CLEVELAND, Ohio — Super Bowl LI viewers were treated to 10 movie trailers Sunday night as studios took advantage of a record audience — more than 111 million viewers — to keep fans apprised of their upcoming blockbusters.
The annual contest is consistently the most-watched sporting event of the year (at least in the United States), making a 30-second Super Bowl trailer seem like the easiest way to whip up anticipation about an upcoming movie. And in the internet age, entertainment websites run articles on Super Bowl ads and gush over the most impressive, meaning it’s also an easy way to get your film free publicity once the game is over.
But does all that hype translate into success? With the current asking price for a 30-second commercial during the NFL’s championship game now at $5 million, is it worth the cost?
More often than not, it is.
Super Bowl movie trailers have become increasingly common in recent years, with studios deciding that $5 million is more than worth it to get tens of millions of eyes on a 30-second movie ad.
Between 2008 and 2013, 68 movie trailers aired during the big game, according to a tally by The Motley Fool, and almost all of those movies made money.
This year, viewers even saw a handful of TV shows run previews during the championship contest, including the FX super-hero drama “Legion,” and the Netflix original series,”Stranger Things,” which previewed its second season.
While far too many Super Bowl trailers have aired over the years to mention all of them in this article, we can single out a few highlights that represent the success — or lack thereof — of films that run ads during the big game.
Those of you old enough to remember the 1996 Super Bowl probably recall the chilling ad for the alien invasion classic “Independence Day,” which featured a massive extraterrestrial star ship blowing up the White House. The trailer helped build massive hype for the film, which went on to make more than $817 million during its theatrical run.
Three years later, the remake of “The Mummy” aired a Super Bowl trailer and went on to make more than $400 million, enough to justify a short-lived franchise.
Even mediocre films have become massive hits on the heels of Super Bowl ads.
The 2007 comedy “Wild Hogs” made more than $253 million against a $60 million budget after airing a Super Bowl trailer. The film currently holds a 14 percent approval rating on review aggregator rottentomatoes.com and marks a low point in the acting careers of John Travolta and William H. Macy.
Even the 2003 Marvel adaptation, “Daredevil,” one of the most reviled super-hero movies ever filmed, managed to make more than $179 million after airing a Super Bowl trailer.
The last three “Transformers” movies, all of which were panned by critics, ran ads during the big game, and all of them made more than enough to justify continuing the series.
The last “Transformers” movie — the inaccurately titled “Age of Extinction” — eclipsed $1 billion at the box office despite holding a series worst 18 percent approval rating on rottentomatoes.com.
But the rule that Super Bowl trailers equal box office success has a few notable exceptions.
Take the 2009 Will Ferrell vehicle “Land of the Lost,” which aired a Super Bowl ad but made just $68 million at the box office against a $100 million budget.
The 1998 sci-fi thriller “Sphere” is one of the biggest flops to air a Super Bowl trailer, making just $50 million against an $80 million budget.
This year’s trailers included the latest entries in the highly successful “Transformers” and “Fast and Furious” franchises, as well as the latest chapters in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “X-Men” super hero franchises.
Those films will likely dominate the box office this year and ensure that trailers remain a staple of Super Bowl ads in 2018.
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