Institutional Context

I have looked at three different period drama films in relation to their distribution and box office figures. This is so I can have a more in depth look at what would be in store for our film if it were to be released.

Pride and Prejudice was produced by many film makers but the most recognisable are Working Title who come under Universal Pictures. The involvement of Universal Pictures means that their is the basis for attracting the American audience as Universal Pictures is an American based film production conglomerate who owns Working Title. Working Title will therefore be involved with the distribution to the British market and Universal Pictures will be involved with the distribution in America. The involvement of such a large production company means the budget was $28,000,000 (estimated) which is quite a large budget meaning that well known actors could be used to attract it's target audience. These strategies to appeal and be able to distribute both in Britain and America was obviously a success as in the opening weekend the film took $2,865,017 in America and £2,529,947 in the UK.

The Duchess had a similar budget, however slightly smaller to that of Pride and Prejudice, £13,500,000. This again meant they could have well known actors such as Keira Knightley (who also appeared in Pride and Prejudice) and Dominic Cooper. Although there wasn't a production company as large as Universal Pictures their were still relatively developed and experienced ones such as Paramount and BBC Films. This is seen in the opening weekend takings in America it was only $190,426 which is quite low this maybe due to the fact that The Duchess's plot isn't as well known as the plot of Pride and Prejudice. The opening weekend in the UK was high but almost half of what Pride and Prejudice made at £1,402,200. One reason for the takings being lower for this film maybe that it didn't have a previous following as it might of had if it had been a piece of English Literature like Pride and Prejudice.

The budget for Vanity Fair was $23,000,000, again this budget is similar to that of the two previous films I've discussed. Two of the main production companies aren't extremely well known, they are Focus Features and Granada Films. From looking at the box office takings for the first weekend it is obvious that this film was a bigger success in America than in the UK. In America it took $6,268,925 in 1,051 screens and took only £204,693 in the UK in only 139 screens. This also shows the main emphasis was on the American audience.

All these films, as there quite big budget films, will advertise through websites such as YouTube and in more recent times on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They'll also publicise their films with posters on billboards and will set up their own individual websites for the film.