10 Movies That "Catfished" Its Viewers With Misleading Teasers
Even while watching movie trailers is entertaining, they're not always reliable. Fast cuts can make a movie appear fantastic, but it can end up being a dud, or the company might reveal too much about the film in the trailer. Every now and again, a movie proves to be entirely unrelated to what it was advertised as. Take Kangaroo Jack as an example. Although it appears to be a kid-friendly film, it is not.
While it's acceptable for film studios to overstate a film's brilliance in its promotional materials and trailers, it's not acceptable for them to outright lie. On occasion, they provide potential viewers with content that differs from what they really receive. The films on this list weren't necessarily poor movies, but the marketing teams behind them aimed to appeal to a different demographic than the ones the films were meant to reach.
When the first Suicide Squad movie debuted in 2016, there was a lot of excitement. Fans were thrilled to witness the alliance of their favorite villains in a plan of annihilation. The Joker's (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn's (Margot Robbie) bizarre romance was going to be the focus of the film. Instead, Suicide Squad was a plodding film that hardly ever included The Joker. The film is driven by Robbie's persona, with no action in the first half. The focus then moves to Enchantress (Cara Delevigne), and by the conclusion, Suicide Squad has evolved into a strange gothic psychological horror film.
Similar to Baby Driver, Drive was advertised as a fast-moving thriller with vehicle chases and surprising surprises. The final product was a neo-noir criminal drama that emphasized tension-building production design and cinematography. Contrary to what spectators expected, there weren't nearly as many automobile chase sequences in it. Although it's a fantastic film, it's not The Fast and the Furious.
The marketing for Bridge to Terabithia touted it as a children's fantasy film a la The Chronicles of Narnia or The Spiderwick Chronicles. In the trailer, viewers were treated to fantasy scenes featuring flying creatures and enchanted fortresses. In actuality, Bridge to Terabithia contains relatively few fantastical scenes or special effects and is a far more realistic coming-of-age story. It is nonetheless regarded as one of Josh Hutcherson's greatest films, despite this.
Although My Girl was advertised as a cute buddy movie, it is actually a very profound and tragic work. Vada is mourning the loss of her mother, who passed tragically during giving birth. Vada is also left to deal with the loss of losing the only person who truly understands her when Thomas passes away after being stung by bees. The film is really quite depressing and difficult to watch since it isn't as amusing as it was portrayed in the marketing.
Among all superhero films ever produced, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice has divided audiences. The movie appeared to be an action blockbuster with fantastic special effects, epic characters, and a massive clash between the titular superhero giants in the trailers. Instead, the movie was a slow-moving drama with gloomy visuals, and the title fight was only in it for about five minutes.
The issue is that Spring Breakers was advertised as a fun comedy about young people going out, much like Wedding Crashers or The Hangover. In truth, the film is far darker than the trailers suggested. Alien is part of a murky underworld where everyone is evil and the law is meaningless. The bleak conclusion of Spring Breakers serves as a sharp reminder of how leading an extravagant lifestyle eventually catches up with you.
Red Eye wasn't precisely what was meant when it was advertised as being more in keeping with the supernatural horror that filmmaker Wes Craven had become renowned for. Jack soon tells Lisa that he is a terrorist organization's agent and that he is planning to assist in the assassination of a well-known politician who is staying at Lisa's hotel in her hometown. Before Jack's organization also murders Lisa's whole family, she must thwart his scheme.
Fans of the Fantastic Four anticipated an enormous action film with breathtaking spectacular effects. Instead, they were given a jumbled mess of a film that the studio heads couldn't agree on. Some critics have claimed that the first hour of Fantastic Four is far too slow and boring to be effective and that the film is more of a drama with a focus on character development than an action movie.
Sweeney Todd, which was directed by Tim Burton, was promoted as another weird, dark Burton film, like Edward Scissorhands or Beetlejuice. Some spectators were unaware that it was a musical with a subplot about a boy falling for his crush. The movie musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is regarded as one of the finest of the twenty-first century.
Kangaroo Jack was promoted as an upbeat, enjoyable children's film. They hid the fact that the movie has explicit sexual innuendos and violent overtones from the audience. It is certainly not a family-friendly film.
While it's acceptable for film studios to overstate a film's brilliance in its promotional materials and trailers, it's not acceptable for them to outright lie. On occasion, they provide potential viewers with content that differs from what they really receive. The films on this list weren't necessarily poor movies, but the marketing teams behind them aimed to appeal to a different demographic than the ones the films were meant to reach.
Suicide Squad
When the first Suicide Squad movie debuted in 2016, there was a lot of excitement. Fans were thrilled to witness the alliance of their favorite villains in a plan of annihilation. The Joker's (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn's (Margot Robbie) bizarre romance was going to be the focus of the film. Instead, Suicide Squad was a plodding film that hardly ever included The Joker. The film is driven by Robbie's persona, with no action in the first half. The focus then moves to Enchantress (Cara Delevigne), and by the conclusion, Suicide Squad has evolved into a strange gothic psychological horror film.
Drive
Similar to Baby Driver, Drive was advertised as a fast-moving thriller with vehicle chases and surprising surprises. The final product was a neo-noir criminal drama that emphasized tension-building production design and cinematography. Contrary to what spectators expected, there weren't nearly as many automobile chase sequences in it. Although it's a fantastic film, it's not The Fast and the Furious.
Bridge to Terabithia
The marketing for Bridge to Terabithia touted it as a children's fantasy film a la The Chronicles of Narnia or The Spiderwick Chronicles. In the trailer, viewers were treated to fantasy scenes featuring flying creatures and enchanted fortresses. In actuality, Bridge to Terabithia contains relatively few fantastical scenes or special effects and is a far more realistic coming-of-age story. It is nonetheless regarded as one of Josh Hutcherson's greatest films, despite this.
My Girl
Although My Girl was advertised as a cute buddy movie, it is actually a very profound and tragic work. Vada is mourning the loss of her mother, who passed tragically during giving birth. Vada is also left to deal with the loss of losing the only person who truly understands her when Thomas passes away after being stung by bees. The film is really quite depressing and difficult to watch since it isn't as amusing as it was portrayed in the marketing.
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Among all superhero films ever produced, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice has divided audiences. The movie appeared to be an action blockbuster with fantastic special effects, epic characters, and a massive clash between the titular superhero giants in the trailers. Instead, the movie was a slow-moving drama with gloomy visuals, and the title fight was only in it for about five minutes.
Spring Breakers
The issue is that Spring Breakers was advertised as a fun comedy about young people going out, much like Wedding Crashers or The Hangover. In truth, the film is far darker than the trailers suggested. Alien is part of a murky underworld where everyone is evil and the law is meaningless. The bleak conclusion of Spring Breakers serves as a sharp reminder of how leading an extravagant lifestyle eventually catches up with you.
Red Eye
Red Eye wasn't precisely what was meant when it was advertised as being more in keeping with the supernatural horror that filmmaker Wes Craven had become renowned for. Jack soon tells Lisa that he is a terrorist organization's agent and that he is planning to assist in the assassination of a well-known politician who is staying at Lisa's hotel in her hometown. Before Jack's organization also murders Lisa's whole family, she must thwart his scheme.
Fantastic Four
Fans of the Fantastic Four anticipated an enormous action film with breathtaking spectacular effects. Instead, they were given a jumbled mess of a film that the studio heads couldn't agree on. Some critics have claimed that the first hour of Fantastic Four is far too slow and boring to be effective and that the film is more of a drama with a focus on character development than an action movie.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd, which was directed by Tim Burton, was promoted as another weird, dark Burton film, like Edward Scissorhands or Beetlejuice. Some spectators were unaware that it was a musical with a subplot about a boy falling for his crush. The movie musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is regarded as one of the finest of the twenty-first century.
Kangaroo Jack
Kangaroo Jack was promoted as an upbeat, enjoyable children's film. They hid the fact that the movie has explicit sexual innuendos and violent overtones from the audience. It is certainly not a family-friendly film.
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