‘New in Town’ is Newly PG

Published by Jeff Leins on January 23, 2009

An extremely fascinating article recently in the New Yorker gave a detailed look behind the scenes at Lionsgate as they make tough marketing decisions. In October, marketing guru Tim Palen was mulling over what to do about this Renee Zellweger comedy, titled Chilled in Miami at the time. He described it as “Baby Boom… without the baby.”

Test screenings weren’t going well and it needed tweaking to appeal to the key female demographics. “The stuff that tugs on the ovary,” Palen said. Ultimately, the title was changed to something more generic (New in Town) and the poster redone with a sassy Zellweger who looks happy to be there (complete with perfectly calculated The Devil Wears Prada shoes).

At the end of the article, the test screening numbers were respectable, but not good enough.  This might be the reason behind the new PG version.  Strong language has been edited out of the romantic comedy for the release next week (January 30), according to Variety.

Another reason is PG movies have been doing extremely well at the box office recently.  Bride Wars was a hit despite also killing brain cells (scientifically proven).  Paul Blart: Mall Cop surprised everyone with a smash January release.  And let’s not forget the successful run of PG family drama Marley and Me.

It’s all about the money.