In recent years, complaints about movie trailers have become more and more common, but just a few short years ago 10 Cloverfield Lane gave us the template for perfect marketing. The movie had just one trailer, which captured the tone of the film without giving away any important details from the plot, and it came out two months before the movie. Here’s what studios should have learned from 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Whether you’ve seen 10 Cloverfield Lane or not, the trailer is still captivating to watch eight years after its release. It includes very little dialogue, as it is mostly set to the 1967 song “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tommy James and the Shondells. It shows three characters seeming to enjoy their time together – playing board games, reading, dancing and preparing food – while subtlely showcasing the strange architecture around them. It becomes clear that they are in some kind of doomsday shelter, and about 40 seconds in we finally see the gun on one character’s waistband.
While we see the set and some of the action, the trailer is mysterious enough to leave viewers curious about the story. If that weren’t enough, the few lines of dialogue we hear at the end could pique anyone’s curiosity. As Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) scrambles for the exit, Howard (John Goodman) cries out: “No! Don’t! You’re going to get us all killed!” Whatever Michelle sees outside the bunker makes her freeze, and in a more subdued tone, Howard says: “Something is coming.”
The trailer itself is a great example of how to showcase a movie’s strengths without giving away its plot, but the overall marketing strategy for the movie was even more bold. The trailer premiered without warning in January of 2016, and first-time viewers had no idea that it was teasing a sequel to Cloverfield until the ending title card. After that, Bad Robot let details trickle out in a viral marketing campaign that was easy to avoid for casual fans, but just as easy to dive deep into for those that wanted to. It gave a bit of backstory in the form of an online alternate reality game, ultimately amplifying the mystery in the movie itself.
Perhaps most importantly, all of this happened within two months of the movie’s release. These days, many fans and critics complain that trailers give away too much, that they are released too early, and that they are too long. Even in 2016, 10 Cloverfield Lane got credit for breaking the mold. The Guardian‘s Benjamin Lee wrote: “While the success of 10 Cloverfield Lane has caused much discussion, it’s unlikely to single-handedly lead to a new trend. Blockbusters that reveal their cards early and in full are still making a healthy buck, and not all genres require the same level of surprise as the thriller does. However… it does cement his status as the industry’s ideal figure: one that can create but also sell with equal skill.”
10 Cloverfield Lane is streaming now on Prime Video. Cloverfield is available on Paramount+.
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