When is an exclusive not exactly an exclusive? How about when a snippet of footage is scooped by the same studio in a race to show fans some video first.
James Mangold’s The Wolverine tripped over itself a little bit as it attempted to roll out pre-trailer footage through various online methods earlier this week. The very first thing that dropped with a silly, six-second Vine reel that somehow still managed to include a massive casting spoiler for the film. Secondly, we get the above clip, hosted by Hugh Jackman and claiming to be “the very first footage of The Wolverine, anywhere in the world.”
You mean except for that Vine clip that we leaked the day before?
I didn’t understand the point of the Vine clip before, and now with the MTV clip existing, I really don’t understand the point of the Vine. Neither, as it turns out, does Mangold, who turned to his own Twitter feed to apologize, saying, “I misinterpreted THE WOLVERINE roll out. We are going directly from Tweaser to full 2min Teaser tomorrow. No in-betweenty. Sorry!”
Stop. This is the act of a studio trying to milk more coverage out of the 24-hour news cycle. And it’s working (you’re reading this article that I’m taking time to write), but it’s shameful. Just release the trailer. Making fans sit through multiple edits of a short teaser can only make them irate. And the sad part is that the 20-second teaser above looks solid. Once you are able to see Mangold’s footage play out, it looks like he has tapped into the proper tone of a Wolverine movie.
Look, if the movie’s great, all of this nonsense with teasers for trailers will be forgotten. But studios, please understand that 6-second snapshots that lead to 20-second teases before and actual trailer isn’t helping anyone … and might be hurting your overall movie in the end because of the anger and apathy a cheap ploy like this generates.
