A blimp, Timothée Chalamet and a Wheaties box: Behind the 'Marty Supreme' marketing blitz

A24's "Marty Supreme" marketing campaign underscores the creative ways studios have been trying to get people to theaters.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Commuters who were snaking along the 405 freeway in Southern California on Wednesday morning caught an unusual sight. Just about 800 feet above them, a 135-foot orange blimp drifted along the coast.

Inside a gondola below the airship, the pilot was gently pumping foot pedals to steer the blimp over the Queen Mary and the L.A. River as the sun rose over the Pacific.

The aim of this peaceful morning ride was in fact a bold one: to save independent film, or at least one film. Indie studio A24 rented the blimp to promote “Marty Supreme,” its new Timothée Chalamet movie that rolls out in theaters on Christmas Day.

The blimp, which floated from Nashville to Los Angeles last month, is just the latest in a series of unusual marketing techniques the studio is deploying to spread the word about the film, which is about an aspiring ping-pong champion in post-World War II New York.

“Marty Supreme” represents A24’s biggest production budget to date, at about $60 million. The marketing is an additional cost, which A24 has not disclosed, though it is widely believed to be less expensive than a traditional campaign because of its reliance more on unconventional stunts than on costly TV and outdoor ads.