Paramount Pictures is getting some promotional muscle behind its upcoming film releases from a company that knows a thing or two about muscles and promotion.
On Tuesday, Paramount Pictures and World Wrestling Entertainment announced a promotional partnership to support Paramount’s upcoming feature film releases, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Pain & Gain.
The cross-platform partnership includes integration opportunities on WWE programming as well as appearances by film star and WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Monday Night Raw and WrestleMania 29.
So why exactly does one of the biggest production studios in the history of Hollywood need help from a pro wrestling organization? Quite simply, because no one understands mobile marketing and social media better than the folks at WWE.
As of late 2012, WWE’s various talent accounts added up to more than 25 million Twitter followers and another 65 million Facebook likes. During WrestleMania 28 in April, 2012, over 110 individual terms related to the event trended on Twitter. The Wrestlemania Twitter hashtag itself was ‘tweeted’ over 600,000 times, potentially reaching some 130 million people.
In other words, this kind of marketing reach is out of reach for Paramount Pictures alone. And so the venerable Hollywood powerhouse is now in business with WWE.
Fans and industry watchers alike expect no shortage of on-air, mobile, and social media promotion by WWE for G.I. Joe: Retaliation before the film opens nationwide on March 29th.