In stark contrast to yesterday’s rumor, /Film is saying today that Disney has a ‘bigger plan’ for The Force Awakens trailer than a mere debut on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. They’re aiming for “something more grand.” What is it? /Film doesn’t know, though they offer some ideas. I’m not at all a fan of this one, but it does seem plenty ‘grand:’
Then there’s the chance they go the route James Cameron did with Avatar. Rent out a ton of theaters from coast to coast and invite fans to come in and watch the trailer. Now you’re generating news reports because of the crowds, crazy social media buzz, and an event like atmosphere Star Wars demands.
A bit more palatable is something tied to Thanksgiving on TV. They mention that Jurassic World may debut a trailer during an NFL game on that night, something Star Wars may emulate and also (jokingly) a tie-in with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. At least neither of those require one to be lucky enough to live near a ‘chosen’ theater…
What’s big enough? What’s too big? Then again, look at the title. They just dropped it on Twitter, and that’s all it took to make it the day’s biggest entertainment story. You don’t need an ‘event’ to make a major Star Wars news drop: We, the fans and the media, are more than willing to do the work.
I would be more likely to go to that than to The Hobbit III: How Much Can We Pad This Out? My question regarding NFL or Macy’s is who has the broadcast rights for those? If they go a TV route it would pretty much HAVE to be on ABC. So what’s huge on ABC?
I have no idea who airs what on Thankgiving, since it’s basically sports. And I stopped watching anyone’s parade shit when they all started only covering the local one. Just show Macy’s, FFS, if I wanted to see Detroit’s I’d go down and see it.
…But I looked. None of the Thanksgiving NFL games are on ABC. Bears and Lions (12:30) are CBS, Eagles and Cowboys (4:30) are on Fox, and Seahawks and 49ers (8:30) are on NBC. So no clear preference, though I wouldn’t count them out totally. I mean, would they sit out the Super Bowl if it wasn’t on ABC? None of these are the Super Bowl, but they’ll probably get more eyes than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Once Upon a Time.
HOWEVER. Guess who airs Monday Night Football? ESPN. Guess what’s a regular ratings winner? Monday Night Football. And we all know who owns ESPN… Disney.