14 DAY TRIAL // One of the videos shown during the 20th Century Fox panel at Comic-Con 2015 in San Diego was a first trailer for the upcoming “X-Men: Apocalypse,” from director Bryan Singer. The film is still in production, so the footage included unfinished VFX, which was the first indication that it shouldn’t have gotten out to the general public.
But it did: within minutes of its screening, the trailer had leaked online, and by the time Fox pulled it, it had already been seen by millions. This, in turn, prompted speculation that the “leak” had been planned, that it was part of the studio’s marketing for the film.
Bootleg wasn’t for public consumption
If you think about it, no wonder that the fans at home assumed that Fox had leaked the trailer on their own, looking to drum up hype in the film.
This actually happens many more times than we assume, and these “leaks” serve to gauge interest in a project, whether it’s a new film or a new album or something else altogether.
However, producer Hutch Parker tells Slash Film that this wasn’t the case with this trailer. If anything, they were very nervous about showing it at Comic-Con because of the raw quality of the footage and the absence of special effects.
Then, the Comic-Con crowd is famously frank: if they don’t like something, they will make sure everyone will hear about it on the spot. On the upside, if they do like something, they will do the same and word of mouth can serve later to bring extra publicity to the film.
This particular trailer, though, was not meant to leave Hall H where it was screened, Parker explains.
It makes no sense to promote a movie so early on
“X-Men: Apocalypse” is scheduled for release in May 2016 and though the promo trail for it has already begun, it’s too early on to show footage from it.
“Apocalypse” has landed the cover of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which also brings an interview with the cast and the director, and leading actors James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Olivia Munn have already done a few TV appearances to promote it.
Still, Parker adds, it’s too early right now to put out a trailer.
“The problem with the theory about the marketing is, I don’t actually think it’s good marketing. Leaking footage a year in advance of a movie’s release is not such a good thing,” he says. “The reason you don’t see footage out that far is you run the risk of it getting stale. Generally speaking, and I can’t speak for other studios - I can’t even speak for Fox any more - but I don’t believe their intention is [for footage to be leaked].”
The intention was to get the feedback of the ideal focus group for a superhero movie: the crowd in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con.