It’s almost impossible nowadays to avoid film trailers before going to the theater. Most major films have at least three full-length trailers, coupled with countless TV ads and online promos. If you watch all the footage leading up to a film’s release, you can probably plot out the whole run time before you step foot in a screening. Filmmaker David Lynch is not a fan of this at all.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Lynch says, “These days, movie trailers practically tell the whole story. I think it’s really harmful. For me, personally, I don’t want to know anything when I go into a theater. I like to discover it, get into that world, try to get as good of picture and sound as possible, no interruptions — so you can have an experience. And anything that putrefies that is not good.”
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Trailers are a bit of a double-edged sword. Studios need a way to promote their films and hope that audiences get excited enough to see it opening weekend. Unless it’s a Marvel Studios film, there are really no sure things in Hollywood anymore. So how do you market a film properly without giving away too much? That seems to be the balancing act that Lynch feels trailers are failing at.
With budgets for the tentpole films routinely going above $150 million, Lynch might not ever get what he wants. Studios will do everything in their power to get that huge opening-weekend turnout, and for them, it seems like the current trailer system works. It’s also increasingly difficult to go into a film completely blind. If you read movie news or go online for extended periods of time, there is a steady barrage of movie trailers and clips.
Unfortunately for Lynch, the days of going into a film and letting it truly surprise you are gone.
