• The New York Times, Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:15 PM

Hollywood is putting a twist on one of marketing's oldest clichés: Good marketing can't save a product with bad buzz. Last weekend's awful box office returns for "All the King's Men" ($3.8 million) was presaged by an announcement by Sony Pictures last year that its planned opening at Christmastime was being pushed into 2006. The unmistakable message: This movie is in trouble. Studios wield their marketing campaigns as they always have, priming audiences to expect the best. But with the media following every twist of a movie's progress, viewers head to theaters loaded with behind-the-scenes information. The studio sent another message of no-confidence by opening "All the King's Men" in September rather than during the prime Oscar-bait holiday season. It also was shown at the nonexclusive Toronto Film Festival. Studios are learning to use the Internet and viral marketing to steer buzz--but for now, that approach is better-suited to movies that aim for a young audience, such as "Snakes on a Plane."

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