Super Bowl LVIII: What Movie Trailers Could We See During The Big Game?
Photo from CBS Sports
From Ryan Cordaro
The Super Bowl is usually the time when studios go all in on marketing what movies they have coming out for the year, and this is now the time I go through the big tentpole movies and see what studios could promote. In most articles that talk about this, they go by studio and see what they should/would promote during the big game’s commercial breaks, but I’m going to do something different: There’s going to be three sections: Sure Things, Possible Contenders, and Wild Cards. Let’s just get into it right now.
Sure Things
Deadpool 3 – If there’s anything that could be the big moment of the Super Bowl outside of the game and halftime show itself, it’s probably going to be Deadpool 3. Or Deadpool & Wolverine. Or Untitled Deadpool Movie (my personal favorite rumored title). Reports and rumors of all kinds have been going wild about when the first trailer will drop for Ryan Reynolds’s return to the Merc with a Mouth, and the Super Bowl drop rumor has been around since the end of last year. I’d genuinely be surprised if nothing for the only MCU movie this year released during the Big Game.
Despicable Me 4 – Since the full trailer for this had actually leaked, Universal went ahead and officially dropped the trailer earlier this week, so I’m just expecting something that says “Oh, the full trailer is online now!” instead of a brand-new trailer.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – I think this will go the same route as Despicable Me 4, with its trailer also getting released earlier this week. There’s also probably going to be some new footage thrown in with the “Big Game Spot,” as they’re usually called.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Like Deadpool 3, there’s been some rumors swirling about a new trailer dropping at some point soon, especially since the trailer that’s been playing in theaters has been out since at least November. I’m personally pretty excited to finally come back to this franchise, and if I’m not the only one, I think this would be a really good way to get the Apes franchise back into the spotlight.
Possible Contenders
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – As someone who isn’t a giant fan of the original movie, that’s a very clever title. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is going to be on a lot of people’s radars, whether it’s for the nostalgia of Michael Keaton returning to the role of the title character, or that the rising star Jenna Ortega is leading the project alongside returning stars Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara and newcomers like Willem Dafoe and Monica Bellucci. With the title and poster drop a few days ago, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if we got something during the Big Game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it came and went with nothing.
Dune: Part Two – Out of any Warner Bros. movies that are coming this year, this seems poised to be the biggest one of the year. Dune: Part Two is right around the corner, with preview screenings happening at the end of this month, and especially with just how many people are a part of this with both returning cast members and newcomers, it makes sense for it to have one last marketing push before it *finally* releases in a few weeks.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – There have been rumblings about a new trailer coming out soon, so it feels like at least something will come out soon, with or without a Super Bowl. This will be the case for many trailers in this section, but like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, there’s been a trailer out since November and the cycle’s gotta continue. It’s coming out for Memorial Day weekend, so one more explosive trailer would definitely do the trick.
The Garfield Movie – I could pretty much copy and paste what I said about Furiosa, even down to its release date. It’s been a hot minute since the first trailer for Chris Pratt’s animated Garfield movie, and once again, the cycle continues.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – I mean, I don’t want to be repetitive, but the cycle is gonna continue with this. It’s been a few months since the first trailer for this dropped, and especially since the release date got moved up since that first trailer, I wouldn’t be surprised if a 30-second teaser is shown and the full trailer would be online after that aired.
Kung Fu Panda 4 – There’s a small chance of two possibilities if this is shown off at the Super Bowl. It could be a short teaser that simply says that it’s coming out this March, or we could just get a whole new trailer with a “full trailer online now” spot during the game. This is more of a hunch than anything, but since it’s out in just over a month, I think it’d make sense for something to come out about it.
A Quiet Place: Day One – People love the two A Quiet Place movies, but Day One will be the first one without director John Krasinski behind the camera, even if he does have a story credit. Even though it doesn’t come out until June, I think a short teaser to get the public eye on it would be a great choice. Lupita Nyong’o leading the cast, on top of Stranger Things favorite Joseph Quinn also in the cast, would certainly get it trending.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – Not even a few days ago, this would’ve been in the wild card category, but I’ve got a good reason for this to be a possible contender. A bunch of new cast members got announced this past Friday, Krysten Ritter being the biggest name among them, but the big bombshell announcement was that Jim Carrey would be reprising his role from the first two films after seemingly announcing his retirement during the press tour for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. That’s not even including a logo reveal for the movie, on top of teasing who the voice actor could be for Shadow, who’s currently rumored to be Hayden Christansen. This big burst of news could end with the first teaser, possibly revealing Shadow’s voice, but what holds it back is that the movie isn’t even releasing until December.
Wild Cards
Alien: Romulus – This one’s mainly just wishful thinking, but like the Planet of the Apes franchise, I think the people would wanna know that there’s a new Alien movie coming out. It’s a fresh new entry for the series, once set to go straight to Hulu, but it’s now coming to theaters in August. I think Fede Álvarez is a great pick for a director after he’s directed the Evil Dead film from 2013 and Don’t Breathe, and all this would really need would be a quick shot of a Xenomorph. Maybe you could throw in a shot of Cailee Spaeny too, who’s white-hot after leading Priscilla a few months ago.
Joker: Folie à Deux – If there’s anything that could rival Deadpool 3 for being the biggest trailer of the night, it could be this. The sequel to the only R-rated movie that made a billion dollars at the box office (as of right now), on top of an Oscar-winning movie, *and* adding Lady Gaga to join the returning Joaquin Phoenix as Joker and Harley Quinn? It feels like it’s going to print money, and to hammer home that this sequel will have more of a musical edge, the Super Bowl would be the perfect place to reveal the first look at Folie à Deux. I’d say it’s the most possible out of the others in this category since filming has been completed since April of last year, so it’d definitely light the internet on fire if even just a short teaser would drop.
Madame Web / Kraven the Hunter / Venom 3 – Why did I put these three together instead of different sections? Well, I think that there could be a joint trailer for all three of these movies. There was that one trailer for a bunch of DC movies like The Batman, Black Adam, and all the ones that were coming out in 2022 (at least at the time) that featured footage from all of them. This is the perfect kind of opportunity to do something like that. Madame Web comes out the Friday after the Super Bowl, and they gotta do something to market it… right? Either way, it’s been a hot minute since we got something from Kraven the Hunter, and since people actually go out to watch the Tom Hardy-led Venom movies, why not throw something in there about the third (and possibly final) movie coming out this year?
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – I’m fully aware that this is probably the least likely out of all of these movies to get a teaser now, but I think there’s a good audience here for this. Animated movies not catering to kids have been doing as well as they’ve ever been, especially since the pandemic. Last year alone, Studio Ghibli’s latest movie, The Boy and The Heron, ended up quickly becoming the studio’s highest grossing film in North America. Even if this was still marketed to kids because of the brand alone, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended up catering to all audiences and pushed it to be one of the highest-grossing movies of 2023. The built-in fan base for Lord of the Rings is already pretty strong, and with the studio behind Blade Runner: Black Lotus and the upcoming Tower of God anime working on it, it’s also a test for mainstream anime films to see how well they could do with a big brand attached to it.
Expect a full outline of every trailer that was shown/promoted during the Super Bowl on Monday after the game.
