Top 10 Movies Destroyed by the Trailer

As of writing, the movie has not even come out. Yet, the trailer has had “Minecraft” fans seething. Based on the very popular game, the film will follow four people as they are sucked into the world of Minecraft. This premise, deemed unoriginal by fans, is not the only bone of contention. From the random Beatles song to the lack of “Minecraft”-style animation, to that random pink sheep, this trailer provided a lot of fodder for haters. Oh, and Jack Black introducing himself as Steve while looking very much like Jack Black has already become a meme. Since then, fans have “fixed” the trailer by either doing their own or animating it in the style of “Minecraft.” Either way, it’s not a good start.

Is there no end to this film’s many controversies? The film faced early backlash for its character posters, revealing white actors playing Egyptian gods. The trailer did not make matters any better, triggering a wave of debate on all sides, with many predicting a flop. Sure enough, the film became a box office bomb with negative critical reviews. Most critiqued the bad script and unconvincing special effects. Compounding this was director Alex Proyas’ own complaints about the negative reviews. It’s hard to judge whether a better trailer or marketing in general would have eased the controversy. But it certainly didn’t help.

Even the biggest studios must eventually fail. This sequel to the first “Captain Marvel” movie was always going to be subject to massive fan scrutiny. When the trailer finally came out, it quickly became the MCU’s most disliked trailer on YouTube. Much of this stemmed from the hate campaign against the lead Brie Larson, prompting review-bombing campaigns for “The Marvels” and “She-Hulk.” No doubt ingrained sexism and racism also contributed to fan backlash, as “The Marvels” would be led by three women, two of whom non-white. The film suffered at the box office with mixed critical reviews. Ironically, a high point noted in the reviews is the good performances of its leads, which goes to show.

The power of music cannot be overestimated. The second trailer for “Warcraft,” another video game adaptation doomed to failure, was released in 2016, much to fan skepticism. It wasn’t the CGI or actors that caused alarm. Rather, it was the fact that, for some reason, this second trailer had… dubstep? It was a strange musical decision, especially as the first trailer had more conventional music for an epic film. The director even had to assure fans that the film would be fully scored. Sure enough, there were no musical oddities in the actual movie. But it’s strange that it should happen once, right?

When the “Madame Web” trailer dropped, fans were quick to point out the many things wrong with it. There was the strange line delivery and clunky dialogue. One line even became a fun meme, although it sadly wasn’t in the finished film. Then there was the fact that the trailer focused more on explaining Cassandra Webb’s powers and, well, the plot, than showing the drama. The incompetence of it all had some speculating that it was all very much on purpose. After the film was finally released, it had poor box office performance and negative critical reviews. Researching spiders in the Amazon was a bad idea.

The trailers for Disney’s live-action reboots haven’t had the best reception—just ask the latest “Aladdin” remake. Pretty much everything about the trailer and the marketing for Disney’s “Snow White” reboot has been off. From the set photos to human actors being replaced by CGI dwarfs, it’s been a lot. While Rachel Zegler’s casting ignited some controversy, her glib comments on the changes to modernize the story have been the main point of contention. Disney could, in theory, surprise us all. But at this point, does anyone believe this film will be a successful remake?

The trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of this popular middle-grade novel left much to be desired, according to fans. It immediately raised concerns that the film would not follow the source material. For one thing, the film seemed to have turned criminal mastermind and genius Artemis Fowl into yet another good YA protagonist about to come of age. Fans were also put off by the casting of the Eurasian Butler as Black while nut-brown-skinned fairy Holly was played by a white actress. Sure enough, the actual film is as far from the novel as can be, becoming yet another YA adventure, and a badly done one, too.

Ah, “Cats.” It never wears us out with the infinite variety of its incompetence. Unfortunately, intimations of “Cats’” horror were apparent just by the trailer alone. Fans and regular audiences alike were horrified by the mix of too-literal CGI and live-action actors, verging on uncanny valley. The changes to the source material did not please the fans, and the singing was nothing to write home about, either. Sure enough, when the film was finally released, fans were treated to more of the same—except longer and even worse. This star-studded ensemble was wasted on a film like this.

Speaking of fan ire and disappointment, there was possibly none greater than for “The Last Airbender.” Based on the popular animated series, the film’s trailer was released to controversy, once again of whitewashing nature. Fans did not appreciate the Inuit-inspired Sokka and Katara being played by white actors. The trailers also showcased the weak bending and poor script early on, particularly its reliance on dialogue exposition. The film was eventually released to terrible box office performance and even poorer critical reviews. Netflix’s attempt to adapt the show was received much better, although that’s not saying much.

This film really did not have a chance, did it? Granted, the fact that this reboot would have an all-female cast was enough to piss off the more chauvinist fans. The trailer’s bad jokes did not help matters and the reception was overall… not good. For a period, “Ghostbusters” was the most disliked movie trailer on YouTube, a “milestone” since surpassed by Bollywood’s “Sadak 2.” Unfortunately, the film itself did not do well at all at the box office, subject to a review-bombing campaign. Poor Leslie Jones got particularly bad hate. It was so bad that the film itself shot additional meta scenes addressing the controversy. At least it did fairly well with the critics.

What other movie trailers made you lose faith in Hollywood, or at least its marketing departments? Let us know in the comments down below!