The Super Bowl is one of the largest sporting events in the entire world. Last year during Super Bowl XLVI, approximately 111.3 million people around the world tuned in to watch the Giants beat the Patriots, with each year the number increasing. The increase in viewers is thanks to the advances in technology and improvements to online streaming and accessibility. With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why advertisers and movie studios fight for a spot during the event and without hesitation fork over the absurd amount of money it cost to air one of their ads.
This year the price for a 30 second ad has increased from $3.5 million to $4 million, so what does that mean to movie studios? Not a damn thing. You could probably charge some of the bigger studios double that amount and they would still pay for it if they felt it would help one of their major films. Now I will say that this price tag is more of an estimate because there are packages companies can buy for a discount and what not but in general, when you see a commercial on for longer than 30 seconds, just know it is costing them some money!
So does airing a trailer for an upcoming film during the Super Bowl really translate into ticket sales? That’s tough to say. Maybe, maybe not depending on what data you look at. For the purpose of this article, we will just take a look at the films from 2012 that aired during the Super Bowl and also take a look at the trailers we can expect this year during the game.
2012 was a fantastic year for the film industry as box office numbers increased and records were broken, however not very many of the films that aired during the 2012 game actually had an impact on that. In 2012 we saw trailers for The Avengers, Battleship, The Dictator, John Carter, Acts of Valor, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Hunger Games and The Lorax. Looking at this list now, it is easy to see that there were some duds in the group. Out of all of the films that were shown, the only ones that actually did “well” were The Avengers, The Hunger Games and The Lorax. The others either bombed or didn’t even come out (G.I. Joe: Retaliation). Clearly based on that list alone, one would think that there might have been a better way to spend the $3.5 million + it cost to air those trailers.
Studios it seem have gotten the hint that maybe it isn’t smart to air these “long shot” films during the Super Bowl and instead have elevated to go with their bigger guns for 2013. As of right now, here are the films that we know will be shown during this years game:
- Star Trek Into Darkness – Paramount is going all out on their J.J. Abrams Star Trek sequel and will not only release a trailer for the film during the game, they have also already released an app for fans to download that will allow them to interact with the film during the game. While the film probably doesn’t need this type of publicity, fans will love what they are in store for when it airs during the 2nd quarter. Not to mention Paramount kept it right at the 30-second mark so it will only cost about $4 million!
- Fast Six – No matter how you feel about the Fast and Furious franchise, there is no doubt these films make money. Fast 5 was one of, if not the best out of the series and brought in a record of over $200 million while in theaters. If they keep the action going with the sixth film, then then I would say this is a smart move for Universal and money well spent. At this time we aren’t sure how long the trailer will be but I would expect to see this during the first quarter and will probably be 30-seconds.
- Iron Man 3 – The first of 3 films that Disney plans on airing during the game. A 10-second teaser was just released regarding the 60-second trailer that will be shown during the game. Now this is a no brainer for Disney and will be $8 million well spent. Not only is this the first film for Marvel’s Phase Two, it will also be the first film since The Avengers to hit so it will be interesting to see how that plays into the box office numbers.
- The Lone Ranger – The longest trailer out of all the films, Disney will show a 90-second trailer for the film that features Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp. Hoping to find their next Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney is sparing no expense when it comes to the film and dropping around $12 million on it for one day, as they are hoping to cash in on the audience with this one. Hopefully they wont have another John Carter on their hands.
- Oz, the Great and Powerful – The final film from Disney during the Super Bowl is one that I don’t feel needs to be done. I think Oz, the Great and Powerful will do fine without the spot during the game, but then again if Disney wants to drop $4-8 million for this spot, then more power to them. I think they could use that money on a better marketing idea.
- Oblivion – Another film from Universal and probably the dark horse of the group. The studio will rely on Tom Cruise for this one and hopefully since they decided to skip San Diego Comic Con with this film, they will give something that really sells the film. So far I’m not that excited for the film, however they better make damn sure this trailer blows people away, or we might have our first casualty of the season.
- World War Z – This one won’t actually air during the Super Bowl, however it will air during the pre-game show. Paramount will run a 30-second clip for the film and they better pray this one is better than the crap they put out with the first one. They will really need to sell people on this film and I think this is the best opportunity for it. With the critisicism the film has been getting thus far, they will be looking to make a splash come Sunday.
So there you have it, those are the trailer that we know thus far will be in the Super Bowl this year. For the most part, I think the studios chose wisely, however I am a bit disappointed that there is no sign of Man of Steel or Pacific Rim in the lot. I think both films could really benefit from the publicity of the game.
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