Un-’Mask’-ing the Strategy for Video Release of Hit Film : Movies: New Line is backing the Jim Carrey comedy with a $10-million advertising campaign, its biggest ever for a sell-through title. It hits the stores Thursday.

If you think Jim Carrey is in your face now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. His movie “The Mask” may have left theaters months ago, but it’s about to be s-s-s-smokin’ with video retailers.

The video release Thursday of “The Mask” could not be better timed. It’s one of the most anticipated and heavily marketed of 1995, thanks to the movie’s $120-million domestic box office, coupled with the career year being enjoyed by rich and richer Jim Carrey.

Even the disastrous weather could help, with retailers reporting that the heavy rains have been a boon to rental business.

New Line Home Video is hitching this flamboyant vehicle to Carrey’s star, which has gotten an even further boost from the chart-topping performance of “Dumb and Dumber.”

By unleashing “The Mask” at $19.98 suggested retail, New Line is also hoping to ride the momentum of the biggest year ever for video’s sell-through market. (According to Arin Wolfson, media analyst for New York-based Alexander & Associates, consumers spent $8.3 billion on videocassettes in 1994, an increase of about 25%.)

These were deciding factors in the pricing and scheduling of “The Mask.” “Consumers have clearly become collectors,” said Michael Karaffa, executive vice president of New Line Home Video.

“Our research clearly showed that purchase intent on this title is very high” because of Carrey and Industrial Light & Magic’s special effects, which should lend themselves to repeated viewings.

But New Line opted to wait until January to release “The Mask” instead of 1994’s holiday season. That market, Karaffa said, was already crowded with such major releases as “Jurassic Park,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Flintstones” and “Speed.”

“The Mask” virtually has January’s direct-to-sell-through market to itself. The month’s other high-profile titles, including “True Lies,” “The Shadow,” “Wolf” and “Clear and Present Danger,” are priced for rental.

“We thought we would benefit from having the first high-profile sell-through title after this lucrative fourth quarter,” Karaffa said. “With ‘The Mask’ leading the way, 1995 is picking up where ’94 left off.”

Translating theatrical success to video presented New Line with an enviable marketing challenge. The studio is backing “The Mask” with a $10-million consumer advertising campaign, its biggest ever for a sell-through title.

A print and broadcast advertising blitz is only the beginning. In April, Pop Secret becomes “the official popcorn of ‘The Mask.’ ” Cross-promotion partner General Mills will produce up to 9 million bags of the popcorn with imagery from the film on the inside. Carrey will maintain his high visibility on the big and small screen with the summer theatrical release of “Batman Forever” and the expected video release of “Dumb and Dumber.” Meanwhile on TV in the fall, CBS will launch “The Mask” animated series.

In another cross-promotion, Kenner will introduce its line of “Mask” toys in the late summer or early fall. New Line will repromote “The Mask” video during the holiday season.

Karaffa estimated that this campaign will create more than 1 billion targeted consumer impressions, meaning the number of times a consumer will hear of the video’s existence.

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As Carrey’s “Mask” character states, “you can’t make the scene if you don’t have the green.” But you may not need as much green as you think. Because of its low price, a title such as “The Mask” can be bought by retailers in larger quantities to satisfy anticipated sales and rental demand. Added discounts apart from New Line’s $3 rebate offer will be used to generate customer traffic in the highly competitive marketplace, where smaller stores and mass merchants are often within walking distance of each other. The Wherehouse chain, for example, is advertising “The Mask” for $12.88, a price it has offered on other titles deemed to appeal to a wide audience demographic such as “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” “Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Speed.”

“It has all the ingredients to be a great hit for us,” said Lauren Margulies, assistant vice president of video for the Wherehouse. “It’s priced reasonably, it has a really good soundtrack that we did well with and we’re in a position to offer a better price for our customers. With ‘Dumb and Dumber’ out there, there is definitely good momentum on the title.”

Based on the video success of Carrey’s breakout film, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” and customer interest in “The Mask,” Cynthia DiRuscio, manager of Vide-O-Lympix in Huntington Beach, doubled her order from 24 to 48 copies.

“A lot of people are asking for it,” she said. “It should fly out the door. People will buy it just because they bought ‘Ace Ventura.’ ”

Price-wise, DiRuscio said she would try to “go with the market.” Advertising, she added, even by competitors, only helps to raise video’s visibility. “TV advertising for a chain like Blockbuster creates awareness on a title and helps us to increase our business,” she said.

“Mask”-mania only goes so far. In neighborhoods that cater to niche markets, it does not top the Most Wanted lists. Mary Coley, director of franchised 20/20 video stores in Southeast Los Angeles, Hollywood and Huntington Park, believes her more action-oriented customers will rent, rather than buy it.

“It’s something people definitely want to see,” she said, “but a much hotter movie for us will be ‘True Lies.’ ”

“Our customers haven’t said a word about it,” Lyle Palaski, video buyer at Video West in West Hollywood, which services a gay community. “We expect it to be big and we’re going to get a lot of copies. But our customers are more interested in ‘The Shadow.’ ”

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