Are movie trailers ruining some movies?
Short answer, yes. Some movies, especially in this year, have suffered from either spoilers being placed into the trailer without any second thought or extensive amounts of trailers which mean that too much of the movie is revealed before its release.
far too many trailers
'Age of Ultron' was one of the most anticipated and talked about blockbusters of the year. Even though Marvel have produced some excellent movies in recent years, this movie was the victim of extensive trailers, TV spots and clips posted predominantly on YouTube. Yes, YouTube is a brilliant way of releasing trailers for movies, however Marvel and whoever else was responsible for releasing the content, did too much of it. 'Age of Ultron' had around four main trailers, had around 43+ TV spots posted online and five plus full clips from the movie. Which frankly, is far too much content to release. Doing so means that too much of the movie has already been seen by the audience. It is also important to point out that the majority of the action sequences were shown in these trailers and clips, meaning that audiences knew what was coming. Movies should be able to surprise the audience, and in some cases this is spoiled by the trailers released, case in point, 'Age of Ultron'.
revealing twists and spoilers.
Terminator Genysis is the fifth instalment of this ever declining franchise of movies, however the trailer for this movie caused the movies primary twist to be shown. Leading many filmgoers and even the director of the movie to voice their displease with how the studio marketed the movie. Alan Taylor, the director of Terminator Genysis, stated that he had "a few unpleasant conversations" with the studio after they showed the plot twist of the movie in the main trailer. Similar to the issue I brought up for 'Age of Ultron', this meant that audiences knew the big twist even before setting foot into the cinema, a major mistake by the movie studio; dissatisfying consumers with the movie before it is even released.
Not only was Alan Taylor unhappy with how the studio handled the marketing of his movie, Colin Trevorrow, the director of the successful Jurassic World, also expressed his dissatisfaction with what the studio revealed in the trailer for the movie. His primary dissatisfaction came from the studio showing the scene in which Chris Pratt rides a motorbike alongside a pack of velociraptors. Although this does not fall under a plot twist, it most certainly spoiled one of the most unique scenes from the movie. Furthermore he stated that, "they've shown far more of this movie than I would have ever wanted." Having the movies director criticise the studio for how much they showed during the marketing stage of the movies impending release shows that it is clearly the wrong thing to be doing in the industry.
Final thoughts
The movie industry needs to look carefully at what it did wrong this summer so that it does not happen again in the future. They should not be revealing major plot twists, as was the case for Terminator Genysis, showing a unique scene from Jurassic World or releasing far too many clips and trailers of major blockbusters, as very little else remains for the consumer to see first time round.
In my opinion, I believe there is a way around these errors. Movie directors and other major players in that movies production could work closely with the studio in regard to the marketing of it. If these trailers were shown to the director or others before they were posted on YouTube, these mistakes would of been avoided and the director would of not had to voice their frustration when its too late. The movie trailer is a vital part of a movies impending release, but these trailers should be more carefully constructed so they avoid the issues written about here. Visiting the movies to see one of the years biggest blockbusters is a joy that will never dissipate. However, if consumers want to receive the full experience when viewing the movie for the first time, movie studios need to seriously consider what they show and how many trailers are released beforehand.
