Kill the ads for sure, but go ahead and give me movie trailers before the start, but with some limitations in place:
- None of this “THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW” before the trailer starts
- The trailer must have a maximum length so it doesn’t go on too long
- The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
Someone once told me that once you decide to watch a movie you should no longer watch trailers for it. My experience has been that it was a good piece of advice. It’s INSANE how much of the plot some trailers give away. I remember people put together the entire plot of Prometheus before it was released just from all the spoilers in the trailers, and that’s not even the worst offender.
This is what I have always done. I have a very good memory, and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been let down by a film purely because of the trailer(s) beforehand just exposing all elements.
None of this “THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW” before the trailer starts
Trailers played in movie theaters do not include this. That is only used for online ads, because sometimes the trailer will play as a pre-roll ad and they don’t want people to skip it.
The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
There’s a reason studios do this. They run focus groups for trailers, and studies have shown that the more plot they reveal, the more likely audiences will buy a ticket to see the movie.
I’d be more concerned that there aren’t going to be any movie theaters left at this rate. The studios own all the streaming channels now — they’re going to cut out the middle man.
They tried that during the pandemic and didn’t like it.
This. There’s little point in seeing most films in a theater when they will be streaming a few months later.
That’s not too different from renting a movie a few months later. Theaters have always been more fun to go to for a movie you actually care about.
The problem I have with theaters is that the time and money sink is a terrible value these days. For my wife and I it’s always somehow shy of $70 and takes up most the night.
