Movies can live or die depending on the trailer that sets them up. Give the world a good preview, and the excitement levels will guarantee a solid opening weekend, no matter what the critics end up saying. Trailers are the best part of going to the movies, after all.
On some occasions, though, trailers commit a cardinal sin that leaves fans either outraged or baffled by what they end up with — they tease a movie audiences don’t end up seeing at all. A last-minute change in plans or a daring choice to over-embellish can leave audiences hyped for a movie they don’t end up seeing on opening night. When it does arrive, it might deviate slightly from what was initially put out into the world, but it’s enough to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of fans who were excited to see what they were being sold on.
With that, we’ve scanned through some great trailers for sci-fi movies gone by to see just how much we were originally sold on and whether it really made an impact, after all. To start things off, we’ve gone back to one of the most criminal bits of marketing from way back when, for a movie that was doomed from the start.
Alien³
The third chapter of the “Alien” franchise is undoubtedly the least popular of the bunch. Years later, director David Fincher, who was making his directorial debut at the time, still hates to talk about the project, which was bombarded with studio interference. The first signs of trouble came from the marketing department, which, during the movie’s earliest stages of production, put out a teaser trailer hinting at the Xenomorphs’ arrival on Earth.
They didn’t, of course — not until “Alien: Earth,” anyway. Instead, with a timestamp of 1992 and Sigourney Weaver being the only returning cast member on it, there was enough to get fans hyped for what was in store. Boy, would they be disappointed. What they ended up with was Ripley landing on a prison planet, Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Newt (Carrie Henn) dead, and new allies being completely outmatched by an alien that was giving CGI a test run and failing miserably.
Fincher, the poor guy, worked with what he could, even after butting heads with the studio to the point that he was fired and re-hired multiple times during production. In the little he has talked about the film in the years that followed, the man who would go on to give us hits like “Se7en” and “The Social Network” assured The Guardian in 2009, “I had to work on it for two years, got fired off it three times, and I had to fight for every single thing. No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me.”
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” remains one of the best movies to come out of the new era of “Star Wars” films, even after we were sold a heavily tweaked version of the movie we got, thanks to a hefty number of reshoots. The initial previews did indeed promise a “Dirty Dozen”-like tale in a galaxy far, far away, but certain plot points sprinkled throughout the teasers involving Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) didn’t make it into theaters.
In this shady prequel spin-off story about the retrieval of the Death Star plans, the teasers at one point showed Jyn not only getting into close proximity with a TIE Fighter, but also posing as its pilot. A striking shot showed this member of misfit rebels fully dressed in a TIE Fighter pilot’s uniform, standing in what appeared to be a well-lit tunnel, which never made it into the movie. Another snippet showed her in the clothes she wore for most of the film, this time standing on a platform as a TIE Fighter ascended and blocked her path. That didn’t make it to the big screen, either.
Additionally, Ben Mendelsohn’s Krennic never made it to the beaches of Scarif, even though we see him walking through the water there, and the Rogue One team was never fully together, bravely running to take on an AT-ACT. Never mind, though. The movie still slaps, and we got “Andor” out of it — the best live-action “Star Wars” show ever — so how can we complain?
Predators
It might’ve gained a welcome boost in the last few years thanks to director Dan Trachtenberg giving us “Prey,” an impressive film that takes place in between events seen in “Predator: Killer of Killers” and “Predator: Badlands,” but there was a time when the franchise was left in the promising hands of director Nimród Antal and backed by producer Robert Rodriguez. The result was the 2010 film “Predators,” which earned an honorable spot in the series, even after its original trailer promised far more alien hunters than we ended up with.
The third film in the franchise (not including the “Alien vs. Predator” spin-offs because why would you?) saw some of Earth’s most dangerous individuals thrown on a planet that worked as a gaming reserve for the Yautja. Taking point on this safari from hell was Adrien Brody as a mercenary, Royce, who in the final act goes toe-to-toe with the last Predator standing. In the initial trailer for the film, however, a memorable shot from the encounter showed Royce getting marked not with one set of the signature three dots from a Predator plasmacaster, but several.
This really was the money shot of the teaser, finally promising fans what they’d been itching to see ever since we saw a squad of them make a brief appearance in “Predator 2.” The truth is, though, that this tweaked teaser of a scene really wasn’t needed. The final product was on target as a perfectly respectable threequel, and has remained so ever since.
Edge of Tomorrow
Considering everything that went wrong with “Edge of Tomorrow,” it’s a miracle we ended up with one of Tom Cruise’s best science fiction films to date. Besides famously having its title changed before and after release, “Edge of Tomorrow” was also vastly different in tone from the movie we were initially sold in trailers. There’s certainly plenty of action packed into this brilliant adaptation of a popular manga, but the real surprise weapon in its arsenal is just how funny it is, especially when Tom Cruise’s zero is turned into a hero thanks to dying repeatedly.
The original trailer sold a far darker science fiction film. One that leaned into the somewhat morbid prospect of reliving a losing war over and over again. More akin to something set between “War of the Worlds” and “Saving Private Ryan,” the “Edge of Tomorrow” previews hinted at a gritty, gun-heavy action movie. While we certainly got a lot of that, the movie was much lighter than anticipated, not only borrowing the mechanics of “Groundhog Day” but also bringing a similar sense of humor.
As Emily Blunt’s Sergeant Rita Vrataski is teaching our hero how to fight, Cruise’s cowardly Major William Cage is going through a variety of ways to die and often begging not to when he suffers severe injuries. Quite the shift from what we were initially promised, but it still doesn’t keep the movie from being a great watch and one that fans are still desperate to get a sequel for.
Iron Man 3
The other trailers on this list might have sold a different product than what we got, but with “Iron Man 3,” it was imperative that audiences were fooled before they saw the film to ensure its biggest twist landed well. The problem was that this particular shake-up in Tony Stark’s story didn’t quite get the reaction Marvel Studios might’ve hoped for.
At first glance, there’s no doubt that the trailer for “Iron Man 3” was a great one, with Tony finally coming face-to-face with the Mandarin, a longtime foe of the billionaire playboy from the comics. What really ramped up the excitement levels, though, was that Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley was tasked with bringing the character to life, and as far as fans were aware, what they were getting was a terrifying iteration. A terrorist leader shown through sketchy video footage, this version of the Mandarin certainly sparked intrigue. Unfortunately, we got the opposite when it was revealed that the Mandarin was a ruse and Kingsley was really just a low-rate “ac-tor” and soccer fan, Trevor Slattery.
When the secret finally got out, many fans were outraged that such a star had been wasted without bringing a vital villain in “Iron Man” lore to life. Thankfully, over time and with a few special appearances, Kingsley’s handling of the character that was initially hated by some has become one loved by many in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, proving that a few tricky trailers aren’t so bad after all.
