While Winter continues to blast its arctic chill across much of the country, this Summer's all-star, big-screen reboot of Baywatch keeps looking hotter. The film, scheduled for release in May, stars Dwayne Johnson as Alpha-lifeguard Mitch Buchannon and Zac Efron as brash new recruit Matt Brody. In the film, Brody helps to uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay, teaming him up with Buchannon and his fellow lifeguards.
Baywatch is a big screen update/reboot of the beloved ocean-side TV series that ran on NBC, and syndication, for over a decade. Previously-released trailers have indicated that the film is less daytime television-friendly, with an emphasis on R-rated humor. A newly-released set of motion posters for the movie only further drives that idea home.
On the heels of its new character poster campaign, in which we were told "Don't Worry, Summer Is Coming," Paramount Pictures has defrosted their lifeguards with additional motion posters. The seven motion posters expand the tongue-in-cheek tone of the film's previous marketing efforts, highlighting not only Johnson and Efron but their costars: Summer Quinn (Alexandra Daddario), C. J. Parker (Kelly Rohrbach), Stephanie Holden (Ilfenesh Hadera), villainous Victoria Leeds (Priyanka Chopra) and last, but not least, Ronnie (Jon Bass) stripping down to his own body-positive beat to provide the heat.
You can check out the motion posters for Baywatch above and below (then go check out the non-moving character posters here):
As reported earlier by Adweek, the out-of-home advertising approach, is currently using Baywatch's "cold-weather campaign" in real-time. Utilizing a digital billboard system from Lamar Advertising, Paramount has targeted 16 mid-sized markets with ads that will change in accordance to the weather. Creative copy lines change regarding conditions of rain, frost and just plain cold.
Baywatch is but one in a string of recent action/comedies based on popular TV series. Its May release comes a few months after Warner Bros.' own R-rated adaptation of the 1970s series CHIPS in March. Whether these project will increase audience's appetite for more irreverent reboots of television series on the big screen, that's another matter.
With big-name casts, updated storylines and bare-essential character traits, these films seem determined to reboot franchises even if it means stretching the show-bible of the original series. Baywatch does seem like a harmless update though, ripe for a little parody, more explosive action and a whole lot of skin. So far, the marketing for the film is delivering plenty of that.
Sources: Paramount Pictures, Adweek
