How “Batman V. Superman” Tried to Hijack Attention from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Leak of first trailer was probably no coincidence

  Henry Cavill's Superman in action in first footage from “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice”

We’ve had an amazing end of a week, movie-wise: Disney released the highly anticipated second trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which will be out this December, and the first footage from Warner Bros.’ “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” out in 2016, leaked online.

Two of the biggest and most hyped productions now being made offered a little something to loyal fans to fangirl / fanboy about, sending the Internet into a tailspin of emotion, tears, anticipation and even disappointment. And it all happened in a matter of a few hours.

There is no such thing as coincidence, and least of all in Hollywood, where movie studios will fight each other tooth and nail to come out on top in the race for the most lucrative franchise. That said, I have a theory: there was no leak of the “Batman V. Superman” trailer. Go grab your tinfoil hat.

Warners wanted to one-up Disney

Earlier this month, at about the same time when rumor got out that Warners would release the first “BvS” trailer with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” starting May 15, another rumor claimed that the studio was looking at ways of one-upping Disney. No one knew how that would play out, but they were convinced it would happen somehow.

At the same time, it was widely believed that the new trailer for the new “Star Wars” would come out later than it did, attached to “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which bows wide on May 1.

Basically, Warners had 2 options: either it stuck with May 15 as the opening date for the trailer, which would have allowed for 2 weeks’ time to pass after the “Star Wars” trailer release; or it came up with a different date for the release, one that could potentially steal Disney’s thunder.

If you’re reading this, I assume you’re a fan of either of these 2 film franchises, and / or know the backstory of “BvS” and what bad vibes it’s been getting since Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot and Jesse Eisenberg were cast as Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor.

Add to this the fact that “Man of Steel,” Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, was received with mostly negative reviews by fans, and you can see how Warners is going against the tide here, with “BvS.”

They have a more difficult mission on their hands than promising the fans an enjoyable cinematographic experience: they actually have to convince them to see it. Most of them have long decided it will be garbage, even before the trailer.        

That said, Warners’ best bet was to try and one-up Disney. Sticking to the rumored release schedule mentioned above would have put them at risk of people not paying attention to their trailer because they would still be talking about “Star Wars” or simply didn’t care anymore. With “BvS,” Warners can’t take any unnecessary risks.

So while Disney released the new “Star Wars” trailer without announcing it, as a surprise, Warners waited a few hours and then probably leaked the cam-held version of the official “BvS” preview.

This isn’t an accusation on my part and it’s obviously not backed by actual evidence: it’s a theory that strikes me as the most likely. If Warners did do that, kudos to them: the trailer may have been received worse than “Star Wars” but at least it got people’s attention.

To put it simply, good or bad, “BvS” was inserted into the conversation. Moreover, it was inserted into the conversation in the same sentence as “Star Wars.” Now, that was a smart move!  

But why? How?

The reasons Warners might have taken this course of action are explained above: they need to get on the fans’ good side and they need more positive feedback for a movie that few believe was necessary.

It’s not uncommon for movie studios or record labels to put out finished material and disguise it as a “leak.” They do it for a variety of reasons, ranging from the need for more exposure / publicity, to wanting to get a feel of the public’s reaction to said material and aiming to go viral. Word of mouth can sometimes be more efficient than certain standard marketing techniques.

The first thing that got me thinking that this leak might be one of those “leaks” was the timing of it: “BvS” came out literally within hours of “Star Wars,” and news of it spread like wild fire through social media.

Secondly, it took Warners almost 24 hours to remove the illegal versions of the trailer and to put out the official one. To compare, when they released some footage from the same film at San Diego Comic-Con in the summer of 2014 and it ended up online, it only took them a few hours to pull it. This is common practice: leaks can’t always be controlled, but they’re plugged ASAP, for damage control.

Logic would dictate that, if this trailer spent this much time online, it was only because someone wanted it to. It probably wasn’t director Zack Snyder, whose Twitter feed makes it very clear that he’s very upset by the latest development; at the same time, he believes true fans will still see the trailer in IMAX, as planned. They will.    

The bottom line

The bottom line is that, unlike with many leaks, Warners stood to gain from this one, perhaps more than it lost.

At the end of the day, they got people talking about their much-criticized, upcoming release, and showed to those inclined to give it a chance that the wait until March 2016 might very well be worth it.

As a fan, I will say this: I think Ben Affleck is miscast, just like Gal Gadot is. I reserve judgment on Eisenberg until I see him in motion, and I liked “Man of Steel” more than enough to make me want to see this one. Snyder is the kind of director that favors style over substance, but I like his work and I plan to make no apologies for it.

If Warners leaked their own trailer to pull the rug from under Disney, more power to them. If they didn’t, they still don’t have a reason to worry, because the fans will still see “BvS.” And so will those who say it’ll be garbage, if only so they can go “I told you so” later.