The first trailer for “Welcome to Marwen” is…interesting. If you knew nothing about the true story the film is based on, you might assume ‘Marwen’ is a fairly light-hearted romp. But for those of us familiar with the documentary “Marwencol” (and if you aren’t, this is your homework for today, seek it out!), the trailer treated the tragic, but uplifting, story of artist Mark Hogancamp almost with a bit of disrespect. The trailer just felt wrong.
All that to say, Universal Pictures probably felt the bad buzz that existed after the first trailer and has quickly released a new trailer for the film, with a completely new tone. The new trailer is almost completely different, this time focusing on Steve Carell’s performance as an artist struggling with PTSD after a traumatic brain injury. The jokes, animation, and odd music from the first trailer are missing, replaced with brief glimpses of the animated dolls, not much humor, and an uplifting song that paints a completely different picture of the film.
Seriously, you should watch both trailers back-to-back to fully appreciate just how powerful marketing can be for a film. While there’s no doubt the second trailer for “Welcome to Marwen” is better than the first, the problem now is trying to figure out what the film actually will be like. Are we looking at a drama with brief comedic elements and an uplifting message? Or perhaps the first trailer is right, and the film is a comedy with brief dramatic elements?
“Welcome to Marwen” is written and directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars the aforementioned Carell, alongside Leslie Mann, Merritt Wever, Janelle Monae, Eiza Gonzalez, and Gwendoline Christie.
We’ll all find out what the tone of the film truly is when “Welcome to Marwen” is released in theaters on December 21.
Here’s the better second trailer:
And for those wanting to compare, here’s the horrible first trailer: