10 Movies Killed By God-Awful Trailers
4. Ghostbusters (2016)
Because a trailer's purpose is to make the viewer want to watch the movie, it needs to be exciting, eye-popping, and action-packed.
However, the promotions also needs to be clear what movie they're selling. Despite the fact most people focused on how unfunny the trailer for the Ghostbusters reboot was, that wasn't the only issue. In the opening moments, a text appears, mentioning how four scientists saved New York 30 years ago. Based on this statement, it sounds like this instalment is a sequel.
However, Ghostbusters 2016 is a reboot, meaning it doesn't take place in the same universe as the original. Viewers couldn't help but ridicule this blunder since the studio didn't seem to know how to advertise their own product.
Because of this flub, you'd assume the next trailer would have more clarity. However, viewers were confused again, this time by the title. The second trailer concludes with the words, Ghostbusters - Answer the Call.
However, it's not clear whether "Answer the Call" is the film's subtitle or the tagline. Have you ever heard of a trailer so incoherent, viewers couldn't tell whether it was a sequel or a reboot, AND didn't know what it was called?