I would say that the websites allow some success for films in box office ratings however films such as Inception didn't focus too much on their main website but focused on viral marketing through the use of technology. Inception had posters all over the streets as well as on buildings and billboards to give some idea of the narrative but the enigma and audience participation as well as user generated content encouraged audiences to view the film. Christopher Nolan, the director, placed QR codes on t-shirts and posters. The posters would say "Mind crime is real, protect your thoughts." This was an enigma as the posters didn't give much about the movie away apart for the fact it may involve mind crime. The fact that the poster states "Mind crime is real" and is a physical item people could hold and touch, it made an opposite effect of suturing. The audience are still sutured into the film however it's the film that is becoming more real, instead of the person being placed into the world the world of the movie is coming out to the audience which interacts with their daily lives. Some other ways in which marketing was successful for Inception was through some unofficial sites such as forums, Christopher Nolan delivered a storyboard like guidebook with parts of the pages missing or being torn off and crossed over with black ink to a popular newspaper and online reviewers site which added to the enigma. This booklet was in a fragile state but parts of it was released to the general public which lead to forums discussing the possible storyline. Even after the film, many members of the audience were confused by the ending because it was an enigma and was sort of leaving the audience on a cliffhanger so they ended up talking and planning the best possible ending on forums.
The Dark Knight Rises is another film that did well due to marketing and a bit of its official website. However unlike Inception which was a brand new idea, there was already an established fan base for The Dark Knight Rises which already helped its success, previous films as well as DC Comics fans would watch the film as they are apart of that fan base. The director, Christopher Nolan, therefore decided to engage with audiences through a giant scavenger hunt in the cities of the U.S. He'll send out gifts and goody bags containing items such as a phone which plays the jokers recording saying to go to a certain store or to put on face paint and dress up like the joker. Each instruction led to a new clue and allowed the audience to feel sutured into the world of the film and feel escapism as they were involved more. One of the clues would lead to a link to the main site of the film which had the trailer however when the audience got to the site it'll say that the joker had beaten them there and had written/drawn over the trailer and they'll have to continue the hunt to gain the rest of the free goodies and a view of the trailer, which was later revealed and projected on the side of a building.
Those were two examples of how marketing mainly helped the success with a tiny bit of help from both official and unofficial sites. Now there are some films which can determine a films success or failure. Sites which are unofficial such as IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Forums, Youtube, Twitter etc. can make or break a movie. IMDB is a site many audiences will go to before viewing or buying a film to check ratings however some critics state that IMDB is quite biased and favour the films and portray them positively. While sites such as Rotten Tomatoes gives a less unbiased review of films, they give both critic and audience reviews and give overall ratings for films. However not everyone will go to these sites first to check out a film these sites are typically used as research or if looking for a good film etc.
Sites such as Twitter is where most people view their reviews first especially incases where twitter bombing happens. Twitter bombing can either be quite positive or quite negative and can hugely affect a films success. Films such as Bruno or The Lone Ranger both had hugely successful fan bases and A-list stars but once a few people went to go watch it, especially young teenagers, they'd use their twitter apps to tweet and start hashtags and get them trending e.g. #Rubbish or #Don'tWatchIt this word of mouth over twitter had destroyed the potential success of the films.
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