If you’ve been going to the movies for any length of time, you’ve probably seen a trailer that gave too much away. Maybe it a comedy that blew all its best jokes in the course of its marketing campaign. Or maybe the trailer ruined a big reveal or major plot twist. Whatever the case may be, it’s an all-too-frequent occurrence that frustrates audiences and filmmakers alike.
In the course of a recent interview with io9, Colin Trevorrow made clear that he can now be counted among the dubious company of filmmakers who’ve had to contend with trailer spoilers. In this case, the various trailers for ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ revealed not only the destruction of the island on which both parks were built, but also included shots taken from the film’s closing montage. It’s an experience the writer/producer described as “very frustrating for me,” adding that:
“That’s a relationship we have with marketing [and] there are a lot of different needs. I try to be very lucid and rational about it, [but] to speak frankly, there is a very, very small percentage of people who watch all the trailers. The rest of the world might only see one.”
This, he suspects, is due to the nature of the ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise which he says is “constantly asked to prove the validity of its own existence with every movie that we make.” This places it in stark contrast to, say, the typical ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Alien’ film. But frustrating as it might be, Trevorrow nonetheless makes a point of looking for the silver lining:
“It stops us from resting on our laurels or just assuming the audience is going to show up. The downside is it feels like marketing is just constantly feeling the need to make the case. I would definitely have preferred those images not be seen, but if you haven’t watched the trailers, just go see the film.”
It’s hard not to sympathize with Trevorrow. After all, if you’re telling a story wouldn’t you rather the audience know as little as possible before the show? But personally? I’d argue there were bigger problems with the trailers for ‘Fallen Kingdom’ than whatever plot-related beans they may have spilled. Not least of which being the way in which they imply the presence of a vastly greater amount of Jeff Goldblum than we actually see in the film.
‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, and Isabella Sermon. The film, which was directed by J. A. Bayona from a script by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, is now playing in theaters.
