The Next X-Men Movie Has an Official Craft Beer Partnership
Craft breweries may only account for about 13 percent of all beer sales in America, but when it comes to beer partnerships, teaming up with a craft brewery is all the rage. Whether its clothing brandslike L.L.Bean, snack brandslike Planters, or store chainslike Wawa, smaller craft brewers not only have more cachet, but they are also more nimble to work with. As a result, it seems like everyone wants a piece of the craft beer action — and now, that even includes the latest X-Men movie.
Slated for release on June 7,Dark Phoenixwill be the 12th movie in the X-Men franchise. In beer parlance, that’s two six-packs — and thanks to a partnership between 20th Century Fox and the Missouri-based Boulevard Brewing Company,Dark Phoenixnow has an official six-pack of its own: Space Camper Cosmic IPA. (For the record, Boulevard Brewing is owned by Duvel Moortgat, a Belgian company that also owns New York’s Ommegang, the brewery behind all oftheGame of Thronesbeers, so clearly someone over there knows how to get deals done.)
尽管宇宙IPA已经释放空间露营者d this January and is not officially inspired by the movie, this Hollywood tie-in does pretty much everything besides slapping a new name on the beer to relate it to the flick. The next release of Space Camper will be in “limited-edition packaging [featuring] a Dark Phoenix icon floating over a prominent ‘X’ with the beer’s orange, grey, white and black branding,” according to the brewery. Additionally, six-packs of the beer will carry Fandango codes for $3 ofDark Phoenixtickets. Finally, Space Camper will also be “the first beer ever to star as an AMC Movie Feature Drink at more than 300 AMC Theatre’s MacGuffins adult beverage concepts, starting on May 29” — so fans will at some theaters will actually be able to sip on of the beers while watching the film.
20th Century Fox said this marks the company’s first collaboration with a craft brewer, meaning this Space Camper is taking a giant leap for craft beer-kind. “Space Camper Cosmic IPA’s heroine is a perfect tie-in with the story of Jean Grey’s Dark Phoenix,” Chris Cerbo, the studio’s SVP of marketing partnerships, said in the announcement. “Boulevard Brewing has a strong connection with their consumer and we’re looking forward to sharing the film with them in such a unique way.”
Meanwhile, Boulevard’s Vice President of Marketing Natalie Gershon chimed in by adding, “We are proud to have crafted a partnership with 20th Century Fox… Our team looks forward to this exciting theatrical release, and many more to come.” That makes it sound like we could see more beer-movie partnerships in the future. I’m pretty sure that 20th Century Fox has about a keg’s worth of planned X-Men movies in the pipeline.