Yahoo Finance The ‘Saltburn’ Effect: Prime Video Subs Swoon For Emerald Fennell’s Gothic Romance As Pic Cracks Top 10 Global Film Debuts, Racks Up 4B TikTok Views & Jacob Elordi Bath Water Candles Become A Thing
Amazon Prime MGM’s Emerald Fennell gothic romance Saltburn has become a new obsession for Prime Video subscribers, for following its Dec. 22 drop, the movie has easily become one of the streamer’s top 10 worldwide film debuts.
Similar to how the Barry Keoghan-Rosamund Pike-Jacob Elordi-Richard E. Grant and Carey Mulligan ensemble saw an unprecedented hold at the weekend box office post-Thanksgiving, Salburn‘s run on the service reps the highest week-over-week growth for any Prime Video film last year.
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Additionally, since its first weekend, Saltburn’s total viewership has grown nearly 4x, fueled by a strong viral marketing campaign and word-of-mouth.
That heat for Saltburn can be witnessed online, one example being SNL’s Chloe Fineman showing off her family’s real-time shock and awe to the movie while watching Keoghan’s Oliver bathtub slurp and graveyard love (viewed by 5.2M) or the Jacob Elordi’s Bath Water candles for sales on Amazon.com.
All in, Saltburn-themed videos have racked up nearly 4 billion views on TikTok alone, while the film garnered over 3 million influencer/creator engagements with a combined reach of 166M. Additionally, the official Saltburn social AV garnered 153 million views.
Meanwhile, Sophie Ellis Bexter’s 2002 song “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which was featured in a key scene in the movie, has hit No. 1 on Spotify’s viral U.S. singles chart and number 19 on iTunes singles chart. Additionally, Mason and Princess Superstar’s 2007 collab “Perfect (Exceeder),” which was also featured in the film, has hit No. 6 on Spotify’s viral U.S. singles chart.
To date, the MRC and Lucky Chap production’s global theatrical release has grossed north of $20M from U.S./Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Warners handled Saltburn‘s offshore distribution via its pact with Amazon MGM.
“It’s been so exciting to see Saltburn take off with audiences all over the world on Prime Video and in theaters,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios tells Deadline. “This original comedic thriller could only be brought to life by visionary storyteller and Academy Award-winning writer and director, Emerald Fennell. We are also grateful for our partnership with LuckyChap’s Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley, and our friends at MRC. It’s been wonderful to see our amazing cast led by Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and Richard E. Grant breaking the internet week after week!”
“It’s so rewarding to see audiences having so much fun with this film and embracing the thrill ride it takes you on,” said Sue Kroll, head of marketing, Amazon MGM Studios. “It all started with Emerald’s extraordinary imagination of the world that is Saltburn, and her brilliant script that brought it to life. Our strategically curated campaign was inspired by her audacious vision and a targeted marketing, PR, and social strategy, with a theatrical push, driving word-of-mouth and igniting a cultural conversation. From its stunning immersive world, memorable characters, and shocking scenes, to inspired, fan-created merch, Saltburn continues to surprise and delight audiences and has become a true global phenomenon. In the words of Rosamund Pike’s character ‘Elspeth,’ we are feeling ‘bliss, bliss, bliss.’”
The MRC and LuckyChap production was purchased as a package by Amazon Studios in May 2022 as Deadline exclusively reported with the studio greenlighting and producing the film. Fennell also produced in addition to writing and directing. Josey McNamara and Margot Robbie also produced the film with Tom Ackerley and Tim Wellspring as EPs.
Saltburn world premiered at Telluride followed by BFI’s London Film Festival Opening Night Gala. The movie was just longlisted in 11 categories for the EE BAFTA Film Awards, including Outstanding British Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Leading Actor (Barry Keoghan), Supporting Actress (Pike), and Supporting Actor (Elordi). The film also received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Keoghan) and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture (Pike), as well as Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design.
Listen to our Crew Call Podcast interview below with Fennell and Oscar-winning DP Linus Sandgren on how they created an emotionally driven visual aesthetic of hazes and vibrant German expression summer colors.
Fennell worked on the screenplay for seven years. She details her process in the above interview. The movie straddles several genres arguably, but for Fennell the story about a Oxford brainy student Oliver (Keoghan) and his obsession for popular guy Felix Catton (Elordi) was always a gothic romance set against the dynamics of a rich family’s countryside estate. In the movie, it’s Oliver who is the catalyst for the undoing of the Catton dynasty.
“These were restrained love stories and I guess the thing that I wanted to do was unrestrain them and make something that felt close to that feeling of total infatuation, total scorched earth infatuation, a kind of cannibal love,” the filmmaker tells us.
Saltburn‘s vibrance comes on the heels of Prime Video’s release of the Eddie Murphy-led holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane, which Amazon MGM Studios shared was its most-watched in-house produced movie debut ever in the U.S. The studio also produced George Clooney’s Christmas release The Boys in the Boat and TIFF’s People’s Choice Award winner American Fiction, which was released in theaters Dec 22 and has also earned five Critics’ Choice Award nominations, including Best Picture, and two Golden Globe Award nominations including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Some upcoming film releases for Amazon MGM include The Beekeeper (in theaters Friday) Road House, an adrenaline-fueled reimagining of the 80s cult classic starring Jake Gyllenhaal (on Prime Video March 21), Challengers starring Zendaya (in theaters April 26), and The Idea of You, based on the acclaimed, contemporary love story of the same name, starring Anne Hathaway (on Prime Video May 2).
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