Orchestrating 'Ray' success music to Universal's ears
- The Hollywood Reporter. By Martin A. Grove
November 03, 2004

Releasing "Ray": Picking up an independently made film that other distributors have passed on and then opening it to $20 million, critical acclaim and Oscar and Golden Globe buzz is like catching lightning in a bottle.

That is, however, precisely what Universal Pictures achieved with director Taylor Hackford's "Ray," starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, from Philip Anschutz's Bristol Bay Productions and Anvil Films in association with Baldwin Entertainment. Produced by Hackford, Stuart Benjamin, Howard Baldwin and Karen Baldwin, "Ray's" screenplay is by James L. White. Its executive producers are William J. Immerman and Jaime Rucker King. Also starring are Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Aunjanue Ellis, Harry Lennix, Terrence Dashon Howard, Larenz Tate and Regina King.

"Ray's" $20 million launch last weekend is clearly music to Universal's ears. I was happy to be able to focus Monday with Universal Pictures vice chairman Marc Shmuger on the strategizing that went into the studio's acquisition of "Ray" and the orchestrating of its release.

"We honestly applaud (Anschutz's) courage and vision for standing behind this picture," Shmuger told me. "It took a lot to realize on paper how popular this whole project had the potential to be and he was the one obviously who not only believed it, but did the even bolder (step) of writing the check."

Asked how the pick-up came about, Shmuger replied, "Fred Spector called the studio. He represents Taylor Hackford, the director, and asked us if we would be interested in screening Taylor's new movie and, of course, we were. At the time it was called 'Unchain My Heart.' We said, 'We'd love to.' We set to look at it in our screening room here in the building (and) found it just totally engrossing. We were at once just struck by the story, by Jamie's performance, by all of it. Unlike a lot of biographies, which kind of deal in recreations of events that you know, this was a discovery of a man and a story that we didn't really know and, therefore, it felt so fresh and original and just incredibly powerful. As you're going through that movie you're reminded again and again like, 'Oh, my God, here's another one of his songs I just love.' And the movie kind of contextualizes the time and the circumstances behind the songs and also does the extraordinary job of actually telling the story of the man and his relationships and his struggles through the music and uses the narrative in the music in the most eloquent fashion."

When Universal saw "Ray" for the first time, Shmuger said, "it was right around Oscar time (last year) and I remember thinking, 'Boy, as great as these nominees are for best actor, there's no one that I've seen that approaches the kind of performance that Jamie Foxx delivers in this movie.' So it was a very interesting period to see the picture because (we) were focused at the time on the very best performances of the year because of the Oscar season and through that perspective (we) were able to realize how completely unbelievably brilliant Jamie was. And, honestly, this is a career defining role. (For) Jamie Foxx everything he does will be viewed through the perspective of this role. It's almost like everything he's done prior to this will be the 'period pre-Ray.'
"I think everything Jamie does from now on through the end of what I think will be his remarkable if not unparalleled career will be the 'post-Ray' part of it. I think that what he does here just redefines him as an actor and as a movie star. He has charisma. He's charming. He's funny. He's heartbreaking and dramatic. And, literally, he inhabits Ray Charles' body and soul. The physicality of his performance is stunning and (much has already been written) about how he worked on this role in order to get it and how, also, Ray Charles, himself, recognized in Jamie the talent both musically and on a humanistic side to be able to adjust to the role."

Bringing "Ray" to the screen, he pointed out, "has been a 15 year odyssey from passion for the project to the screen for Taylor and Stuart and (others) involved in it. I think it's one of those cases where taking that much time was the right thing to do because I certainly cannot imagine this movie being pulled off by anyone else in the lead role other than Jamie Foxx, which of course never would have been possible (had the project come together years ago)."

When Universal viewed "Ray" for the first time, Shmuger said, "we were really swept up by it and certainly showed an immediate interest to Anschutz's group in order to distribute it. It turned out, much to our surprise, that we were the only studio that was actually vying to release it. And then what was even more amazing is (what we found after arranging) for a research screening so we could all have the opportunity together to look at it with an audience. We set (that) research screening up in Los Angeles. What we experienced in that theater and then (found) when the scores came back and demonstrated was that this was a movie of just singular playability. I mean it rocked that theater. People were laughing and crying and just going with this movie. The response was vocal and emotional.

"It's so rare to get that kind of response to a picture. You felt it when you were watching it and then the scores came back and not only confirmed that. Even more so, the icing on the cake (was) what Jamie Foxx was delivering. The audience scored his performance higher than any performer in the entire Universal data bank for any movie that we've ever screened. There was something amazing (about his performance) and we were just thrilled."

To put it mildly, Universal knew right then and there that it had something special on its hands in "Ray." "Oh, God," Shmuger observed. "But what's wonderful is that at that point it's your secret. The world doesn't yet know it. As marketers and distributors, there's nothing more exciting than kind of all huddling together to now talk about all the exciting ways you're going to bring it out to the world. That is about as exciting a moment as there is in the business."

Asked about the strategizing that led to "Ray's" $20 million opening, Shmuger replied, "We wanted to get a jump on the season, meaning the drama season and the Oscar season. I think getting out at the end of October before the onslaught (of awards contenders) in November and December allows us to be really anchored in the marketplace. I think that's a great competitive advantage. We were able to do the Toronto Film Festival as a publicity launch for the picture. The marketing group was able to screen it (early for the media). And, by the way, let me just (single out marketing heads) Adam Fogelson and Eddie Egan and the entire marketing team for wrapping their arms around this picture from the beginning and giving it all of their passion in order to bring it into the marketplace with the energy and creativity that they did.

"Once we totally understood how amazing the movie was and the performance was and everything about it was, we then sought to find appropriate champions for the picture. We looked within the music world and the African-American community and then within the movie world at large and found them through screenings, at African-American caucuses, at conventions of major African-American (groups) and, also, in places like Toronto in order to, as much as possible, expose the picture to people, who then became the spokespeople or the advocates on behalf of the performance and on behalf of the discovery which the movie is for so many people. Also, I think the (marketing) team from the beginning with the one-sheet and the trailer created something really special that captured the feeling of the picture and of the man really well. I know as soon as we got the trailer out into theaters over the summer the buzz started. You could feel it literally spread from the moment that that trailer hit the screen."

All of Universal's highly favorable early findings about "Ray" were reflected in the film's opening weekend exit polls. When I referred in passing to those scores as having been "very good," Shmuger remarked, "If they're 'very good' then we've never seen great! I mean, they were 99 percent in the Top Two Boxes (excellent and very good) and 93 percent Definite Recommend. They were 99 percent across every demographic. CinemaScore (an independent research firm) was A+ across every single demographic. It wasn't like it just added up to A+. There was not a single segment which didn't rate the movie A+. That's as high as it gets."

With such strong exit polls, "Ray" certainly should have good boxoffice legs. "We would think so," Shmuger agreed. It also helps that the picture is playing to adults, who typically take a little more time to get around to seeing the films that they want to see. As word of mouth spreads about "Ray," its adult audience is likely to start finding it.
Universal also had to compete with Halloween last weekend for adult moviegoers, many of whom had parties to go to Saturday night and kids to take trick-or-treating Sunday afternoon. "It can be (a tough weekend)," Shmuger said. "We opened 'K-PAX' a few years back on this weekend and found that we could get the adult audience. You need to fight a little harder because you need to get on the radar as a real destination in order to break through other commitments and (for people) to seek out the picture."
With all that in mind, "Ray" should have strong playability in the weeks ahead. "Well, the last drama we had that had an opening in the $20 million range was 'Seabiscuit' and it went on to do over $120 million at the domestic boxoffice," he pointed out. "On a boxoffice basis, this was better than the first wide break on 'A Beautiful Mind.' And that went on to do $170 million at the (domestic) boxoffice. How big this can go is anybody's guess. But all those factors that you cite are certainly in our favor. What we have is a movie that we are so proud to be part of. It's a wonderful film. It's one of the reasons you love being in the business -- if you can work on something that good."

Shmuger noted that "Ray" was an acquisition that everyone at Universal wanted to make as soon as they saw the film. The studio's senior vice president of acquisitions Jason Resnick, he said, "was also on point on this on the acquisition front when we were looking at it. He was lobbying hard for it. The marketing team spoke up very aggressively for it and so did Nikki (Rocco, president of distribution) and the distribution team. We found ourselves in 'violent agreement' on this one. It was something that we all wanted to raise our hands in support. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to do so (because in terms of other distributors) there was no one else even in the hunt."

Although Universal looks at films for possible acquisition, it's not out there picking up product at a fever pitch. "Our acquisitions guys look at quite a lot (of product) and through that filter we (consider) a number of pictures," Shmuger said. "Our strategy in general is to be producing and releasing our own product. But when the right pictures and opportunities come along, we are certainly open to looking at them. There have been many (such films) over the years and, in fact, they've been very successful for us (such as) 'The Musketeer,' 'The Watcher,' 'Empire.' They've been inexpensive acquisitions that have delivered for us both at the boxoffice and in the home entertainment window."