10 Trailers That Completely Mis-Sold The Movie

10. Avatar

It now seems an odd thought, but in the lead up to its release, Avatar was far from the guaranteed smash hit it turned out to be. The initial footage showed at Comic-Con and the first teaser got mixed reactions and the majority of the marketing campaign attempted to put the focus on the Earth military and their shock and awe campaign against the Navi; noticeably distant from the films heavy handed eco message. No matter what your opinion on the final film, it€™s fair to say it€™s less of a militaristic actioner and focuses more on the vast world of Pandora. However, looking back, the trailers tended to focus much more on the romance and the gun related action; things that directly related to Cameron€™s back catalogue. Clearly, 20th Century Fox were worried that people wouldn't flock to see a film about blue cats talking in an alien language, so shifted the marketing angle to the more relatable evil corporation. In the end, all the advertising campaign needed to do was show off some pretty images; word of mouth carried Avatar to its record smashing heights. When the film was re-released in an extended cut (with all footage expanding on the alien life), the trailers spent much more time on the beauty of Pandora; the marketing department had figured out that the film€™s ace was its unique special effects, not the things that made it look like every other action sci-fi ever made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSNL1qE6VY
 
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Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.