The All-Time Greatest Super Bowl Movie Trailer Premieres
This Sunday, millions of Americans will get together to eat, drink, and watch the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons vie for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LI. Movie fans will also be partaking in another annual tradition — keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest Hollywood movie trailer premieres. Given that the big game always draws the year’s largest broadcast audience, studios have long unveiled their upcoming blockbusters during the commercial breaks, and this year should be no different. Spots from Transformers: The Last Knight and Ghost in the Shell figure to headline a healthy crop of big-budget debuts. But will they generate the sort of buzz that leads to a hit? To do so, they’ll have to live up to the following nine trailers, which became instant sensations after premiering during the Super Bowl.
Independence Day (1996)
Studios had been showcasing movie trailers during the game long before 1996. Yet 20th Century Fox’s spot for Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day was such a monumental triumph — teasing only the basic premise and closing with the signature sight of the White House being blown to smithereens by a UFO blast — that it forever convinced studios that the Super Bowl held the potential to launch their summer releases to stratospheric heights.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Jurassic Park was, at the time, the highest-grossing film in history. So it’s no surprise that the biggest trailer debut of 1997 was for Steven Spielberg’s follow-up, which promised even more breathless, cutting-edge dino-thrills.
Hulk (2003)
There was no more eagerly anticipated 2003 trailer premiere than for Ang Lee’s Hulk, which wowed Super Bowl audiences during its small-screen bow — launching some lofty expectations that most moviegoers ultimately felt weren’t realized by the movie.
Batman Begins (2005)
Warner Bros. immediately dashed any unpleasant memories of Batman & Robin with this peek at Christopher Nolan’s Christian Bale-headlined update of the Dark Knight franchise, which served up fleeting views of the hero’s new suit, Liam Neeson’s Bat-mentor Ra’s al Ghul, Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow, Michael Caine’s Alfred, and — most thrilling of all — the brand-new Batmobile.
Fast & Furious (2009)
Vin Diesel abandoned his now-signature franchise after its first chapter, only to tease his re-involvement at the end of 2006’s Tokyo Drift. Consequently, his full-fledged return to auto-insanity in the over-the-top Super Bowl spot for 2009’s Fast & Furious (complete with the pitch-perfect tagline “New Model. Original Parts”) was met with considerable excitement.
Star Trek (2009)
Before he got his hands on Star Wars, J.J. Abrams reinvigorated another legendary sci-fi property with 2009’s Star Trek. Its Super Bowl ad immediately gave die-hards confidence that he was up to the task of both updating and staying true to his beloved source material.
The Avengers (2012)
Marvel had spent years laying the foundation for its shared cinematic universe, all in order to finally stage the ultimate superhero team-up: The Avengers. The movie’s Super Bowl debut did not disappoint, especially when it came to its last-second shots of Mark Ruffalo’s Green Goliath in action.
The Hunger Games (2012)
It gives away far too much of its plot, but this well-cut intro promo for The Hunger Games helped introduce the franchise’s core conceit to newbies — while simultaneously providing reassuring looks at its dystopian-future-world drama to the hardcore faithful.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Marvel’s first release after The Avengers was the third stand-alone adventure of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. The shrewd Super Bowl spot focused not on plot but on giving fans a peek at its death-defying airborne-rescue centerpiece.