When you go to a Steven Spielberg movie, you know what to expect. So when a film is promoted as being "From the director of 'Saving Private Ryan'" (or, if more lighthearted, "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), a viewer gets a decent idea of what the filmgoing experience will be like. If said viewer liked "Saving Private Ryan," he is likely to go see the advertised film; if not, not.
Similarly, people have favorite actors or actresses, whose movies they will devotedly patronize. People like Johnny Depp or Meryl Streep are generally worth watching, regardless of other considerations, so hearing that they (or whoever your personal favorites happen to be) are in a certain film will entice people to go see it.
The other day, I saw a commercial for--something, I forget what--that was promoted as being "From the studio that brought you 'The Help.'" Now, if a film has any connection to "The Help," that's good enough for me to know I should avoid it like leprosy, but that's me. If, however, you liked "The Help," then why are you reading this blog?
No, wait, that's not it.
What I meant was, Why would the fact that a movie was released by the same studio as a movie you liked entice you to go see the new movie? Studios release all manner of films, and the quality of one has little if anything to do with the quality of another. Universal could have but didn't promote "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" as being "From the studio that brought you 'Schindler's List.'" I think they made the right choice.
What's next? "From the crowd hair supervisor of 'Titanic,' comes" oh, would you look at that, "The Help."
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