We're proud to introduce Opening Weekend: Selling Hollywood with Jim Fredrick, starting with episode one right here on TG&TG!

The most beloved movie on IMDb was, on opening weekend, a flop. Jim Fredrick, who cut the original trailer at Castle Rock, reunites with producer Liz Glotzer to unpack how The Shawshank Redemption got left at the box office and found its audience anyway.

Takeaways:

  • The title took the blame. Trimming Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption down to The Shawshank Redemption was meant to play commercial. The press pinned the soft open on a title nobody could decode.
  • No stars, an R rating, a prison. Jim walks through the marketing wall he faced, with Darabont sitting beside him guarding the cut so the trailer gave nothing away.
  • Three million to walk away. Darabont turned down a big payday to not direct, and chose to helm his debut instead, one of several near-misses behind the finished film.
  • Oscars, then Turner, then legacy. Seven nominations nudged theatrical, but the film truly found its audience through relentless TNT airings and a chart-topping home video run.

Pull quotes (social-ready):

  • "For 18 years, The Shawshank Redemption has been the number one movie on IMDb. So why wasn't I able to open the film?" — Jim Fredrick
  • "We thought we were being commercial by changing it from Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption to The Shawshank Redemption. Probably that was our first mistake." — Liz Glotzer
  • "The marketing perspective is always give as much away as possible." — Liz Glotzer
  • "You pretty much couldn't turn on the channel and Shawshank wasn't playing." — Liz Glotzer

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