A great movie trailer can single handedly turn a movie into a success story–like that genius Cloverfield trailer in 2007 that didn’t say what the title of the movie was. But it’s more common these days, I’d argue, for a trailer to have the opposite impact. A generic trailer can so thoroughly dampen hype for a film that something like Furiosa, a great movie everybody likes that’s a sequel to a great movie everybody likes, could become a major box office disappointment.
Furiosa was the second big financial letdown in May after The Fall Guy kicked the month off with a similarly low-key box office take, and both will end up coming in well below the numbers that summer blockbusters are supposed to have–neither of these films will get to the $100 million mark at the domestic box office. There are a lot of factors playing a part in why the summer has been so dismal thus far, but this my favorite: the trailers for those movies were awful.
In technical terms, the ads for The Fall Guy and Furiosa are fine. They’re slickly edited, and they played up the cool action that those films have and all that. But they lacked something that’s just as important as big explosions for potential audiences: information. The Fall Guy was marketed on being a movie that Ryan Gosling does action scenes in–but if you wanted to actually know what it was about, or what the title meant, you’d have to google it. Furiosa, likewise, was sold as little more than Fury Road again but with new actors, with the trailers doing little to demonstrate how immensely different it is in structure. Furiosa is an epic tale that takes place over 18 years–it’s the Godfather Part 2 of Mad Max, basically, but the ads hid everything that made it different from the last one.
The core issue, really, is how cookie cutter the Hollywood marketing machine has gotten–just about every big trailer is cut similarly to these ones I’m complaining about. But it’s fine when they actually give us information, or are able to come somewhat close to matching the vibe of the movie. That’s certainly a factor in how Denis Villeneuve’s Dune flicks have managed to become hits, with Part Two reigning as the top movie of 2024 so far–the trailers for both Dune movies generally reflect the vibe of the films they are selling, and they use narration to fill you in on the various conflicts in the story so you can get a sense of what’s going on without reading any books. In other words, those trailers come off subconsciously to viewers as sincere and trustworthy.
And by extension, the trailers for The Fall Guy and Furiosa, which seem to fear trying to sell those movies on their own actual merits, play instead as empty and meaningless and not really worth caring about. Hollywood’s been churning out trailers like this, which coast entirely on vibes at the expense of telling you what the movie is about, non-stop for about a decade–we may just be over it at this point.
Previously: Are trailers revealing too much again nowadays?
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Or maybe the issue is that no one wants to go to the theatre anymore and both of these movies will perform just fine on streaming services. My local AMC theatre is dirty, sticky, and oily everywhere. None of the employees give a flying fuck and the management obviously just wants to squeeze as much money out of the operation as possible for the least amount of care and concern. People still talk and are generally annoying during movies in theatres. There’s no movie, Furiosa or otherwise, that I would prefer to see in a theatre anymore.
On the flipside, my wife and I go to eatery-style movie theaters and the chairs are very comfortable, the food is expensive (but so was just candy/popcorn+drink combos of the past) and generally the food is actually good. Maybe just need to find a better theater for you to enjoy the movie going experience.
We also rarely ever go on an opening night, much nicer when the theater has less people in it.
Yeah, same here. For the couple movies a year we actually want to see in a theatre, we go to a “VIP” one that serves alcoholic drinks and some snacky foods on top of the typical movie theater stuff. No teens allowed because of the drinks. So much cleaner in general and comfier seats than a typical theater. It’s a bit more expensive, especially when overpaying for the beer, but it is for so much better experience.
But what if I don’t want a steak or a burger while watching Furiosa?
Then don’t order one? You’re not required to order food at places like Alamo Drafthouse. I typically get a basket of french fries and a couple beers. They’re pretty strict about disturbances in the audience too.
I went to a Cinemark once not too long ago, on the other hand, and it was a gross mess. The people in the seat next to me dropped something under their seat and pulled out their phone flashlights to look for it. Someone from staff came out with a flashlight too. It took them like 10 minutes to find whatever it is they dropped, they talked the whole time and it was super disruptive.
Like the other commenter said, don’t order it then, it’s not a requirement to order like a comedy club lol
Nah. We have those too and I used to like them just fine (a few different chains, including Alamo) but not enough to excuse the servers doing the duck-server squat in front of you every 5 minutes.
How much of this is an enshitificatin dynamic?
My impression is that cinemas used to be everywhere, like corner sandwich shops almost, and have been killed off by mega corp monopolies.
Like the film industry itself, it could just be the sort of thing best done without trying to make a significant profit, but instead happy to break even.
…when even the drafthouse is doing substandard presentation, what’s the point of going to theatres anymore?..they lost the plot when they added recliners and jumped the shark upon selling to sony…
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Which why I refuse to watch anything on Deadpool 3. I did the same with Dp2 and enjoyed the movie that much more. Trailers just steal endorphin rush from the main event IMO.
The trailers for the original DP completely ruined the film for me. I refused to watch them after that. I know I am going to DP3, so I don’t need any other marketing thanks.
Just stop watching trailers and go in blind.
Bit difficult to avoid in the cinema - I already arrive late to avoid the ads, getting the timing right to avoid trailers too would be tricky.
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That’s commitment.
I am not paying money to see something I know nothing about. They already bombard you with 15 minutes of ads and 15 more minutes of trailers, and charge you for the pleasure of wasting so much of your precious, unrecoverable time.
And when you hit your 30s/40s and have kids, going to the movies is not just costly, it’s a whole… endeavor.
“Going in blind” sounds great, but it’s just not reasonable or feasible for the vast majority of people.
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Read a review from a reviewer you trust. There’s no need for trailers.
Bad writing is hurting movies
I would add: X-men 385 is killing X-men 386. And a $20 ticket does that too.
Maybe partially related but I also dislike it when you’re watching a movie and you can just feel the scenes that were shot specifically for the trailer.
Trailers nowadays reveal all the major plot points or nothing at all. Sometimes I’ll watch a trailer and know how generic it is, and sometimes I’ll watch it not knowing a single thing about the movie.
The best way to watch a trailer nowadays is just the first 30-60 seconds. If you don’t know what’s going on after that timespan, it’s not worth watching, but any longer and you’ll know too much.
I don’t know if I can put my finger on a reason besides cost, but I just don’t want to see movies in theaters any more. When my kids do, I’ll take them, but I have no problem waiting 2 months for them to show up on streaming when I can buy them for $20, 1/5 or less than the cost of a movie date with my wife or taking all four of us and getting drinks, candy, and popcorn.
Cheaper tickets, a decent lounge and bar with bar food instead of theater food would help, but there just aren’t as many must-see movies any more. I feel like blockbusters used to be maybe 3 or 4 a year, but now everything is epic and so nothing is.
I want to see Furiosa 100%, but it’s nothing I can’t wait a couple of months to see. Which kinda makes me sad because I used to absolutely love going to the movies.
My point is I don’t think it’s the trailers. I think audiences are more fickle.
It definitely seems to be Covid partly to blame - people just found it cheaper and more convenient to watch at home. It’s the same with pubs - I was talking to the manger of my local and he said there was a contingent who just never came back.
Lockdowns help highlight a lot of “just because it’s what you do, not because it’s actually good” things for people.
Theatres are generally awful. They are really only good if you want to do an event as a group, and not one has a space big enough to host.The food costs too much, people make gross mouth noises when eating the expensive food, the seats aren’t comfortable, things aren’t clean, people talk, people pull out their bright phones, the sound levels are all over the place, you sometimes have a bad viewing angle, you pay a lot of money but still shown 20 minutes of ads at the start, you need to worry about things like bed bugs, you need to plan a specific time to go, people bring their kids to non-kid movies, going to the bathroom is awkward, colour balancing is all over the place, drunk/high people react in distractingly bad ways, and probably many more reasons.
Lockdowns help highlight a lot of “just because it’s what you do, not because it’s actually good” things for people.
Lockdown hit entertainment venues across the board as people found it cheaper and more convenient to just stay at home. The manager of my local pub says a chunk of his clientele just never returned. The cost-of-living crisis has just made it worse as prices soar.
Theatres are generally awful.
I have excellent options where I am - a community-run cinema a few minutes away and a multiplex 15 minutes away (that has reclining seats, good air cin, plenty of space, etc and I have a monthly pass which hammers the price down - I usually cover the cost in a week).
I didn’t want to sit there for half an hour or more watching ads, and I’m too paranoid that I won’t get a seat or miss the start of the movie if I arrive later.
When I do go to the theater on opening weekend, I prepurchase tickets with assigned seats. But I’m trying to think of the last movie I did that with and I can’t remember. Probably Avengers: Endgame. Was Star Wars: TRoS after that? I don’t like to mention that one because I hate that movie so much I refuse to acknowledge it exists, but I did in fact see it opening weekend.
I enjoy going to the theater still, but there are so few movies that will motivate me to do so. I saw Dune 2 the opening weekend, same with Honor Among Thieves. I took my wife to see Barbie opening weekend because she was excited about it, and we went to see Everything Everywhere too. But before those movies I can’t even remember a movie I was excited to see in the theater. Most movies are fine at home.
It sucks going to the movies, at least for me, so that doesn’t help. Then the movie trailers themselves are spammed at me in all forms of media like a pop song getting worm out on the radio. I’m interested in seeing the Deadpool Wolverine movie but there are so many dumb ads about it that I’m already a little turned off now.
I’m tired boss.
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That’s always been a decision that executives make. I love classic movies but even 40 years ago they were giving away key plot points in trailers.
Also, people seem less inclined to go to theaters for anything but their most desired films.
There are a whole lot of other factors which other people have mentioned in this post that attribute to these low numbers too.
40 years ago we didn’t have 65" UHD TVs, and 5.1-9.2 surround sound at home.
The trailers aren’t what made The Fall Guy a mediocre movie, not really worth sitting through. My guess is that’s what hurt its box office performance, not the trailers.
I know for me the fact that they force me to watch straight-up commercials before the movie greatly detracts from my enjoyment. Movie trailers at the theater are one thing, but making me watch an M&M or fuckin car insurance commercial definitely kills the vibe. I completely avoid that shit at home. Why would I want to pay $100 to be subjected to it at the theater? I know the average person doesn’t give a shit, but people like me do, and it heavily impacts my enjoyment at the theater.
The entire industry needs to change, and Hollywood has the capability to do it. Children’s movies and adult children sequels/remakes are the only thing making money so the whole business has consolidated around them.
Meanwhile they keep pumping out uninspired “originals” trying to fit the old model such as selling it on the actor or the special effects and blaming the consumers for killing the industry. So instead of a transition into a more modern system such as appealing to more niche audiences with a lower budget (that they can still make a profit on because of the expansion of the market) were going to see an implosion and have to start again from scratch.
This. Man, the best movie I’ve seen in the theater in a long while was Everything Everywhere All at Once. Low budget, original, entertaining. I had zero expectations going in and loved the movie. More like that, plz.
Best movie in years. It’s rare I go to see a film these days that blows my socks off but that did.
This sentence starts with an unexplained gun fight! I think explosion! that an over reliance on bass boosted explosion! spectacle and attempting to pass off as intelligent story telling while reusing the same basic bass boosted explosion! plots over and over is killing movies. Not to mention trying to leave everything open for a sequel even if it means ruining and otherwise comp
Starring Dwayne Johnson
I went into Furiosa with low expectations. I thought it was just gonna be a cash grab, but it was exactly what I wanted.
Just over the top action and story, with none of the “meta” comedy or taking itself too seriously that other movies suffer from.
It was ridiculous and corny, and was unapologetic about that. It felt like it was doing its own thing, kinda like some movies from the 90s if that makes sense?
That’s kinda part of the downfall tho, the trailer makes it look as ridiculous and corny as it is, but without all the bits around it that makes it all land.
And what is the pre-trailer trailer for the trailer about lately?
That’s explained in the teaser.
You mean the quick roll of cool shots before the actual trailer starts? Mainly because internet is now about competing for attention. If you haven’t captured the audiences attention within 5 seconds, you’ve lost. They’re on their way watching something else instead.
Maybe, what I meant is that The trailer starts… now 💩
Yes, that’s the battle for attention
I blame the aircond my local cinema has. It’s too cold.
I’ve mostly stopped going to theaters. Live arts, hell yes.
Otherwise, I have actually started to buy physical media again, as the quality of the sound and visuals are better and I invested in getting a lovely home theatre setup. It is just so much more comfortable and we have better food and drinks at home.
Trailers have sucked for a long time, like, transformers long time.
