The Super Bowl is the biggest television event of the year, and a major aspect of it is commercials. Large companies spend millions for a short amount of screen time, and this includes movie studios. With this year being a big year for movies, many were excited to see trailers for some of the biggest movies to be shown at the Super Bowl. With that, let’s discuss the trailers that played during the game.
Missing Trailers
Before discussing those trailers, we should discuss what trailers were notably missing from the broadcast. Many movies coming out in the fall and winter were not shown, due to the releases being too far out or not even having trailers. Movies such as “Verity,” “The Cat in the Hat,” “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” the next “Jumanji” sequel, “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” did not show trailers during the game. That said, even some summer movies did not have trailers. “Masters of the Universe,” “Scary Movie 6,” “Toy Story 5,” “Moana,” “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” did not have trailers during the game despite their summer releases.
Yet the most surprising snub was “Michael,” which released a trailer the week before the game and was speculated to be broadcast. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” also recently released a trailer, yet it did not play despite opening on May 1. The small number of trailers that played during the Super Bowl shows how competitive getting a slot is, and they can only shell out millions for only a few movies.
Disclosure Day
Steven Spielberg is back with his 35th movie, and he’s going back to aliens. “Disclosure Day” follows a news team who learn that extraterrestrial life is coming to Earth. Their world begins to panic as people are unsure what will come of this event. Spielberg is once again collaborating with writer David Koepp, their first collaboration in 18 years. The movie stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson and Colin Firth.
The trailer opens with a newscast featuring a reporter claiming that secret government files are about to be released. It cuts to a man (O’Connor) showing a woman (Hewson) a strange symbol carved into a field, claiming that it was not the work of people. What follows is a montage of clips in which the man explains taking action to disclose this to the world. Another man (Firth) warns that this revelation cannot be undone. It cuts to Blunt and O’Connor, seemingly undergoing some sort of transformation. The trailer ends with a UFO coming out of the clouds.
Overall, I think the trailer looks great and shows that the movie will focus more on the disclosure of the aliens rather than what they will do to Earth. Not all that much is revealed, and there is no particular focus on any one character. It nonetheless shows exactly what will be occurring and is a solid proof of concept before its June 12 release.
Hoppers
Pixar has hit a rough patch this decade. While many still see their movies as high-quality like in the past, only “Inside Out 2” grossed more than $500 million, a feat that most Pixar films achieved prior to this decade. With Pixar seemingly in a dark age, people are looking for a movie that can break them out of this slump. However, it’s questionable if “Hoppers” can be that movie.
The trailer starts with introducing the idea of Hoppers, where humans are able to be in the mind of robotic animals and explore the world through their eyes. A girl named Mabel (Piper Curda) embodies a robotic beaver and can communicate with other animals. Following that is a montage of Mabel interacting with animals and hints of other plot points.
It gives a good idea of the concept, but kind of skips over most points of the movie. It is an abbreviated version of the main trailer, which makes sense given the main trailer is two minutes and 20 seconds, and this was only 30 seconds. As a trailer, it is not all that convincing since it doesn’t expand much on the concept. I think the movie has a lot of potential, but this trailer did not do it justice. “Hoppers” is scheduled to come out March 6.
Minions & Monsters
Little was known about the next Minions movie before the Super Bowl, besides its July 1 release. The trailer revealed a lot about the movie as it premiered at the game.
The latest release on this list, “Minions & Monsters” had one of the longest trailers during the Super Bowl. The trailer starts with a movie director telling the minions that a bunch of Vikings want to kill them, only for them to quickly defeat the Vikings. It cuts to the movie director telling the minions he needs a monster for the movie, and they try to summon a Kraken. This fails, as a small squid appears, but the squid takes them to an island to find monsters. A montage follows where they find the monsters, including a giant bunny that scares the minions. The trailer ends with a minion thinking a mummy’s wrap is toilet paper.
I enjoy the “Despicable Me” and “Minions” movies, so I was happy to see this. The trailer has many moments of comedy, like previous Minions movies. However, one thing that was not revealed was the new protagonists’ names. It was revealed that Kevin, Stuart and Bob are not the protagonists in this new movie. Regardless, it gave fans of the movie everything they wanted, including a title reveal.
Project Hail Mary
A spring release, “Project Hail Mary” is the first Phil Lord and Christopher Miller movie in 12 years. Based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, we follow astronaut Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) as he navigates space after being the only survivor of an accident he cannot remember. With reports of test screenings having rave reviews, I was looking forward to this trailer.
The trailer starts with Grace’s supervisor (Sandra Hüller) telling him he is the only one capable of carrying out a mission. Next, we see Grace stumble upon a creature that he is at first frightened by, but then peacefully interacts with. He calls the creature “Rocky” and says they must work together to save their planets. They learn to communicate with each other and then go out into space to save their planets. There is a montage of the two going on a mission and showing their growing attachment to each other.
The trailer looks incredible, showing the spectacle of the movie and the adventure we’ll endure. I had known it was about space travel, but now I know this movie has a lot of heart. Previous trailers had focused on more of the backstory for Grace and why the mission is happening. With its release on March 20, the trailers have made me very excited for this movie. This trailer was the best I saw during the game.
Scream 7
Paramount released a singular trailer during the Super Bowl, and it was for “Scream 7,” coming out on Feb. 27. Paramount was unique by airing a horror trailer during the Super Bowl, which isn’t common because horror generally has smaller budgets.
The trailer starts with a house on fire, followed by a voice saying “Hello Sidney” then Ghostface killing someone. It then shows Sidney (Neve Campbell) running into a house with a gun while the voice says, “I’m going to make everyone you love suffers” and Ghostface trying to kill her daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). Following that, Gale (Courtney Cox) talks to Sidney, mentioning that Tatum is the same age Sidney was when Ghostface started terrorizing her, alluding to the original “Scream.” Sidney responds with “This isn’t gonna stop unless I stop it,” followed by a montage of clips showing Ghostface’s terror. The trailer ends with Ghostface saying, “This will be fun” while trying to stab Sidney in the face.
Overall, the trailer doesn’t feel grand or special enough for the Super Bowl. It felt like a standard horror trailer that would play during a normal broadcast. Maybe fans could be excited, but even some think this series has gone on too long. This trailer did not stand out and didn’t sell me on the movie as someone who hasn’t watched any previous “Scream” movies.
Supergirl
After her cameo in “Superman” last year, Supergirl stars in her own self-titled movie June 26. The movie follows Kara Zor-El/Supergirl as she travels the Universe until she finally ends up on Earth. Unlike “Superman,” “Supergirl” seems to be more of a backstory for the protagonist.
The trailer starts with Supergirl (Milly Alcock) finding her dog, Krypto. Someone then asks Supergirl what it was like to lose everything, to which she responds, “Krypton didn’t die in a day. The gods are not that kind.” This is followed by a montage of Supergirl showing off her powers with her claiming that Superman sees the good in everyone while she sees the truth.
A fairly short 30-second trailer, it gave a good insight into what the movie will be. It shows that it won’t be completely distant from “Superman” but he is not prominent in the movie. I do like that the movie is different in concept than “Superman” and will focus on Supergirl more as a character. It also looks pretty good too, showing it had a good-sized budget. Honestly, this trailer is pretty solid and I’m excited to see what this brings us.
The Adventures of Cliff Booth
The surprise of the night (for commercials at least) was Netflix dropping a trailer for “The Adventures of Cliff Booth.” The sequel to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” little was known about the movie except that Quentin Tarantino only wrote the screenplay while David Fincher directed the movie, and that Leonardo DiCaprio is not in the movie. Even more shocking is that the movie is not expected to have a wide theatrical release and does not have a release date. Netflix decided to spend millions on a slot that will not make them all that much money, but nonetheless, the trailer got people talking.
The trailer begins with Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) talking to a woman (Elizabeth Debicki) who asks how he and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) defeated “those hippie intruders” (the Manson family). This shows that the sequel takes place not long after “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and that Rick and Cliff have gone their separate ways. Following that is a montage of miscellaneous clips, which makes it seem as if Cliff is up to a lot without Rick. Notably, there are multiple censors throughout the trailer that hint at drinking, smoking, cursing, violence and nudity. After that, a man asks Cliff if he thinks he is funny, to which Cliff responds, “I’m a little funny.” Two other men laugh, and text appears that says “Coming Soon” followed by the Netflix logo.
Another strange choice Netflix made was not to include the movie title in the trailer. None of my friends knew what movie this was for, and I only knew because I follow the film trades. That may have been Netflix’s intention so people would subscribe or stay subscribed to see this. The trailer gives a solid idea of what the movie will be like and that it will retain much of its Tarantino charm. There were many bold decisions made with this trailer, especially since it may not be released for months. However, Netflix decided to make a splash by releasing a buzzing trailer without warning and building hype for Tarantino fans.
The Mandalorian & Grogu
I have not watched a single episode of “The Mandalorian,” so I have a different view than a fan of the show. I have watched most “Star Wars” movies, so I do have some insight into the franchise. That said, the trailer for “The Mandalorian & Grogu” was one of the strangest I saw all night. Even many Mandalorian fans were disappointed by the trailer.
I’m not sure if I should even call this a trailer because it used no footage from the movie. Instead, it is a parody of many Super Bowl commercials highlighting bonding and going on a journey. The trailer starts with a cart drawn by some creatures in heavy snow. A voice-over says, “Sometimes we choose our path, other times the path chooses us.” It continues on “Through it all, we keep pushing forward. Driven by a different purpose. Guided by an unseen force.” Finally, we see Grogu/Baby Yoda take the reins of the cart, who is riding with the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal). The trailer ends with the voice-over speaking, “The journey never gets any easier, the bond just gets harder to break. This is the way.”
The trailer feels very much like a beer commercial, trying to go for bonds as opposed to promoting the plot of the movie. If the trailer ended with the Budweiser logo, I’d say it was a decent commercial, especially with the Star Wars tie-in. However, for a movie trailer, this doesn’t do much at all to give the viewer a reason to watch. It wasn’t a bad reminder to fans of “The Mandalorian” that a movie is coming, but for non-fans, this is not convincing. Easily the most baffling trailer of the night. “The Mandalorian & Grogu” comes out March 22.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
A sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” follows Mario and Luigi as they meet Yoshi and travel across the galaxy. Yes, it sounds pretty gimmicky, but stars such as Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Brie Larson all voice characters in the movie. This time, the movie will resemble something similar to the Super Mario Galaxy video game. Fans came out in droves to see the first Mario movie, which grossed $1.3 billion, and the expectation is that it will happen again. Thus, Universal decided to air an ad during the Super Bowl ahead of its April 1 release.
It’s pretty generous to call this a trailer, as it was only 15 seconds long. The trailer starts with Toad running towards a baby Mario and Luigi as they bang bones on a T. rex’s teeth, awakening it. Yoshi yells at the T. rex, it roars, and they all run away as it begins to chase the group. That’s the entire trailer, described in its entirety in two sentences. It’s more of a teaser than anything, but it raises many questions. First, why are Mario and Luigi babies? But more importantly, why is there a T. rex in a movie that explores space? The trailer is really a teaser that was more or less Universal reminding people that the movie is coming out soon. It’s not much, but it’s better than not having a trailer at the Super Bowl at all.
Final Thoughts
The movie Industry showed the best of what it has to offer over the next few months, and honestly, it looks quite solid. While some trailers were cut out of broadcast, some made big splashes and generated a lot of buzz. Whether it was long trailers or just short teasers, the big studios all showed some of their most anticipated movies of the year. With football over until September, now is a great time to go to the theaters and see all cinema has to offer this year.