Paramount Pictures opened this week’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas with promos and footage from a myriad of their biggest upcoming films. Star Trek Beyond co-writer and co-star Simon Pegg took the stage to present movie franchise helmsman JJ Abrams with the CinemaCon Showman of the Year Award. And then the moment we were all waiting for – a new Star Trek Beyond trailer or maybe a clip from the film – came and went and left the crowd wondering why two of rebooted Trek’s biggest names didn’t deliver.
CinemaCon is known as a place where a ton of new footage, new trailers, and new announcements are made for the latest big budget Hollywood films. Paramount Pictures kicked off the convention Monday night with a two-hour showcase: their opportunity to put this year’s best work on display. And they did so, with new footage and promos from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ben-Hur, Jack Reacher, xXx, Baywatch, and more.
With Star Trek Beyond advertisements presented front and center around the venue plus on stage appearances of JJ Abrams and Simon Pegg, the debut of a new and long awaited trailer for the upcoming Star Trek flick seemed inevitable. Until it wasn’t.
Paramount advertises its biggest upcoming flicks, including BEYOND, at CinemaCon (photo credit slashfilm)
Toward the end of Paramount’s showcase, Simon Pegg took the stage. He was there to honor and present JJ Abrams with the CinemaCon Showman of the Year Award, which JJ was pleased to accept. JJ was introduced with a sizzle real of his work, which allegedly featured, oddly enough, Star Wars: The Force Awakens footage set to music from Star Trek. After a few remarks and a passing comment that Justin Lin is creating the most exciting Star Trek yet, the pair exited the stage and Paramount moved on… to Baywatch.
That’s right, instead of a new Star Trek trailer, we got Baywatch.
Wow, no Star Trek footage… Instead a tease of Baywatch is about to drop #CinemaCon
— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) April 12, 2016
No new Star Trek Beyond footage but Baywatch cast has very early sneak peek. Paramount selling it like a Fast and Furious flick. #CinemaCon
— Gregory Ellwood (@TheGregoryE) April 12, 2016
Big surprise from Paramount #cinemacon presentation was no STAR TREK BEYOND footage. They didn't even show the previously released footage
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) April 12, 2016
So strange that JJ Abrams is at #cinemacon2016 but there is no Star Trek Beyond footage?
— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) April 12, 2016
Compare that to CinemaCon 2013, where Paramount debuted 18 minutes of footage from Star Trek Into Darkness.
Even more confusing is that it seems the newest trailer for Star Trek Beyond is finished. Simon Pegg told Erik Davis of MoviesDotCom, “it’s awesome,” which is welcome news after Pegg essentially apologized for the first (and only) trailer.
So, when will we get to see this “awesome” trailer? Your guess is as good as ours, but we hear that Baywatch is going to be action packed.
Hahahahaha
Sometimes, all you can do is laugh.
Nope. You can also say, FIRST!
After Into Darkness, I’m not paying to see Beyond, but I still had to point out that the degree to which Paramount takes their Star Trek fans for granted is astonishing.
@Mike MCP,
The team behind STID is NOT involved with STB, that’s more reason to see the movie, not boycotting.
The team may be different, but the studio’s attitude and control sure hasn’t changed.
@Vanguard,
Yes, the incompetence of Paramount marketing is staggering, no denying that. Either the movie is not complete or there are some issues that they are not telling us. Either way, we can’t judge the movie before it comes out in July.
You know some of us got so much crap for questioning where this film was going after reshoots were announced but yeah this tells you EVERYTHING you need to know people…this movie is in trouble.
YOu can spin it a dozen different ways but how the hell do you show you up an exhibitor event and NOT have a few seconds of footage??? THats what these things are about, SHOWCASING YOUR MOVIE!!!!!!!! Thats it. And then a double shot to the groin apparently Paramount showed footage for everything ELSE they got in their toolbox. How in the hell can they show off Baywatch a film that comes out, wait for it, in May 2017 but not the film that will be released in 3 months and counting?
Something is seriously seriously wrong with this picture. Paramount just push the film back, do as many reshoots as you you need because this is starting to feel like the making of one big disaster.
Absolutely this.
Trek Beyond SHOULD for all intents and purposes be their #1 property this year, given the fact it’s Trek 50th. But the lack of marketing, and apparent care from Paramount is astounding. Even more so, the fans of the JJverse movies just seem to eat it all up, regardless of Paramount’s actions (or inactions, as it might be).
I hate to be that guy, but the likelyhood of Beyond being a flop increases each passing day given how Paramount PR is handling things. And that’s regardless of the overall quality. Lack of PR, means that noone really knows about the movie (other than “die hards” who frequent news sites and watch every trailer for every movie).
tumbleweeds….rolling slowly across the barren landscape…
The arrogance of the people involved with the next Star Trek film is disgraceful. They crank out substandard product and then refuse to promote it. Oh, wait………
Oh you’ve seen it?
are you that dense about how the business works? Even when it’s crap you promote the shit out of it and force it down people’s throats. Bad Robot and Paramount aren’t getting along these days, that much is clear.
Maybe this means Paramount has pulled the plug on this film and we will be spared the third turd in this crapfest?
No. It just means they didn’t show a trailer.
At a trade show, where they showed trailers for literally EVERYTHING else. But mysteriously, not for the Trek 50th movie. Explain this Mr White Knight?
So when they do release the trailer they get all the attention instead of having to divide/share it with every other movie?
There isn’t a new trailer, from what I’ve read elsewhere. Not planned on releasing any new trailers before the movie is out. Great marketing team over at Paramount.
Please sell Star Trek to Disney…..
Simon: “I thought YOU were going to release the trailer…”
JJ: “Oh I thought YOU were…”
Oh dear that’s very telling it means the film is in serious trouble & or Trek 5 syndrome again the VFX work is late & sub-standard so they are urgently trying to fix it in time for the release date but if you do not show anything at Cinemacon perhaps the movie is going to be delayed after all…indefinitely perhaps!
Paramount: “O.K., Justin. We want an epic trailer, like Star Wars.”
Justin Lin: “No problem. What about a car race in space, rock music, explosions…”
Paramount: “No, Justin. We want to hear dialogues, symphonic music, storytelling…”
Justin Lin: “O.K., there is this guy…”
Paramount: “His name is Kirk…”
Justin Lin: “Of course, Kirk and his racing car…”
Paramount: “NO CARS!”
Justin Lin: “No cars? Well, then motor bikes, lot’s of motor…
PARAMOUNT: “Nooooooooo……”
Justin Lin: ” Anakin, is that you?”
Maybe you don’t know that but movie trailers are usually put together by the studio (or an external marketing agency hired by the studio). The director usually has some input but unless he’s really powerful the studio will have final say.
It depends, there’s no hard and fast rule. Some directors and producers are VERY hands on with their trailers. Don’t pontificate about things that aren’t that cut and dry.
@ Ibling Caesar: My post was in response to the suggestion by Thomas that Paramount is somehow the keeper of the flame fighting with a director who has absolutely no idea of the movie he’s making. Most likely, the teaser trailer we saw in December was put together by Paramount. And even if the footage was selected by Lin you can be damn sure that Paramount was perfectly fine with it.
Didnt Lin tweet about being in the editing room working on the trailer?
TUP.
Not exactly, Lin tweeted that he was working on completing the film’s clips that the trailer people [Paramount hired AV Squad] had picked.
DIGINON
Indeed, Paramount hired AV Squad to put that teaser together and THEY picked the clips. Lin was just making sure all the sound and FX was as polished as it would be in the theatrical release.
From what my friend at Paramount is telling me the movie is on schedule and isn’t suffering. Expect a MASSIVE marketing push come May.
I doubt it. My friend and my uncle that works for Nintendo said the film is a dead man walking and with Bad Robot working with Sony now due to burnt bridges at Paramount, they are going to just let it die a death and move on.
They are letting a 200 million dollar movie ‘die of death’? Really, somehow I think you’ll be proven very wrong..
Funny, Fox said the same thing about Fan4stic.
True, but Fantastic Four also had a lot more concrete reports of stuff going wrong – last-minute rewrites, Trank’s odd behavior, etc. Other than the Orci-to-Lin fallout, STB hasn’t been beset with scandal that we know about.
I think its actually a clever strategy to do a 180 from promotion of Into Darkness (or BvS, for that matter). Don’t try to set expectations, just release the movie.
I’m glad there aren’t spoilers everywhere for this new movie everywhere, but yeah, they need to start advertising! I’m itching for spoilers- er, I mean another trailer.
One interesting thing a friend mentioned was how the lack of spoilers, leaks, set photos etc is indicative that none of the usual people that hunt that stuff down give two shakes about this film.
@ TUP: Actually, there were quite a few set photos from location shoots in both Canada and Dubai. And there were photos from the reshoots a few weeks ago. I haven’t seen any spoilers about the plot though, I will give you that.
DIGINON,
I recall some actors’ selfies but I don’t recall any pictures that were either officially authorized or released by Paramount, itself?
I just had a thought- their marketing idea is brilliant— zero promotion means everyone talks about how they aren’t promoting it and that talk is what promotes it! I’m being sarcastic of course. Sigh– need a trailer! Either way I’m excited about seeing this movie.
How can you get from Star Trek, Star Wars to Baywatch? WTF is going wrong, JJ?
I don’t think JJ is involved in the new Baywatch. It’s just a Paramount Production that the studio promoted at CinemaCon.
This thing is going to be one of the biggest cinematic disasters this side of “Ishtar” and “Heaven’s Gate.” If it weren’t so obvious the studio has no faith in Beyond it would almost be laughable
….now, it’s just sad.
Why do I picture JJ in one corner, his eye swollen shut, blood dripping from several cuts… saying, “I got a strategy!”
I hope he does!
I wonder if they’ll show the trailer with Captain America: Civil War?
That’s what I’m hoping for, too. If we get nothing with Civil War, then I’m gonna declare that this thing’s getting delayed.
I’m telling you, this is JJ’s revenge on those ‘Trekkies’ who bad mouthed the film to ridiculous levels. I wouldn’t be surprise if JJ continues to make ‘Trek films just to troll his “critics”. Oh, you don’t like my work on the ‘Trek movie franchise? Huh. Well, here’s plans for the NEXT installment! Bwa-hahahahah-! ;-)
When he showed up on Conan with THREE FRAMES of Into Darkness, I think JJ pretty much confirmed that he holds Trek fans in contempt.
JJ doesnt seem to have any emotional attachment to Trek though. It’s not Star Wars to him. And its not one of his own projects. He was a hired gun who assembled a team with big ideas to take over the franchise and when that didnt work, they all checked out, or so it seemed.
I wouldn’t exactly say it didn’t work. The marketing for ST09 was massive. Although fans were somewhat split, it received very positive reviews reviews from critics and the moviegoing public in general. There was a buzz about Trek everywhere that summer.
STID was stillborn, with very little promotion. For whatever reason Paramount seemed only interested in foreign box office. Not to mention that the filmmakers, including St. Pegg, flat out lied to the fans. Eventually even JJ admitted publicly that the whole thing was a mess.
Now we’ve had a teaser that’s been slammed by fans and non fans alike, and a single still image of Scotty and a skunk lady looking at some crap with a flashlight, and nothing else. It just seems that no one is interested in this film, not even the studio. All the buzz and goodwill from seven years ago is long gone. That’s a shame.
The degree of carelessness that Paramount and Bad Robot treat Star Trek, on its 50th anniversary no less, is just appalling. Especially Bad Robot, after seeing the respect and care they put into Star Wars.
I believe the deal with BR is over after this film. Good. They should’ve just done an homage to Monty Python and called it “Star Trek Contractual Obligation Film”.
And if Paramount isn’t interested in Star Trek, then they should just sell it to someone who is. And they’d get cash to bolster their failing studio. It’s a win-win.
Rosie, that respect and care of Star Wars was the product of two major factors- the 1st being being of course JJ’s Star Wars love and personal fandom and the 2nd , Disney’s control and intolerance of ANY disrespect and/or mis-handling of that franchise – a golden goose for them. Abrams didn’t have free-reign with SW as he essentially did with Star Trek.
Of course it’s a long-known fact that JJ approached Star Wars with reverence and the desire to honor. It could be (and I suppose, has been) argued he approached Star Trek with the desire to honor Star Wars as well. smh
And Paramount wanted box office, which I cannot begrudge them. Not for THAT at least.
So here we are.
I agree 100%. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I do think, however, that as much as I enjoyed The Force Awakens, that in the not so distant future, many of the gushing reviews will be dialed back a bit with hindsight, much like they were with ST09. All JJ really needed to do was make a Star Wars film that wasn’t the prequel trilogy. That’s what the fans were starving for. A Big Mac and fries ain’t filet mignon, but it sure tastes good when you’re starving.
Hahaha! Yeah JJ’s SW was pretty much a Happy Meal for me, haha. And it looks like Rogue One will be as well. If only the next Trek will go ‘beyond’ that.
And here’s hoping for a number of tasty fillets come January!
Boy, this just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Even if we assume STB is in rough shape, why wouldn’t Paramount market it? Studios market tentpole turds all the time, often to great success. There has to be more to this story….
well don’t get all upset,maybe there just waiting for the right moment to show the trailer.the people working on this movie know what there doing.
Yeah but we assumed the people making STID knew what they were doing too and look how that turned out.
We assumed they people making BvS knew what they were doing too…
Also – in the cinemacon interview clip going around, JJ has nothing but praise for the script (“amazing”), the cast, Justin Lin. Surely he – and Pegg, too – would both be more cautious with their words if this film were a disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp2eSMOJi5k&feature=youtu.be
This is rather odd. Can the aBoblogists finally admit that this doesnt seem right?
It might be related to things to, as viewers, will not be impacted by. But STB is not being treated like a big budget event film by Paramount.
If the rumors of a huge marketing campaign closer to release is true, is this because they simply want to spend less money and focus their attention on a smaller window? I can at least appreciate the thought with that.
But my goodness…how can they have no new information to release? Nothing.
@BobOrci as exec producer, can you explain the radio silence on STB?
I was thinking at first that it may has something to do with the financial problems at Paramount but then I saw that they released trailers for other movies in the event.
It must be that they have shrunk their marketing budget for Star Trek and will do the marketing but in a smaller window.
Now as for why they have shrunk the budget one would have to suspect they forecast a smaller return. Is that due to the film not being very good, projections since STID, increased competition?
If Paramount is done with Trek films after Beyond, perhaps they want to only do what is required to try and make a couple bucks off the movie and nothing that really pushes the franchise.
Perhaps CBS will embrace the 50th Anni for their marketing around the new series.
Hey, you know from the beginning that I didn’t think Paramount was going to come through with respect for the Anniversary in getting this film produced, and yet, all the while expecting to take marketing advantage of it
I think what may be happening here, marketing-wise, is someone, perhaps wisely, is anticipating the budget for the Ebarco extended edition to produce some whiz-bang footage that only a fool wouldn’t use in a trailer, even if 90% of the bookings won’t feature it because it’ll only be able to be seen on Cinerama style screens.
You got me whether that someone might also be using it in budget shell game [re:Ahmed’s “financial problems”] to get things filmed that Paramount previously nixed because they couldn’t afford it and/or whether that someone believes these are key scenes to rescuing the production?
Ebarco= Barco Escape
This should be Paramount’s biggest release of the year (and I’m not saying that as a Trek fan). Seriously, where are all the advertisements?
What was Paramount biggest release last year?
Could it be Mission Impossible 5, which only got its final trailer in June.
Ok… and that’s a stupid idea when we are dealing with the 50th ANNIVERSARY of a franchise, not an off-again, on-again franchise of the week.
Agreed. I feel they did more for the 25th Anniversary then they are doing for the 50th (of course, that was 25 years ago, so my memory could be wrong). I mean, they put out that awesome trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERAc0ipha0
And they put out an amazing sign-off film. TNG was going strong… *sigh*
1991, despite the Great Bird of the Galaxy’s death, was a good year for Star Trek and Trek anniversaries.
MI5 was a special case since they moved that film up by 5 months. I’m surprised it got as much as it did.
Are you kidding me? What’s wrong with Paramount?
Wow…just wow. And why would you play Star Trek music over Star Wars footage? I’m feeling disappointed in Paramount’s handling of STB. Haven’t they learned from the past that this will backfire? I’m not going to blame Simon for this. I will support the movie when it comes out, but they should at least try not to fail the movie.
“And why would you play Star Trek music over Star Wars footage?” — LizardGirl
I don’t think it says anything about BEYOND other than that Paramount is SO cash strapped right now that they can’t even manage the royalties for any STAR WARS music. Maybe this will change after Dauman auctions off a piece of the studio?
I’m also concerned that this may be an initial salvo in a planned Paramount marketing campaign to take things back to the days of George Pal and plaster the marketing with “From the man who brought you, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, JJ Abrams presents, a Just Lin film, STAR TREK BEYOND.”
I’m not going to comment on a movie I’ve never seen. I am going to comment on the incompetent marketing that Paramount and CBS has (not) been doing for ST’s 50th anniversary. Compare that to all that the BBC, a government agency, did for Doctor Who’s 50th.
This is absolutely absurd. Best case scenario, Paramount is botching the marketing in an effort to let fans hype the film and 50th itself with a massive push later to get more bang for the marketing buck in a smaller window. Worst case scenario, Paramount is totally screwing the pooch on the marketing because they know that they’re sitting a massive turd-burger of a film.
I suspect, however, that the *truth* is somewhere in the middle.
The schedule for this movie was compressed, in order to get the film out on the anniversary, so post-production probably isn’t as far along for this movie as it would be for other movies 100 days before their release.
They released one trailer, and fan reaction was quite poor. I wouldn’t blame them if they waited until the movie was in better shape before releasing another trailer, so they could release a GOOD one. (Pegg’s saying that the trailer is “awesome” doesn’t mean that it’s finished; he could be talking about an early version.)
never have I been so pessimistic about a Star Trek film. Zero confidence.
It doesn’t matter, most of you complaining have already decided you won’t like it. Most of the same folks complain about the JJverse etc. Where i ahree that Trek is very different from SW it’s blatantly obvious that Trek mostly doesnt work on the big screen. I like what JJ did, it’s its own thing. I expect the new series to get more traditional but lets hope it’s dark, edgy, real and not the same campy, dated show we all love. That time has passed time for something fresh
Well, it can be edgy, real, modern and not campy, but it doesn’t have to be dark. One of the reasons Star Trek has survived is because it presents an optimistic view. While I want the quality of writing that Battlestar Galactica had, I don’t want to be miserable and depressed for five seasons
I went into STID thinking I would love it. And it was awful.
Im going into STB hoping to love it but nervous about it. I have no issue with loving what I love. If its great, Ill say its great.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Sign on actors for a fourth installment, replace the entire writing staff, Premier the trailer with the most anticipated movie in ever, and now nothing.
But then again;
Simon freaking Pegg is writing this, Justin Linn is an expert with sequels, and every time I read an interview from either of them it seems that they just might have something brilliant.
But then again;
If Orci can go off on Star Trek fans publicly because they don’t like his film, more mature execs may quietly consider that it’s a waste of time trying to please so many people that “hate” the movie based on the trailer this time around.
My opinion; there is a chance this movie just may be brilliant and I’d like to continue thinking so, but my faith is shaken by reshoots, apologies, and lack of promotion.
Justin Lin is an “expert with sequels.” I think I just puked in my mouth.
Truth hurts man.
If Studio execs give up marketing a film because the core fans rejected the trailer, then they are pretty lousy execs.
Certainly that trailer was a major mis-calculation. Designed for the Star Wars audience it had NOTHING that would appeal to Star Wars fans.
You should have heard the silence at the start wars premiere when the Beyond trailer was shown. Except for the one old lady cackling about the spock/McCoy scene.
What most people here don’t realise is they have pulled off a marketing coup! The posters are up you have the Producer & writer/co-star speaking in attendance every one expects the trailer and they give you nothing. The event finishes and what are people and message boards taking about Turtles? Baywatch? xxx? nope where the hell was the Trek trailer! Remember Abrams with cloverfield? He kept trailering the film but with no title, it’s a gimmick to draw attention before the trailer really does drop. No matter what part of post the films in do you really think they could’nt show 60 seconds of footage? Simon Pegg has already said somewhere else he’s seen the trailer and it’s amazing.
They’re not delaying it as a gimmick, especially if it’s good.
There has to be some other hang up.
Delaying what? The only delay would be if Paramount announced that the release date of STB is pushed forward and will no longer receive its first public screening on 22 July. This has not happened and hopefully will not. Everything else written is conjecture and bitching because the makers of STB are not doing what everyone else does etc.
The first trailer was fine. It has left me with many questions and I am finding alt.Kirk to be kinda cool, if, indeed that was his own bike he was riding etc…
Someone commented about how the trailer did not make sense. Most of the time, trailers are not put together in order of story progression anyway, so why should it make total sense? What in hell do people really expect from a 90 second trailer anyway, especially when it’s only raison d’etre is to give an overall view of what happens to the main protagonists? Next, others will bitch that the only action the film has is what shown in the trailer…:)
Delaying the TRAILER.
Where, in any rule book, does it say that any movie must be preceded by any trailer, let alone two or three? Has anyone associated with the making of this film stated such?
The words ” studio’s delay” is a projection coming from some members of the public and (should) have no bearing on the final outcome – ie the release of the completed STB film.
People can downvote me all they like, but that does not change the truth of what I write. There are far more things to be concerned about in this world than whether or not a studio promotes a trailer as per your instructions.
@Rose – COMMON SENSE, Rose! Common sense. Are you really making the argument that releasing trailers is not the norm for Hollywood films????
Keachick,
Paramount hired AV Squad to produce the trailer that’s already been in the theaters. I’m not sure why you or anyone else appears to be arguing that Paramount’s trailer marketing of BEYOND hasn’t already started and therefore NOT fair game for criticism of the approach they bought and paid for?
I am not arguing that the marketing hasn’t already started. Of course, it has, beginning way back with the announcement that a third film is definitely being made and IMDb *Star Trek 3 homepage noting the start of pre-production.
I am questioning why some people feel the need to criticise a marketing strategy that they are not cognizant with at all.
Yup, in Rose’s world everything is fantastic with Star Trek. Just keep your head down, ignore the obvious and keep smiling.
“What in hell do people really expect from a 90 second trailer anyway, especially when it’s only raison d’etre is to give an overall view of what happens to the main protagonists?” — Keachick
I don’t think it is unreasonable that people are expecting for a 50th anniversary production something on the level of at LEAST the best of what was done for promoting the previous two.
Unfortunately, Paramount let the gent responsible for that slip through their fingers.
Actually there is no law that states that the studio has to provide any trailer at all or any other promotional material prior to release of the film. STB is still 3 months 8 days, ie for us Kiwis…:) and a lot can happen from now till July 22.
People expect, even demand. So JJ and Simon did something else, as in just talking and letting people hear wonderful Trek music. (I hope it was Giacchino’s music) Guess what, they CAN and did.
I have no idea what the next film will be like but if all goes to plan, will know, come Thursday, 21 July 2016, NZ time – and that is the ONLY time anything will actually matter!
Yes Rose, the fans made unreasonable demands of JJ so he threw together a trailer to placate people. Its definitely the norm to not release a trailer. Good grief.
Why must Paramount (or anybody else for that matter) abide by what is deemed the “norm”? They are doing things their way, which they are entitled to do.
Besides, I doubt post-production is finished. There is still time.
This kind of behaviour, what could only be described as bullying, coming from some posters here is rude, tiresome and stupid.
“Actually there is no law that states that the studio has to provide any trailer at all or any other promotional material prior to release of the film.” — Keachick
There’s the law of marketing that says if you don’t advertise to get your product out front of your competition in the consumers’ minds, then you make little sales.
Yes, that can be true. However, there are some products that require little or no marketing but sell anyway, because they are of good quality.
If people don’t like the product, no amount of advertising beforehand will make them like something. In fact, many may feel duped and angry at the hype/saturation.
There is a lot of competition this year, one of the biggies being the Olympics held in Rio De Janiero. This could (I am not saying it will) impact on all movie sales, because people are most interested in what’s happening with their country’s teams in the Olympics.
So all these things, Star Wars, Marvel, Batman, The Olympics…they are all reasonable reasons for why Paramount hasnt marketed STB. And yet all those other films arent impacted by these things.
Its as if the universe is conspiring to hurt Star Trek. Weird.
You can love STID. And STB might be great. But why do people have such trouble acknowledging the marketing has been lousy? It shows that they arent really engaging in discussion here…its a tug of war and they want to win. They feel admitting anything is wrong is a loss.
But what is obvious cannot be denied.
Hey Rose, Im still waiting for all the other trailers specifically designed for different audiences that you said were coming after the supposedly designed-for-Star Wars trailer was universally panned…
Starting to think there are opportunities in LA for good affordable marketing companies to do solid results-oriented promo work on a comparatively low budget.
dmduncan,
I hear there’s this outfit out there that can do a “Prelude to BEYOND” trailer that’ll wow them in the peanut gallery for only $1 million!
I think Paramount wants to make as much profit on STB as possible, avoiding excessive spending cost on marketing which unfortunately included not spending funds on Cinemacom2016. They are going to wait until a month or two before the movie opens and then the maelstrom of spending for marketing, promotion, and advertising will begin. Actually, it’s already started. (See Star Trek Beyond To Be Released In The Panoramic ‘Barco Escape’ Format and New Star Trek Beyond Promotional Images Appear At Trade Show In Las Vegas; Abrams and Pegg To Appear Monday Night articles.)
After 12 movies it’s pretty obvious now that TREK can not be treated like other popular franchises. The movies simply haven’t performed at that level to warrant high level spending on marketing. Warners spent $150 million on marketing–two years worth–for BvS because they know there’s a market out there for it whether the movie is excessively bad or not. That’s an advantage a TREK movie doesn’t have. A tremendously bad TREK movie makes very little money, a bad Superman or Batman movie can–as well as many other sequel-genre-type films. Most of which I think are pretty awful anyway.
Paramount is going through difficult times right now and traditional high caliber spending on marketing for a product they know has limited returns is NOT going to warrant unrealistic spending. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jack Reacher, xXx, Baywatch, etc. all have a reasonable chance to reach the seven hundred million to billion dollar mark worldwide. They are the kind of films that usually do. TREK has proven time and time again it can not. It is, at best, a niche market product and Paramount has finally come to terms with that. Fans should too.
Naah, they could be doing dirt cheap growth hacker marketing, but they probably don’t know what it is or how to do it.
True. But, dirt cheap marketing still would have required time, money and use of personnel, which they may not have wanted to use on TREK, given the situation. Also, this production has been rushed, so they may have had to concentrate on just getting the movie ready. Still, that would have been smart to do.
Paramount is not clicking on all cylinders right now. Satisfying stockholders is the driving force for companies in trouble and to spend maximum energy and resources on a franchise with limited–but, partially low guaranteed results–has to be secondary. Does anyone actually believe a TREK movie can make a billion, or anywhere near a billion dollar? I don’t think so. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE can, TREK can not.
I think the strategy is to do blitz marketing 3 months before the movie opens, which they may feel is the best and cheapest–in terms of time, money and availability of company personnel–way to go.
Wallace,
Hard to say, but it IS clear the Barco infusion is cranking out 20 to 30 MORE minutes of film than was originally budgeted. Maybe Marc Evans decided on a Hail Mary and is waiting to see if some fx whizbang from that will be useful in the next trailer?
So honestly, was any one really expecting any thing more?
As I said in an earlier post, Paramount & Bad Robot taking the low profile approach with this movie…hoping no one notices it’s release there by avoiding critic reviews.
Yes boys and girls, there’s a stink bomb heading our way.
Tantrum all you want, disagree until the cows turn into hamburger, dislike until your blue in the face But no matter how you cut it, how much inner hope you may have, the raw truth of the matter is: S.T.B. is D.O.A. let it R.I.P.
Agreed. The next step is not having a screening for critics. Just watch.
You know what this means, right? From what I read there are Star Trek reshoots that took place in March with a female Chinese actress. Which could mean paramount has given up hope of a blow away blockbuster in north American and will try to par losses from with a Chinese box office plus woo any Chinese backerl. But if that happens paramount could alienate trek fans that will retaliate by not watching either the film or the serious. Paramount pretty needs this summer to go well or it will be in dire financial ruin.