'STAR WARS' TRILOGY SET FOR 'FINAL' ORBIT

DAN ALAIMO

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will re-issue the "Star Wars" trilogy Aug. 29 with a $16 million marketing campaign and a major cross-promotion with Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich., said Bruce Pfander, senior vice president of marketing. The three movies will include "value-added" features, such as interviews with film-maker George Lucas, and will be the first to be remastered with Lucasfilms' THX digital process, Pfander said. The "Star Wars" titles will be pulled off the market in January 1996 pending the 1997 release of new versions of the movies with additional footage never seen before, he said. " 'Star Wars' is now being released for the last time in its original form. It will not be sold again," said Pfander. "When the trilogy is re-released, it will be the new 'Star Wars,' not the ones that played theatrically." Dealer order date for prepacks will be July 28 and Aug. 4 for single copies. Suggested retail price will be $19.98 for single copies and $49.98 for a gift set of all three. The titles are "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." " 'Star Wars' has always been the crown jewel of Twentieth Century Fox. We have focused the resources that we have available, as has the Lucas organization, to really make this an event. We think this is going to be a tremendous opportunity and, whatever the upside is, it is going to be realized," said Pfander. Other marketing support for the trilogy will include an Internet site on the World Wide Web, national and local television advertising along with outdoor ads, and a "Star Wars" value booklet including offers on action figures, books, apparel and CD-ROM games. "This is going to be a major event," said Pfander. The re-issue is coming right before Labor Day, when store traffic will be high, but when competition from other sell-through releases will be light, he said. "For the most part, we are going to have the market all to ourselves," he said. Supermarkets are well-positioned to take advantage of the wide demographic appeal of "Star Wars," said Pfander. Additionally, "It is a nice safe film for the kids to watch. Good and evil are very well defined. There is no gratuitous violence," he said. The Kellogg tie-in involves three brands: Kellogg's Raisin Bran, Kellogg's Corn Pops and Kellogg's Apple Jacks. The cross-promotion will be featured on 42 million cereal boxes and make more than 50 million consumer impressions. Kellogg's will also feature the "Last Chance to Own" theme of the promotion in its television advertising. An escalating refund of up to $7 will be offered to consumers who buy up to three "Star Wars" tapes and up to two boxes of Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal. Boxes of Kellogg's Corn Pops will promote the trilogy and give information about how to receive free "The Making of Star Wars" with the purchase of two boxes of the cereal. Kellogg's Apple Jacks boxes will highlight the "Last Chance to Own" message about the videos. The cross-promotion "gives us additional support from September through December and adds a tremendous amount of impact to our total media campaign. That's the feature that is most perfect for grocery stores," said Pfander. Point-of-purchase displays have been designed with supermarkets in mind, he added.