Sunday night’s Breaking Bad finale was something of an advertapalooza for AMC across the pond, with companies shelling out upwards of a reported $400,000 for a 30-second spot in the many commercial breaks. While Sony must’ve coughed up some dough to get this latest Captain Phillips spot on the air, don’t forget that Sony TV makes (or – sniff – made) Breaking Bad, so there was probably some quid pro quo going on. Take a look…
The critical buzz on Paul Greengrass’ new fact-based thriller is extremely positive, with praise lavished on the director, star Tom Hanks and particularly newcomer Barkhad Abdi as lead pirate Muse.
Hanks is the eponymous Captain Richard Phillips, commander of the American cargo freighter the Maersk Alabama, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Phillips attempted to keep his crew safe and sound, and agreed to leave with the pirates as a hostage in order to get them off the ship. How he dealt with what happened made international headlines and led to his becoming something of a hero.
Set to open the London Film Festival on October 9, Captain Phillips will hit general release here on October 18.
As for the Breaking Badverts (here all week, try the salad), we’re pretty sure the sponsors will be happy, as the show notched up an impressive 10.3 million viewers on the night, triple the number that watched last year’s finale.