Why Do Movie Trailers Give Away So Much?

For the past few decades, movie trailers have become spoilers that reveal a lot about the storyline. It packs the best moments from the movie leaving only a few new memorable scenes to see in the film.

What’s the purpose of a movie trailer?

To entice viewers to watch the movie. It’s a form of marketing that if done correctly, leaves people wanting more. Trailers should give you a glimpse of what the movie has in store and convince you to purchase a cinema ticket. In two minutes, it should persuade you to spend two hours of your time consuming the movie.

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Movie trailers give too much away

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for most trailers. It seems to be an epidemic when it comes to romance movies. The recent trailer for Mr Malcolm’s List revealed so much that I stopped watching halfway through. The trailers are a summary of the movie condensing the whole film in a two-minute snapshot. Sure, romance movies tend to be predictable, and will inevitably end in happily ever after, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want a bit of mystery in how the story unfolds.

If you read the comments under most trailers these days, you’ll find sarcastic remarks about how great it is to watch the movie in a few minutes. People are tired of expecting to watch a preview and seeing a spoiler instead. There needs to be something to look forward to, otherwise, why bother going to see the film.

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Teasers over trailers

Maybe only watching the teaser trailer is the way to go. Recent teaser trailers like Avatar: The Way of Water and Thor: Love and Thunder have hit the nail on the head. They successfully built excitement around the films causing a stir on social media. Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame trailer took the unique approach of only showing scenes from the first fifteen minutes. We got to be surprised by shocking reveals like fat Thor, a secret they kept well under wraps. Imagine if it had been shown in the trailer; it wouldn’t have received the roaring response that it gone in the movie theatre.

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Of course, not every movie has a huge budget, franchise or fanbase that will watch the film regardless of what the trailer shows but that doesn’t mean they’re not onto something. Sometimes less is more.

So, who is to blame for these spoiler trailers?

Well, the unfortunate answer is, that we are. Well technically, people who participate in trailer focus groups are responsible. According to an article by Mental Floss, test audiences are shown different versions of a trailer and the response is that they always want more action and spoilers. Filmmakers are not always supportive of this approach but it’s marketing’s job to advertise the movie in a way that gets butts in the seats.

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In a March 2020 Insider article, Blumhouse Productions founder Jason Blum revealed his movie trailers give away so much of the story because it needs to motivate people who would just stay home and watch streaming services. It’s not really for people who are already planning to see the movie, but rather for the people who are on the fence. People may not like the approach, but it works and with so much competition, it’s needed.

Final Thoughts

We live in a world where everything is easily accessible, and pivotal moments don’t last beyond a week. With so much content available to consume, it takes more convincing to command our time and money. Movie trailers will continue to give much of the story away so long as that continues to drive people to the cinema. If you’re already set on watching the movie, stick to viewing the teaser or first trailer only, that way you’ll see fewer spoilers.

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