I’m a movie guy who’s more than capable of enjoying a good Super Bowl, but – let’s be honest – if it’s not my team playing or the game is a complete blow-out, I get more excited for the movie trailers that play during commercial breaks than I do for the game itself. I’m the guy at the party who tells everyone else to shut up (whether I know them or not) just so I can experience it uninterrupted. Are you the same?
Some of the Big Game’s trailers pop up online before the Super Bowl. Some trailers even get their own Vine-like trailers. Some studios will even announce which movies they’re going to promote. And some will even pull the old quarterback sneak and leave it a surprise. Here’s what we have, what we know we’re going to get and what I think just might pop up as a suprise.
The Known
NOAH (Release: March 28, 2014)
Unpredictable director Darren Aronofsky has taken on the Holy Bible is this expensive-looking grand scale epic. Loving The Fountain, The Wrestler and Black Swan, I’m looking forward to seeing what craziness he pulls off this time. The cool thing about this Super Bowl spot is that there’s a contest that goes along with it. Tweet #TheFloodIsComing for a chance to win tickets to 40 sporting events. Visit www.NoahMovie.com for more information. This trailer is set to air at approximately 6:23PM EST/3:23PM PST in the first position of the pre-kickoff commercial break immediately following the National Anthem.
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (Release: June 27, 2014 )
Michael Bay is back at it, this time leaving behind Shia LaBeouf and picking up Mark Wahlberg. No footage from the film has debuted yet, so this will be the first glimpse at the fourth installment of his Transformers franchise.
The Expected
DRAFT DAY ( Release: April 11, 2014)
Kevin Costner stars in his third studio picture of the year. While Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 3 Days to Kill placed him in action scenarios, Draft Day places him in the world of sports – but the tension is still high. Serving as the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns, he has a chance to make or break the team with his first-round NFL draft pick – that is, if he doesn’t screw it up before the draft begins.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (Release: May 2, 2014)
I don’t care how unnecessary this rebooted franchise is after Sam Raimi’s trilogy, I’m loving it. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were fantastic in the first Amazing Spider-Man; (500) Days of Summer director Mark Webb has brought a brilliant life to the series that’s quite different from that of Raimi’s films. With sequels coming every two years from here on out, I’m expecting this first sequel to set up something big and fun.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (Release: April 4, 2014)
The first Marvel Studios (Disney) release of the year is the modern-time sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. While Marvel’s pictures are burning me out with the overuse of the same tone/feel, The Winter Soldier looks promising. It appears like the patriotic superhuman has been placed in a scenario of political espionage. Perhaps a more fitting title would have been Captain America: Patriot Games.
The Completely Unfounded
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Release: August 1, 2014)
Marvel Studios is releasing a second superhero movie this summer, this one a little bit different from what they’ve been doing. The heroes are a group on intergalactic anti-heroes. If you’re wondering what that strange Doctor Who-looking teaser was during the credits of Thor: The Dark World, it was a lead-in to Guardians of the Galaxy. While the picture opens in summer, the only footage to be unveiled was a snippet at last year’s Comic Con. Either Disney is holding out on revealing that this trailer is coming or they still have no idea how to effectively market this piece of strange property. Why do I call it strange? Because one of the central characters is an animated rocket launcher-wielding raccoon.
MAN OF STEEL 2 (Release: 2016)
I have no reason to believe that we’re going to get this trailer, especially because the film’s release date was bumped back last week, but a boy can dream, can’t he? We know that the crew filmed something a few months back in a football stadium. What it was, no one really knows – but if it’s going to be two years before DC puts out another comic movie, they’d better do something to help us remember that their brand exists – especially amongst the plethora of Marvel being crammed down our throats. Wouldn’t a nice little Super Bowl teaser spot do the trick?
