20 Movie Trailers That Pointlessly Spoiled Huge Details

While it might not be as true today, given the myriad ways films are marketed across social media, historically, the most important part of the movie marketing process has always been the trailer, because it grants studios the grandest opportunity to convey to audiences what a film's plot, style and tone are all about. And yet, it's a common criticism of modern movie trailers that they just give away way too damn much. But hey, if you thought modern trailers were bad, hoo boy, the oldies were just as, if not more, guilty. So, let's take a look at some of the worse, shall we? I'm Ewan, you're watching WhatCulture, and with obvious spoilers ahead, here are movie trailers that pointlessly spoiled huge details. Everyone gets off the bus. Speed. The trailer for Speed, aka the bus that couldn't slow down, does a generally fantastic job of hyping the action classic up as the sweaty-palmed, high-octane thrill ride that it ultimately is, but also gets a little overzealous and basically spoils the movie's very conceit. In the hallowed tradition of 90s movie trailers that give away the A-Z plot for free, Speed's almost three-minute-long reel frequently shows the ill-fated bus exploding while crashing into a plane, and the actual passengers watching the explosion from a safe distance, making it clear that they all get off the bus and survive. Beyond that, the trailer also spoils that there is an additional action sequence after the bus scenario is resolved, where heroes Jack, Keanu Reeves, and Annie, Sandra Bullock, battle villain Howard Payne, played deliriously well by Dennis Hopper, on board a runaway train, while also spoiling that said train crashes onto the street. Yeah, it's just as well that Speed is such an impossibly awesome movie that audiences wanted to watch it anyway, but the marketing team? Yeah, they really didn't need to blow their whole wad here. 006 is the villain, GoldenEye. The trailer for GoldenEye, I FOUND HIS WEAKNESS, didn't merely persuade audiences that Pierce Brosnan would be a kick-ass James Bond, but freely spoiled its mid-film plot twist that the primary antagonist is Bond's old buddy Alec Trevelyan, aka 006, played by Sean Bean, who Bond believed died at the start of the movie, but had, in fact, faked his own demise. The trailer treats this shock reveal like it's simply a straightforward bad guy introduction, and given that the marketing could have easily focused its villainous attention on henchwoman Xenia Onatopp, played by Famke Jansen, it makes this spoiler seem even more pointless than it already is. Like, just imagine if audiences watched the start of GoldenEye, genuinely believing that 006 was dead, only to be left agape when he returned, just as director Martin Campbell surely intended when he made the movie. And I watched this thing on DVD growing up, and that was my exact experience, so sorry if you were old enough to watch this in the cinemas and got it spoiled, because that's gonna sting. But what the hey, GoldenEye was a critical and commercial smash regardless, but it's unlikely that the 006 reveal had much of a hand in that success, so why give it away at all? The Kid Is Still Alive Wolfs The new George Clooney-Brad Pitt action comedy Wolfs stars the duo as a pair of fixers who team up to dispose of the corpse of a young man, played by Austin Abrams, who dies following an accident in a hotel room. Except, the big end-of-first-act twist is that Kid is actually very much alive, sending Clooney and Pitt's characters on a mad chase to capture him. This is all well and good, but the movie's trailers freely give this surprise away, despite it not happening until almost 40 minutes into the 108-minute long film. Given that The Kid's sudden burst of life would have made for a huge, hilarious surprise otherwise, it was criminal to ruin the gag ahead of time. And yeah, it's tough to imagine that John Watts was too thrilled by this, given that he clearly wrote and directed the reveal to be, well, a reveal that audiences only discovered while watching the movie, rather than being given away early on YouTube. Apollo Creed's Death Rocky IV Now, generally speaking, sports movies aren't known for their unpredictability, and that's certainly true of the Rocky franchise. Although, the fourth movie had quite the surprise up its sleeve. The death of Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers, at the hands of villain Ivan Drago, Dolph Lundgren, during a boxing match in the film's opening act. Even accepting that this happens early-ish in the movie, it's such a jaw-dropping, devastating moment that fans should have been bamboozled by it in the cinema, not months beforehand. All the trailers really had to focus on was Drago's ferocity as a seemingly insurmountable opponent for Rocky, but spoiling Apollo's demise was a cheap shot by the marketing department, pressing fans' emotional buttons in a desperate attempt to get their butts in seats. And, to their begrudging credit, the gambit evidently worked, as Rocky IV remains the highest-grossing entry in the entire nine-film franchise, almost four decades on from its release in theaters. The ransom becomes a bounty. Ransom. Ron Howard's terrifically entertaining thriller, Ransom, boasts one hell of a twist at the end of its second act. Millionaire Tom Mullen's son, Sean, played by Mel Gibson and Brawley Nolte respectively, is kidnapped for a $2 million ransom. But, once Tom realises that the kidnappers have no intention of returning his son, even if the ransom is paid, he does something just about no one expected. Tom goes on TV and instead offers the ransom as a bounty on the kidnappers, vowing only to rescind it if Sean is returned to him alive, confirming he has no intent to pay the ransom. Yeah, it's an incredible table-turning, oh-my-god-this-got-real moment that arrives at Tom's lowest point. Yet, the trailer spoils it like it's the plot of the movie, rather than a twist that's unleashed 70 minutes in. Also, unrelated side note about Ransom, we did get that great Swede Mason song from it, so that's pretty good too. Rose's Villainous Turn. Get Out. The trailers for Get Out sold it brilliantly, save for a single shot that told audiences way too much about where the plot was actually going. After all, audiences are led to believe the bulk of the runtime that protagonist Chris' girlfriend Rose, played by Alison Williams opposite Daniel Kaluuya, is an innocent party and totally oblivious to the increasingly unsettling situation that is unfolding around her. However, the end of the trailer shows a memorable glimpse of Rose with her hair tied back, while shooting a rifle with a stoic expression on her face. This definitely doesn't look like a heroic character who is taking aim at the bad guys. Everything about her body language and facial expression makes it clear in this moment that she's actually a secret villain. Given that Rose's true nature isn't revealed until the final 30 minutes of the movie, it was totally excessive to spoil it ahead of time. On the upside though, at least it didn't reveal the really creepy serial scene. Because that would have been really annoying to see in a trailer. George Beats His Illness. Funny People. Judd Apatow's 2009 dramedy Funny People is about an actor and comedian, George Simmons, played by Adam Sandler, who is diagnosed with leukemia and must decide what to do with what remains of his life. The first half of the movie's three and a half minute trailer does a great job of selling it as an emotional, comedic drama. But at the midway point, it pointlessly reveals that George's leukemia eventually goes into remission, in turn prompting him to live each new day to the fullest. Given that George isn't given a clean bill of health until the end of the second act, it's odd to give this away in the marketing. Almost as though Universal were nervous that selling the film as a full-on disease movie might hurt its box office prospects. It didn't really matter anyway, as Funny People was a massive box office bomb regardless, unaided by both its stonking 75 million dollar budget and a brutal 146 minute runtime. I dunno, maybe people got cold feet after the whiplash from Click? Cause that movie is seriously depressing, what the hell. Ant's Tongue Was Cut Out. Speak No Evil 2024. The trailer for the recent English-language remake of cult horror film Speak No Evil just couldn't help itself, could it? Though the trailer successfully conveys its tripwire tense premise persuasively, it ends with a final stinger that needlessly spoils that serial killer Paddy's son Ant, who is actually a kidnap victim, has had his tongue cut out with a pair of scissors. This fact isn't revealed until the end of Act 2 and helps set up the brutal finale. And up to this point, audiences are led to believe that Ant can't speak due to a congenital birth defect, a small tongue that leaves him unable to form words. And so, giving this twist away in the marketing was howlingly unnecessary, as left just about anyone who'd seen the original movie absolutely irate for those coming to the remake totally unaware. Companion The marketing team behind recent horror hit Companion certainly had a tricky job on their hands, because while its big surprise is revealed relatively early on, it also would've been incredible to experience it entirely unspoiled. Though the initial vibes-based teaser trailer was somewhat vague about its premise, Companion's full-length trailer freely revealed that protagonist Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher, is secretly a robot owned by her quote-unquote boyfriend Josh, played by Jack Quaid. This is actually revealed 25 minutes into the movie, so it's not quite an Abigail situation where the marketing spoiled a mid-film twist, but wouldn't it have been so much more fun if the marketing simply focused on the mystery surrounding Iris, rather than giving it away outright? Sure, movie studios find vague marketing risky and would rather get butts in seats by focusing on an attention-grabbing premise, but there's also something to be said for the thrill of discovery and a film finding an audience from word of mouth about its exciting surprises. Heck, just last year, long legs proved that plot-light marketing can be hugely successful, and it's a shame, if not remotely surprising, that Companion didn't go this route too. Gladiator 2 With Gladiator 2's budget reportedly being as high as $310 million, Paramount obviously had a vested interest in doing everything within its power to lure audiences to the cinema, and unsurprisingly, the easiest strategy was spoiling basically the entire movie across its two main trailers. Sans those horrific CGI baboons, which, yeah, I understand why those weren't in any of the trailers. In any case, these trailers detailed the entire spine of the story, as well as the motivations of basically every single character, showcased every major set-piece, and most egregiously confirmed the oft-speculated truth about Lucius' parentage that he is indeed the son of the original Gladiator's protagonist, Maximus Decimus Meridius. While this was hardly a shocking revelation, it still might have been worth holding it back for audiences to discover with certainty for themselves, you know, in the actual cinema. As a result, there was precious little left to be surprised by when folks turned up and sat down to watch the movie, which turned out to be a disappointingly blatant retread of the original anyway. Wolfman Though everyone wanted Lee Whannell's new Wolfman adaptation to be great, the early marketing just wasn't hitting the right notes, and failed to suggest it would live up to Whannell's brilliant prior take on The Invisible Man. With the film's box office tracking poorly in the weeks leading up to its release this past January, Universal ultimately decided to press the panic button, and a full ten days before it hit cinemas, they dropped a clip spoiling the title character's full transformation. Now, in fairness, this was probably done in part to combat pre-release misinformation over the character's design, after a hideous Wolfman-branded Universal theme park attraction led many fans to believe that it would be the creature's final look. On the one hand, it makes sense that Universal would want to set the record straight, but did they really need to let loose and show the entire transformation ahead of time? Either way, despite this desperate attempt to change the narrative, Wolfman was still indifferently received by both critics and general audiences alike. Ah well, here's hoping that Robert Eggers' own Wolfman movie ends up faring better. VENOM – THE LAST DANCE Sony evidently didn't give a single damn about holding any surprises back ahead of the third and apparently final Venom film hitting cinemas. Nor did they seemingly give a single damn about the quality of this entire Spider-Man spin-off affair, but I digress. The marketing gave away basically every interesting thing in the movie, from the presence of iconic supervillain Knull, even if he was ultimately a majorly missed opportunity, to the funniest gag involving Mrs. Chen and the coolest action beat where Venom commandeers a horse. Hell, the trailers even showed extensive clips from the prequel's climax, explicitly implying that Venom perishes in a sacrificial act to save his host Eddie Brock, as does indeed happen at the film's end. This gung-ho approach certainly suggested that Sony was nervous about the film's performance leading up to its release, and yet the spoilerific marketing didn't stop it becoming the lowest-grossing entry in the trilogy, so what was the point? KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES It's well into Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' second act before human protagonist May, played by Freya Allen, is properly introduced, and the final trailer casually revealed that she has the ability to speak, almost as though it isn't meant to be a big surprise. And yet, there's a clear discrepancy between the marketing and the movie itself, which absolutely treats this as a revelation when May finally stands up and shouts Noah while being pursued. This happens over an hour into the film, almost halfway through the runtime by the way, and is mounted as a big, grandstanding reveal that's clearly meant to be a shock to both the apes and the audience. But given that we all knew about this a few weeks before release, it rather had the wind taken out of its sails. Perhaps 20th Century Studios felt that the marketing wasn't emphasising the human element enough, even though the recent Apes films have performed well commercially with a focus on the apes, so… yeah, this made no sense. ALIEN ROMULUS 20th Century Studios were hell-bent on assuring fans that Alien Romulus was something of a course correction for the franchise following the polarising response to both Prometheus and Alien Covenant, to the extent that they gave huge swathes of the movie away for free. While any Alien fan knows the majority of the series' characters are doomed to die, it's the how that is fun. And yeah, Romulus' trailers held little back in spoiling the fates of crew members Bjorn and Navarro. In the latter's case, the trailers increasingly showed more and more footage from Navarro being impregnated with a chestburster before finally giving up entirely and showing her death itself. Sure, they had some restraint in not revealing CGI Ian Holm or the human-xenomorph hybrid, but as these elements were ultimately among the movie's most divisive, it was surely a calculation to keep them under wraps until release. Compare Romulus' marketing to the more ambiguous and iconic trailer for Ridley Scott's original Alien and it's a stark indication of just how much movie marketing has changed for the worse over the decades. A Quiet Place Day One One suspects that Paramount was a teensy bit anxious about releasing their first A Quiet Place movie without Emily Blunt, considering that the two main trailers for A Quiet Place Day One revealed almost every single facet of the main plot. And this got even worse on release week, when the studio released a spoiler-packed final trailer making it abundantly clear how things would turn out. Most notably, this trailer included a lingering glimpse of male lead Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, fleeing one of the alien monsters and leaping into a body of water while carrying Sam's pet cat Frodo. Sam, of course, being played by Lupita Nyong'o. As the marketing clearly established Sam's unbreakable bond with Frodo, to the extent of even releasing a featurette about it, this shot made it easy to figure out that Sam was basically donezo at this point in the story. And yeah, even though it's revealed at the start of the movie that Sam is terminally ill, this clip makes it clear that they end up giving Frodo to Eric before they go their separate ways in the climax. Captain America Brave New World Given that the fourth Captain America film arrived amid a tidal wave of negativity, from reports about poor test screenings to extensive reshoots and concerns over its box office potential, it's hardly a surprise that Marvel Studios decided to just give away its big secret ahead of time. The first teaser trailer briefly revealed the presence of Red Hulk, which was bad enough, but subsequent trailers flat out confirmed him to be the superpowered alter ego of one Thaddeus Ross, here played by Harrison Ford, a fact non-comic book fans probably weren't aware of. Yet, despite the marketing playing up Red Hulk as the film's feature villainous attraction, while largely downplaying the real main villain, The Leader, played by Tim Blake Nelson, he doesn't show up until the final 20 minutes, and is on screen for just a single action sequence. Surprising audiences with Red Hulk would have likely resulted in a more positive reception from critics and fans alike, rather than revealing it seven months before release and then leaving viewers to wait 80% of the movie for the big marketing hook to finally show itself. Smile 2 Smile 2 was an impressively sturdy follow-up to its surprisingly solid predecessor, and yet despite the original's mighty performance at the box office, Paramount went pretty hard with the spoilers while marketing the sequel. One of the big mysteries surrounding Smile 2's release was the status of the previous film's surviving character, Joel, played by Kyle Gallner, who was left cursed in its bleak final scene. But the fan speculation ultimately didn't last long, as the first teaser trailer very clearly showed Joel running into the street as a car careens into him before cutting to the gory remnants a few moments later, leaving little to the imagination. Beyond that, and showing almost every substantial set piece in the film, the trailers also placed a high emphasis on pop star protagonist Sky, played by Naomi Scott, performing in front of live audiences, leading many to correctly predict Smile 2's wild climax, where Sky is killed in front of a crowd of concertgoers, seemingly cursing them all in the Yeah, given that Smile 2 was a highly entertaining sequel to a well-received horror film, the marketing really could have been a little shyer.