If you grew up in the early 2000s, you probably saw a trailer for Kangaroo Jack. The trailer gives the impression that the movie is a screwball road trip comedy about two friends and their wacky, talking Kangaroo sidekick. Except it’s not that. It’s an extremely unfunny movie about two idiots escaping the mob. There’s a random kangaroo in it for like 5 minutes and he only talks during a hallucination scene that lasts less than a minute. Turns out, the producers knew that they had a stinker on their hands so they cut the movie to be PG and focus the marketing on the one positive aspect that test audiences responded to, the talking kangaroo, tricking a bunch of families into buying tickets.
What other movies had similar, deceitfully malicious marketing campaigns?
Holy shit yup. This happened to me. Little kid me was stoked for that movie and it sucked balls hahahahaha
Made my dad take me to theater. I was so disappointed.
OK, call me naive, but I had no idea that Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was a famous musical. The trailer for the film, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. So I was very surprised when they all started singing and dancing in the film. This was never mentioned or shown in the film’s trailer! I just double-checked on Wiki and people in the UK logged official complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards agency.
The only other example that comes to mind is the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. Can’t remember if it’s the first or second. The shot in the trailer features what looks like the start of an epic fight between Spider-Man and Rhino. Unfortunately, what you see in the trailer is the very last shot in the film. It’s a tease for a fight that you never get to see.
The trailer for District 9 had stuff in it that wasn’t even in the movie and was all shot at normal camera angles instead of “I’m holding a camera and filming all this” style like the Blair Witch Project.
The trailer looked more like Independence Day, rather than a movie with cam footage showcasing aliens as poor immigrants.
That’s all B roll that the film crew following Wikus shot
Good for them? It was still a bullshit deception.
Spirit looked like it would be gritty but was goofy. After release the trailer for DVD made it look sexy.
Wait, Spirit the Dreamworks animation movie with the horse?
No, it may have been called “The Spirit” I think. It was a black and white comic movie, but it had some color. Like the tie was red I think. Idk. Very long ago and forgettable.
I think they are referring to Will Eisner’s The Spirit but also Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmiron or whatever the fuck it’s called is the worst film title ever.
Star Wars Episode 1
What were they like at the times?
They were “Look at the story we could tell and the wondrous adventure we’re embarking on together”
And then pod-racing, and puppets, and a jibber-jabber secret sith, and toys.
