Guillermo del Toro’s 2015 film, “Crimson Peak,” is a lot of things—a gothic romance, a showcase of amazing acting—but it is not a horror film. However, when you have a filmmaker like del Toro and an expensive film you want to sell, you might take some liberties in the marketing of the movie. But according to the filmmaker, that’s what ultimately doomed the movie.
Speaking to Vulture, Guillermo del Toro talked, at length, about his 2015 film, “Crimson Peak.” And interestingly, with nearly a decade behind him, he’s able to pinpoint exactly the moment when he knew the film would struggle at the box office.
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“The thing that will always, pun intended, haunt that movie is that it was sold as a horror movie,” said del Toro. “But I remember distinctly, when we had the meetings [about promotion], they were all targeted toward getting the horror audience for the opening weekend. And I knew we were doomed!”
He added, “I was saying, ‘You should promote the romance, and you should promote the mystery. The last thing you want to do is promote it as horror.’ We were opening in October, and October is the month of Halloween, so I understand why it happened.”
“Crimson Peak” isn’t the first, and damn sure won’t be the last, movie that is marketed in a bit of a misleading way. Often, doing that sort of marketing strategy results in a film perhaps getting a big opening weekend but then failing in the weeks after. Unfortunately, in the case of “Crimson Peak,” the box office was pretty bad from the opening weekend.
That said, the film has found its own audience over the years, once people were able to see the film and not get swayed by the misleading marketing. And if you haven’t seen “Crimson Peak,” you really should, as it is one of the most beautifully crafted films from del Toro, and it features some really great acting from Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain.
