The pandemic has turned the entire industry on its head, with every aspect of the movie business, from development to release, being drastically affected. One of the more noticeable differences between now and the days when times were much more certain and a lot less unprecedented, is how marketing campaigns have changed.
Once upon a time, we could expect teaser trailers to be followed by posters, production stills, TV spots and full-length promos, which would often rumble on for months. Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall dropped the first footage yesterday and the disaster epic doesn’t arrive until February 2022, but there are less than fifteen weeks to go until The Matrix: Resurrections opens, and we’ve seen the total sum of jack sh*t.
Admittedly, CinemaCon attendees were lucky enough to get a sneak peek, but Joe Public hasn’t been afforded the same opportunity as yet. Warner Bros. have James Wan’s Malignant coming to theaters next week, which might come burdened with the first trailer for Keanu Reeves’ return as Neo, but after that the next major WB debutant isn’t until Dune on October 22nd.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits the big screen five days before The Matrix: Resurrections and our first look at the web-slinging threequel came eleven days ago. By that logic, maybe we’re not too far away, or it’ll be a repeat of the Godzilla vs. Kong situation, where the studio held off on showing us anything until as late as possible.
