As a retired middle school theater-kid myself, I can’t lie and say I don’t enjoy a good movie musical. In fact, my favorite movie of all time, “La La Land,” is a great example of a movie musical that is so well done, it’s able to supersede the genre itself. In short, a good movie musical can rise above the polarized crowds of movie musical enjoyers and movie musical haters.
This year, Hollywood has taken on a new (and controversial) approach to movie musical marketing: they’re not. Yes, you read that correctly, movie studios have made recent attempts to disguise the musical parts of upcoming movies in trailers and other promotional materials.
Released on December 15th, “Wonka” has become a box office hit. However, many Timothée Chalamet fans (like myself) were surprised to see the actor break out into song and dance. When the first “Wonka” trailer came out in July, there was little to no indication that the movie featured music at all.
In May of this year, the first trailer for “The Color Purple” promised a “bold new take on the beloved classic” with only two words sung on screen. Although the trailer mentions the movie’s basis on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, it fails to show that it’s also adapted from the Tony-winning Broadway play, even starring some of the same actors.
Lastly, in November the “Mean Girls” trailer declared, “This isn’t your mother’s Mean Girls,” emphasizing its musical aspect, which, surprisingly, isn’t evident in the preview. The question arises: why are movie studios reluctant to advertise movie musicals?
“It’s a simple answer, studios believe people won’t go see a musical,” says Jeff Gritton, in an interview with The Ringer. Gritton’s expertise comes from editing trailers at Trailer Park, Inc. for 13 years. “I don’t know all their focus groups and testing numbers, but at some point they decided people won’t see a musical.”
Unfortunately, the post-covid media landscape has not been forgiving to movie musicals, with many “flops” since 2020 including “Dear Evan Hansen,” “West Side Story,” and “Spirited.” With so many movie musicals underperforming, studios are rolling the dice with deceptive advertising in order to get people into the theater. It’s clear that Hollywood is navigating uncharted territory and only time will reveal the impact of this unconventional approach on cinema as a whole.
