Yardie, Idris Elba's directorial debut film, underperformed at the box office despite a marketing campaign that prominently featured Elba. The film earned $1.5 million globally across three territories, failing to grow beyond its initial 225 theater release in the UK. While the marketing utilized Elba's star power through media appearances and social media, his limited on-screen role and absence from the main poster may have reduced its appeal. The film's focus on black British characters and use of Jamaican patois could also have presented barriers to broader commercial success.

1. Warp/StudioCanal 2018

2. BBFC 15 RATING
 Not as bad as TisEng’s 18, but as the BBFC stress
the brevity of violent and sexual scenes I wonder if
it would have got a 12 if it was a studio tentpole
production? Some swearing is allowed at 12; the
$165m Dark Knight got 12 despite its dark tone and
frequent violence, including the pencil impalement
+ burnt off face of the villain open to the bone

3. BBFC 15 RATING…but 12 trailer
 This links with the later point that BBC1’s children’s
news show, Newsbeat, did a feature on the film …
StudioCanal also cut a 12-rated trailer to widen its
promotion
 Given the sex appeal of Elba, to some degree this
completed a four quadrant approach!
 Also points to the ineffectiveness of age ratings in
the online age, at least for non-cinema viewing

4. BUT…untypically not really
critically acclaimed
 Even Empire (later slides) only gave it 3/5
WT’s commercial movies don’t
rely on hot critical reception (BUT
Baby Driver, Les Mis etc got it!)
– they have A-list stars, major
IP, popular genres/hybridity,
CGI/SFX, IMAX/3D, franchise, tie-
ins + other advantages
Tentpole movies usually peak on
their opening weekend in terms
of theatre count, but Indies aim
to build, generally relying on
good word-of-mouth. Yardie
didn’t grow from the 225 theatres
at launch, unlike Four Lions which
quickly doubled its prints from
115 to 230 after 1 week

5. Typically (for
Warp) award-
winning (IMDB)
 Sundance is a
prestigious festival, BUT
less mainstream (more
Indie-focused) than TIFF
or Cannes
 Further cred through
BIFF (Berlin)
 Maybe though the
advantage is overstated:
Tyrannosaur wowed the
TIFF audience BUT got
stuck with Strand
Releasing (LGBT+ dist)

6. BoM v the-numbers
Portugal, US, UK only
 Warp/StudioCanal 2018
 Even for Warp this was poor
 The Idris Elba factor didn’t
work
 Just over $1.5m, almost all
from UK
 Fairly wide UK release (same as
4 Lions)

7. Another Indie US distributor: Rialto (BoM)
Rialto – 103 lifetime US releases, Yardie #64 in box
office terms. Just 4 >$0.5m, highest just $0.8m.
They’re a reissue specialist (compare to Tyrannosaur,
Strand Releasing: LGBT+ specialist; WT > big 5!!)

8. Elba is A-list!!!!

9. Elba grease failed to stick?
Media attention naturally focused on Elba
Warp/StudioCanal encouraged this by pushing Elba in the trailer
+ social media campaigns BUT while he also appeared he
wasn’t the lead (+ crucially wasn’t pushed in the poster)
Variety; Deadline; BBC; BBC Newsbeat (children’s news programme)
‘This British director, producer and actor began his career as a television actor in US
series such as ‘Law & Order’ and ‘The Wire’. He has appeared in numerous film roles,
including that of Nelson Mandela in Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom. He has won
several awards including a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Detective John Luther in
the British crime series ‘Luther’. Yardie is his debut feature film as a director.’ (Berlinare)

10. Elba grease failed to stick?
 Screen’s analysis was astute – like ‘71 there
WAS potential for substantial box office BUT:
Clearly framed for the big screen, Yardie (a term used to describe Jamaican
immigrants in the 1970s) stands to do well in the underserved UK community, where
it could mirror the commercial success of Noel Clarke’s ‘..hood’ series while
attracting warm notices from serious outlets. Elba’s fanbase is wider than that,
however, and innovative marketing – as well as a thumping soundtrack – could win
further audiences in Anglo markets, particularly the US. Use of Jamaican patois is
taxing on the ear, however, and could prove a hurdle: subtitles or some explicatory
device might help on occasion. Charismatic lead actor Aml Ameen, who made such
a strong impression in Kidulthood, stakes his claim to stardom here. [ScreenDaily]
 Elba’s appeal undermined as
in a small role onscreen
 A black British story; non-
Caucasian narratives/leads
STILL problematic?
 Lively soundtrack but NOT
mainstream hit artists
 ACCENT/SLANG – just like
‘71 undermined mainstream,
mass appeal domestically
and especially internationally
 LEAD – again like ‘71 critical
acclaim, but NOT a star

11. Elba grease failed to stick?
“I’m very happy that this movie is going to get play in the States,”
Elba said in a release announcing the deal. “It falls in line with a very
specific Afro Caribbean experience by the way of Kingston, Jamaica
and East London but plays right into the heart of the universal human
experience of loss and trauma. My work as an actor both in the UK
and U.S. informed every decision I made as a director and my love of
music give this film a pulse I know they will feel in Brooklyn.”
Elba is next up in the Netflix comedy series Turn Up Charlie, which he
created, produced and starred in. Luther, for which Elba earned a
Golden Globe and SAG Award, returns to BBC America this year for
Season 5. [deadline] Elba has enough of a US star profile, from multiple TV
series including The Wire, to have been widely considered
amongst the favourites to become the next Bond. Esquire

12. Maybe StudioCanal
should have been
more cynical &
ensured Elba was
visible (not just his
name) in all main
marketing?

13. Warp’s typically minimal social
 StudioCanal commissioned a good range of
videos and ensured a good pre-release
campaign, including picture and preview clip
exclusives for major brands like Empire
magazine
 They even won an award at Sundance for best
teaser trailer!
 Warp once again failed to do much. To be clear,
production companies aren’t expected to (unless
to build hype for getting a distribution deal) BUT
WT often make significant marketing
contributions (eg Hot Fuzz PacMan, SotD Space
Invaders)

14. http://warpfilms.com/feature/yar
die/

15. https://www.yardiefilm.co.uk/

16. Unsociable
 Useful example of how fast-changing and temporary
social campaigns be…
 G+ is gone, the FB/Twitter campaign ceased posting in
June/Nov 2018 respectively (maybe odd that the more
adult-focused FB went 1st?)
 The official site quickly de-registered its social links too,
I got broken links in May 2019

17.  The collectable posters worked well for BJB (with the
accompanying social campaign to pick your side eg
#teamdarcy) + Les Mis with its ensemble cast of A-listers,
but did nothing for Yardie

18. Again: Baby Driver (+ Les Mis, +Elizabeth, + BJB, with its #teamdarcy #teamjack used a s
character poster concept … BUT theirs featured STARS!!! Star Wars does this too; in their
case its maybe more about driving merch sales whilst reinforcing 4 quadrant appeal.

19. IP? A bit like Submarine…
 In contrast to BJD/Les Mis etc, but more like
Submarine, Yardie did require IP rights
purchase, but once again obscure, non-
mainstream source meant no significant built-
in audience or marketing boost
 The book was published 26 years before the
movie, so again not a great built-in audience!
The film is an adaptation of the London-set book by Jamaica-
born British writer Victor Headley, published in 1992, which
centres on a cocaine courier who rises through the ranks of
London’s drug-dealing underbelly.
The book came to market by unconventional means,
having been sold at clothes shops, hair salons and even
outside nightclubs. [TheKnowledge]

20. IP? A bit like Submarine…
 StudioCanal did commission a reissue as a
tie-in

21. IP CONVERGENCE
 Simple example: the book is also available in
Kindle ebook format. Note how the cover is
styled to reflect the promo poster design
Original cover

22.  HORIZONTAL
INTEGRATION (kind
of!): OST released by
Island, like StudioCanal
a Universal subsidiary.
Be clear though, NOT
hor int to benefit Warp!!!
 Track selections are
retro, fitting the past
setting, so mainly
targeting an older
audience – though Baby
Driver (reflecting Simon
Reynolds’ Retromania
concept) shows this CAN
work for a youth
audience today
Vinyly, more tie-ins
The emphasis on vinyl reflects a potential for a youthful (15-34)
hipster audience but also an Afro-Carribean (black British) audience.
Elba played high-profile DJ set in US + at Notting Hill Carnival.
Primary audience older though. iTunes. Also licensed to Spotify.

23. Vinyly, CONVERGENCE
 As mentioned, the OST is on Spotify (there’s also a UGC playlist)
 Its also on Amazon Music, including an MP3 DL option
I’ve cropped the image
right – it uses the same
image as on the left
The original OST proved such a success
with physical sales AND streaming that
a second compilation was issued with a
2nd disc of tracks, and an extended
Spotify playlist. Music/OST (+ music
video tie-ins) have been key marketing
tools for WT films like the original BJD
(Geri Halliwell) + Love Actually … and
Baby Driver. As always, WT can license
the bigger names

24. CONVERGENCE: STREAMING/DL
 Like the OST, the film is widely available on
streaming/DL platforms including Amazon
Prime, GooglePlay, Microsoft, PlayStation,
Apple/iTunes, YouTube, Sky,

25. CONVERGENCE: STREAMING/DL
 The Microsoft rental/DL options include
multiple delivery platforms

26. MARKETING BASICS
Teaser + 2
variants of
main trailer
Good
viewing
figures:
1.5m for
main on
StudioCanal
alone
Teaser
Trailer1
Trailer2

27. STUDIOCANAL VIDS

28. STUDIOCANAL VIDS

29. STUDIOCANAL VIDS

30. MARKETING: MEDIA APPEARANCES
 Elba appears in all OR his name does! Some of these have over 100k views
(IMDB just 579!); he’s in a music vid with 40m views BUT most mainstream
appearances around this time were actually promoting other projects
 BBC NEWSBEAT: A children’s news programme, interesting as it was a BBFC
15
 RADIO 1XTRA: a youth 15-34 station with more of an urban focus than the
pop/charts Radio1…he also did R1!
 AT SUNDANCE: Hollywood Reporter; IndieWire;
 MTV; ‘Elba’s yardie cast reveal how to make the perfect sex scene’
 Beats Radio, Apple’s urban station (GLOBAL distribution)
 IMDB! Elba filmed a trailer commentary for them
 Good Morning Britain & The One Show (major mainstream family audience
shows; also shows the premiere got major, mainstream news coverage)
 He also did major US shows like Ellen (790k views! rem BJB link!! It
premiered the trailer on Ellen) + Good Morning America…BUT for Molly’s
Game (film) + Dark Tower (TV series) respectively – shows his star power
but also non-marketability of Yardie for US (thus global?) audiences!!!
 Various niche black British media + Jamaican outlets
 Elba also features in a 2019 Wiley/Sean Paul video with over 40m views,
rapping in a Jamaican accent & famously DJ’d in Times Square

31. EMPIRE EXCLUSIVES
 SC (not Warp remember!!) gave Empire
magazine an exclusive preview clip,
ensuring prominence in the biggest-selling
UK film magazine
 This was part of a wider, longer term
campaign to feed Empire content to
generate articles – Empire page LINK.

34. The picture exclusive – 3 months before UK
release; pre-release hype The Hot Fuzz (WT2)
build-up was a great
example of how to
build up pre-release
hype and awareness
by…
Providing what seemed
like privileged access for
the audience, eg video
diaries by Wright and
Pegg from TIFF. In most
regards, Warp did a good
job on this with Yardie

35. THE BASICS: smart marketing but still a relative failure
 Approx £5m budget (not published, based on below)
 Screen Yorkshire say they gave around 10%, their max is £500k per
film
 StudioCanal bought distribution rights; sold US rights to Rialto, reissue
specialist Indie
 Box office: UK $1.5m (225 theatres), US $36k (77 theatres), World
$1.5m, 3 territories (Portugal $6k!)
 Unlike 4 Lions, no build after release (no extra prints)
 Marketing for once included significant social media engagement, with
director Idris Elba prominent, BUT his absence/lack of prominence in
posters didn’t help. Major media appearances. Empire
 Also a wide range of media appearances by Elba
 Soundtrack on vinyl (hipster/youth/retro/nostalgia: older + younger)
 IP: based on a 1992 book which had sold well then. Reissue tie-in
 Convergence + horizontal integration (for StudioCanal/Universal)
 Was the problem that this was a drama about black men, more
specifically, Afro-Carribean? And/or the Jamaican accent and slang?