The Movie Previews We Might (Or Hope To) See During Super Bowl LVI

We are two weeks away from Super Bowl LVI, which will take place in Los Angeles, California on February 13 pitting the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams. Since you clicked on this post, I’m guessing you’re at least as curious, if not more so, about the possible film-specific commercials that might air during (or just before) the big game. The 2020 Super Bowl offered up a slew of big commercials for big movies that mostly (save for Sonic the Hedgehog) ended up being delayed thanks to Covid, and the 2021 Super Bowl offered up essentially a slew of “reruns.” We got Super Bowl trailers for Black Widow and F9 in both Super Bowl LV and Super Bowl LIV, with the second F9 commercial acting as a glorified sequel to the previous year’s Super Bowl commercial.  

Even with a healthy helping of Christmas season “first looks,” this year’s Super Bowl has a chance to offer a comparative return to normalcy in terms of A) offering commercials for movies that will actually stick their release date and B) offering at least a few buzzy “first look” commercials (which may or may not lead to the trailers dropping online). Warner Bros. hasn’t dropped an in-game Super Bowl commercial since Batman Begins in 2005, so I’m guessing we won’t be getting spots for The Batman or Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. And the game will air on NBC, so Comcast (Universal and Focus) may have their thumb on the scale accordingly. Otherwise, this is speculation, educated guessing and fingers-crossed recommendations for what we might see/should see advertised during the big game. 

Odds and Ends –  

Dog, Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 

Since most of these films will come from four key studios (Paramount, Sony, Disney and Universal) and I’m not expecting any Warner Bros. spots, I lumped the rest into a quick rundown. MGM has Channing Tatum’s military dramedy Dog opening on February 18, which is (of course) the week after the game. That’s a small movie for an expensive commercial, but it’ll also mean a captive audience of millions of demographically friendly moviegoers who otherwise might not even be aware of it. STX, which may get bought by Lionsgate, might plug their upcoming Jason Statham/Aubrey Plaza action comedy (courtesy of Guy Ritchie and opening on March 18). Lionsgate won’t be plugging John Wick: Chapter 4 because the Keanu Reeves actioner moved to next March (cue the Malcom X smacking table gif). By default, their remaining biggie is the meta-comic Nicolas Cage romp which opens April 22.  

Paramount –  

Top Gun: Maverick, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and The Lost City 

Paramount dropped this buzzy extended commercial during this past weekend’s playoff games. Still, especially as the two-minute commercial has almost no explicit footage from the movie itself, I can’t imagine they pass up the chance to affirm that, yes, the Tom Cruise sequel (which was shot back in 2018) will totally/unquestionably/pinkie-swear-it open on May 27. The first Sonic the Hedgehog was among the few films advertised at the 2020 Super Bowl to open theatrically on schedule, and since the film earned a best-case-scenario $146 million domestic (from a $70 million Fri-Mon debut), I’m guessing Viacom will continue accordingly. The Lost City is going to be a test as to whether this kind of movie has a theatrical future. The Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum action comedy is directly pitched as general audiences who watch the Super Bowl for the football game (or the halftime show) as opposed to the movie commercials. 

Sony –  

Uncharted, Morbius and (maybe/hopefully) Bullet Train 

The Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg video game adaptation opens a week after the game, so I’d expect to see either a new commercial or a hybrid spot combing footage of football players running and jumping with clips of Nathan Drake doing likewise. The Jared Leto-led Marvel movie was supposed to open this past weekend before Sony bet on Spider-Man: No Way Home’s continued popularity and moved it to April 1. I’m assuming they’ll use the extra time to tease the film during the year’s most-watched television event, although they might save their money and drop a third trailer with The Batman. Brad Pitt and Joey King’s actioner, about a bunch of eclectic assassins all doing their thing on the same railway, doesn’t open until July 15, so this is a longshot, but Sony isn’t going to get a better chance to plug this “big movie for grown-ups” attraction than on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Disney –  

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Turning Red and (maybe/hopefully) Avatar 2 

I’d expect to see an “exclusively available on Disney+” commercial for Turning Red. Disney usually opts for a second look for the big MCU summer season kick-off movie, so I’d expect likewise for the Doctor Strange sequel (perhaps a clip culminating in a buzzy cameo?). We may see another spot for Lightyear, although they aren’t in a rush as the Chris Evans-voiced space adventure doesn’t drop until June 17 and at this point any “only in theaters” designation seems premature. Aside from any Disney+ previews, will Disney use Super Bowl Sunday to offer the first glimpse of James Cameron’s Avatar 2? Offering a taste of James Cameron’s upcoming mega-sequel would absolutely go viral, but it’s just as likely that Cameron will make the first preview into a theatrical event or an “in IMAX only” offering for any movie considered worthy. 

Universal –  

Ambulance, The Bad Guys, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Jurassic World: Dominion, The Black Phone, Minions: The Rise of Gru and (maybe/hopefully) Nope 

I don’t “expect” Universal to drop a commercial for Jordan Peele’s Nope as the film doesn’t open until late July and Us parlayed a mere three-month marketing campaign into a $71 million domestic launch in early 2019. Still, offering up a taste of what will likely be the year’s biggest “based on nothing” release will help Universal “win” the night in terms of movie buzz. It’s not like they must do anything other than offer up a black screen with the words “Jordan Peele’s Nope” to get everyone excited. Heck, they could offer nothing but the first look at Nope and the first real look at Jurassic World: Dominion and still “win the night” by default. Speaking of which, while the post-Covid world has resulted in a truncating of long-lead marketing campaigns, Universal will eventually have to drop more than an IMAX-specific teaser for what should still be this summer’s biggest global grosser.  

Whether we get a full-on trailer or just a commercial (with Comcast holding the full trailer for The Batman on March 4), Super Bowl Sunday is an ideal place to kick-off the mainstream promotional campaign. Expect a tease offering up the post-Fallen Kingdom “dinosaurs live among us” status quo and a glimpse of stars new (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) and old (Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum). Bonus points for a shot of BD Wong cackling in the dark. Otherwise, Michael Bay’s Ambulance will also play to the “watch the Super Bowl to watch the Super Bowl” crowd, as does Downton Abbey: A New Era (which can advertise its new May 20 release date). I’d expect a spot for DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys (April 15) and either a new commercial for Minions: The Rise of Gru or a bunch of Minions-specific cross-promotional branding.  

If we don’t get that Nope teaser, it may be because Scott Derrickson’s buzzy (and allegedly quite good) Blumhouse original The Black Phone is opening a month earlier. A Super Bowl ad is expensive for a film that cost under $20 million, but Universal shifted it into the heart of summer precisely because they think they have an under-the-radar sleeper smash. Do I think Comcast will drop seven commercials during the Super Bowl? Not necessarily, but it highlights the deluge of viable theatrical product they are offering in the first half of 2022, and they can choose as they wish. I’m absolutely expecting a Jurassic World 3 commercial, along with a few plugs for smaller studio programmers, alongside a few “Ha ha, we have Yellowstone and Paramount+ doesn’t!” Peacock commercials.