who has worked with the actor.
Clearly, Chalamet isn’t interested in just showing up to a couple of morning shows or late night appearances, and then having the studio, A24, blanket the airwaves with trailers. His other big gambit that got people talking was “leaking” an 18-minute Zoom call where he pitched satirical ideas to A24 staffers, like painting the Statue of Liberty a “very specific shade of orange.” (Orange, he told them, is to “Marty Supreme” what pink was to 2023’s blockbuster “Barbie.”) And Chalamet promised to get the original film on everyone’s radar by turning “Marty Supreme. Christmas Day” into a refrain.
“Movie marketing is trying to be passive; trying to be chic,” Chalamet says in the meta video, for which he wrote the script. “We’re not trying to be chic.”
Chalamet’s loud-and-proud efforts are notable, not only because the success of “Marty Supreme” is riding on his name on the marquee, but because they go beyond what actors are usually willing to do to sell their work. But these days, Hollywood studios and stars can’t rely on traditional promotional playbooks. Just ask Jennifer Lawrence, whose charm offensive on “Hot Ones” and across the late-night gamut didn’t get people to theaters for her dark psychodrama “Die My Love.” Sydney Sweeney and Dwayne Johnson’s viral moments didn’t translate to ticket sales for her boxing biopic “Christy” or his MMA drama “The Smashing Machine” either.
“It’s nearly impossible these days for indie films, even with major stars, to break out,” says Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. ‘Marty Supreme’ is a period piece about a guy playing ping-pong. How do you sell it? Cutting through the noise is essential. I think Timothée is the only star aside from Leo who could do this.”
Chalamet is refining the guerrilla-style tactic he tested with last year’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” where he made headlines for hosting ESPN’s “College GameDay” and attending his own lookalike contest in Manhattan. His unorthodox press tour helped the biopic about a ’60s musical icon earn an impressive $140 million at the global box office. “Marty Supreme,” which is A24’s most expensive movie with a budget between $60 million to $70 million, needs a similar turnout to justify its price tag. As part of Chalamet’s one-size-doesn’t-fit-all approach to “Marty Supreme,” he’s sitting for fewer traditional interviews, forgoing a routine press junket and skipping key awards season stops like the Governors Awards. Instead of letting others do the talking, he’s taking a more active route to ensure the name on everyone’s lips is Marty.
“Many movies don’t perform how they should because there’s not enough awareness,” says Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuna. “So the fact that ‘Marty Supreme’ has a superstar like Timothée Chalamet at the center of everything is fundamental.”
Other ways he’s “fruitionizing” (a word coined by Chalamet) the “Marty Supreme” rollout: A surprise New York Film Festival premiere. A Nickelodeon-orange blimp (which he calls the “vehicle representation of American greatness”) to fly around the country. A panel at CCXP Brazil — a stop that’s usually reserved for Marvel or “Star Wars,” not art-house fare. And the sold-out merch, including a $25 Wheaties box and a $250 windbreaker jacket that Chalamet sent to cultural icons and famous friends that he considers to be “great,” including Misty Copeland, Tom Brady and Bill Nye.
“Timmy has a quirky persona, and this campaign feels in line with his humor,” says Quinn Gawronski, content head at creator marketing agency Props. “Ping-pong isn’t the most serious topic, so that gives them more room to play. If it were a movie about World War II? Not so much.”
