Marty Supreme. What comes to mind when you hear the movie title? The actual plot of the movie or the unconventional marketing escapades that occurred during the movie’s promotion?

Promotional poster of Timothée Chalamet in a white tank top and glasses with the title "Marty Supreme" overlaid in bold white letters

Timothée Chalamet poses in a bright orange Marty Supreme tracksuit in front of the Hollywood sign with a branded blimp floating overhead.

Marty Supreme was released in late December of 2025. However, the hype around the movie grew starting in early fall, word growing exponentially on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Timothée posted the first picture of the Marty Supreme poster on Instagram in early August, preparing his fans for his upcoming project release, but then confusion grew as he started posting pictures with giant orange balls on people’s heads. If you haven’t already seen it, this also started with the random video released by A24 on YouTube, where Timothée Chalamet plays a comedically exaggerated version of himself excitedly planning a marketing campaign, supposedly mimicking his similarly intense character in the movie.

Timothée Chalamet in a light blue Marty Supreme hoodie stands surrounded by five guards wearing all black with large orange ball heads marked with three stars.

The marketing campaign was already quite unusual as the star traveled with a horde of orange ball-headed guards and fashioned unique Marty Supreme hoodies that basically became a clothing brand. However, it further intensified as he started going on completely unrelated side quests, still consistently traveling with the orange herd. He appeared on popular social media influencer, Druski’s YouTube video, acting as his assistant casting director for “Coulda Been Records BROOKLYN Auditions,” which went viral for its comedic clips, especially a clip of Timothée reacting to someone vogueing.

Side-by-side comparison showing masked rapper EsDeeKid in chains and black clothing next to a formal photo of Timothée Chalamet at a red carpet event.

https://youtu.be/57C13H0BnnU?si=f2rouMLZpShSl-vY

Around the same time as the promotion, British rapper, EsDeeKid, was getting popular for his music and mysterious face covering, as many started speculating that under the balaclava, he was actually Timothée Chalamet. On December 19, EsDeeKid surprise released a new remixed version of his song, 4 Raws, featuring a part with Timothée Chalamet rapping. This pushed the already crazy marketing to the max, solidifying the promotional campaign as a part of 2025 pop culture.

So did the promotion actually work? Marty Supreme reportedly brought in over $123K in the worldwide box office. Out of all all the released A24 movies, it has the 3rd highest worldwide box office earning, putting it just behind A24’s 2024 movie Civil War and 2022 hit Everything Everywhere All At Once. In an age where all the movies being released seem to either go directly on a streaming platform or stay in theaters for a limited theatrical release, this begs the question, are these the lengths that movie marketing campaigns must reach to bring audiences to the theater now?

The Netflix logo in red on black next to the Disney+ logo in white on dark blue, representing the two major streaming platform competitors.

Streaming platforms seem to rule all the TV shows and movies nowadays, and it might become more and more of a monopoly. As of just this year in 2026, Netflix is currently in the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. It is currently in the midst of legal questioning in Washington about whether this merger would give the company too much power over prices and media. This deal would give Netflix control over the Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO Max, HBO, and massive franchises like DC Universe, Harry Potter, and Looney Tunes. This seems to directly compete with the other media giant, The Walt Disney Company, which includes a long list as well: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, ABC, ESPN, FX, National Geographic, Freeform, Disney Channel, and Hulu.

Three movie posters displayed side by side for the Knives Out trilogy showing theatrical and Netflix release dates for each installment.