During the Super Bowl, we’re there mostly for the ads (and the queso dip). Same goes for Hollywood.
After the number of theatrical release trailers airing during the big game dropped considerably in the first years of Covid, movie studios are expected to come back to the broadcast this year in a big way. A trailer for DC’s The Flash and the latest Fast & Furious film, Fast X, are expected to air during the game, while Marvel’s upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be promoted as part of a co-branded spot with Heineken’s nonalcoholic beer.
But there’s a catch. After a brutal few years for the film industry, movie studios may never go back to airing as many trailers as they once did during the Super Bowl, according to Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP, media partnerships at the data firm iSpot.
“With fewer movies and fewer blockbuster titles, deciding what gets prominently featured during the biggest media moment of the entire year becomes a much more selective decision,” Schwartzapfel told us.
Step back: In 2018, there were ads for seven movies (Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible–Fallout, Skyscraper, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, A Quiet Place, and Red Sparrow) during the Super Bowl broadcast, according to iSpot.
- In 2019, ads aired for six movies: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, and Alita: Battle Angel
- By 2020, five movies got big-game trailers, including Minions: The Rise of Gru, No Time To Die, F9, Black Widow, and Mulan
There’s a reason why there are normally several trailers during the game: they do really well. During the 2019 Super Bowl, for example, trailers for the Marvel films Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel together accounted for more than a third of all digital engagement around Super Bowl ads, per iSpot.
“They punch well above their weight class in terms of garnering digital engagement or share of consumer attention, as compared to the more straight-laced product ads or service ads,” Schwartzapfel said.
But in 2020 and 2021, Covid largely put the kibosh on theatergoing—along with movie marketing during the big game. In 2021, only one movie trailer—for M. Night Shyamalan’s Old—aired during the game’s broadcast on CBS, and last year, ads for just two films—Jordan Peele’s Nope and the Michael Bay action flick Ambulance—aired during the broadcast on NBC, per iSpot. (It’s worth noting that trailers sometimes run in pre- or post-game advertising buys, which iSpot did not include in its data.)
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It’s still anyone’s guess as to which other theatrical releases may get promotion during the Super Bowl this year. There is a stacked list of upcoming blockbusters to choose from, including Marvel Studios titles like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels and big-ticket action flicks like Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One and John Wick: Chapter 4.
The considerable number of upcoming releases reflects a growing optimism among industry execs about seeing the theatrical business further recover in 2023. But the sheer cost of running a Super Bowl ad—which this year costs as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot—may limit the total number of trailers.
“A film has to have certain characteristics, traits, and box-office predictions to warrant an investment—and the timing needs to line up in terms of the release date,” Schwartzapfel said.
Tying it all together
There’s another reason why Super Bowl viewers may see fewer standalone ads for theatrical releases this year, and it has to do with corporate consolidation. As entertainment conglomerates continue to look to promote a wide range of offerings and services, some are opting to advertise their streaming services or promote multiple movies and TV shows all at once.
No need to look far to see examples. Consider last year, when Netflix devoted the first half of its ad to highlighting upcoming films heading not to theaters but to the streaming service, or NBCUniversal’s promotion for Peacock’s premium-film slate, or Disney+’s (admittedly bizarre) “GOAT” ad promoting movies available on the service.
Overall, total entertainment presence in the big game is growing. In the past several years, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have amassed an increasingly high percentage of ad impressions during Super Bowl broadcasts, per iSpot. Last year, streaming services garnered more than 15% of total impressions during the game.
While movies will still get plenty of promotion during the game, expect to see more of them lumped into broader promotional spots.
Messaging will likely be along the lines of, “Be sure to watch X on our linear airer or our digital airer. Oh, and we have a new movie too, and it’s available 30 days after box office,” Schwartzapfel said. “The interests are colliding.”