When it comes to releasing a trailer for a film, the distributors must think wisely when it is they release a trailer for said film. If they release a trailer too early, by the time the film is released the hype that people once had for it would have disappeared, but if they release a trailer too soon then the waiting time would be too short that the audience wouldn't have enough time to develop a high amount of anticipation and excitement in order to see it. Films tend to be released around specific times of the year, usually around half terms when children are out of school and adults get a week or two off of work, so this gives an indication to the trailer distributors when to release the trailer. The first trailers are usually released when a film is still in its editing phase so it is unlikely for there to be a release date at this time, however if a film was to release additional trailers months after the first, the second trailer would likely feature a release date as they would have progressed through the production of the film and would have a better idea as to when exactly it will be released.
There are things that the distributors of trailers must consider when releasing the trailer, one of these can be whether another film trailer has been released in the same week, this could cause problems if one of the film trailers are for a high-concept blockbuster film and the other is a small independent, the attention would obviously be drawn to the blockbuster as it would have a higher budget put into it for promotion and a more famous cast so it would therefore draw a bigger audience, leaving the independent film with a smaller chance of getting noticed.
As mentioned before, the opening weekend placement of a film's release tends to be around half terms when it's audience are likely to have plenty of free time, but films can be released on specific days as well, for example a romance film or chick-flick might be released on valentines day, or season specific films like Christmas, Easter or Halloween would be released around a similar time. When is comes to season-specific films, a trailer for the film might be released at a closer time to the release date of the film. This is because festivals like Christmas, Halloween and Easter are only a 2-3 months apart, from each other, so if you released a trailer for an Easter themed film in November or December, it is likely no one will be interested in it because there would be too much competition as people would be more interested in celebrating Christmas at this time of year. Horror films are likely to be released around October in preparation for Halloween as this time of the year is all about scaring people. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension came out on October 23rd 2015, when the trailer for this film came out on the 23rd of June, only 3 months in advance. At this point in time there was no other national festivities coming up other than Halloween, so it'd make sense for them to release the trailer at this time of year.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Jy2T0uQ9Y
Generally, a film's trailer is released around 5-7 months in advance before the full feature film is released, especially with superhero genre films, for example the film Deadpool's first official trailer was released on YouTube on August 4th 2015, when the film itself wasn't released for another 6 months on February 10th 2016. Blockbuster films have a tendency to release multiple trailers for one film, releasing a trailer about 2-3 months after the previous one. Deadpool did this as 20th Century Fox released the second trailer for this film on December 25th 2015, 3 months in advance to the official release. Creating multiple trailers and releasing them months apart from each other is almost like a reminder for the audience to help them remember that the film is coming out. The additional trailers feature new footage to help build up the hype even more.
Deadpool Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xithigfg7dA
Deadpool Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz4AqfIAqnY
Examples of film positioning:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens was released on December 18th 2015. The producers were tactical in choosing this date as this was the same day that UK schools broke up for the Christmas holidays, meaning that school pupils now had two weeks free to be able to go see this movie, and with Christmas just around the corner, many people would have received spending money in place of a Christmas present. The Force Awakens is a blockbuster film, and Star Wars is now owned by Disney, this meant that it was highly likely that it would attract a large audience. As Star Wars is a household name, a new instalment in the franchise would help with gaining a profit as fans of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy would very likely want to see what this film had to offer, as well as spark a new generation of Star Wars fans.This film was released on the same day of Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie, a family film, and Sisters, a film targeted towards teenagers and young adults, both of these films are both part of the comedy genre. This would be in competition with Snoopy and Charlie Brown for a young audience if they were not interested in seeing this film as it would feature a lot more comical elements that might be easier for a younger audience to understand.
The very first trailer created for this film was released as a teaser trailer on November 24th 2014, over a year in advance to the official release, with a second teaser trailer being released on 16 April 2015. The official trailer wasn't released until 19 October 2015, only two months before the film was brought into cinemas. It is likely that they released the teaser trailer so early in order to make the audience excited for it's release as Star Wars is such a popular franchise, and they wanted to show of Disney's use of modern CGI and special effects to show both old and new fans what they should be expecting within the next year. As I stated before about blockbuster films releasing multiple trailers months apart, Star Wars released its teasers and the official trailer 4-5 months apart from each other to serve as a reminder to the audience that this film is coming out and with its highly advanced special effects.
Inside Out
Inside Out is owned by Disney Pixar and is a film targeted towards children and families. Much like The Force Awakens, this film was released on July 24th 2015, a week after the summer holidays started, which gives its audience all of the summer break to go see it. The film revolves around a girl names Riley who has five emotions controlling her mind, and one of the emotions, Sadness, accidentally corrupts one of Riley's memories and in the process makes Joy, another emotion knock over her core memories, giving them the quest to go find the core memories and help Riley restore who she is. The narrative is simple and relatable for young audiences and families as the main themes are about emotions and growing up. Two other films were released on the same day as this one, these being Maggie and Southpaw. Both of these films are targeted towards 15- 24 year olds so it was unlikely for this film to have much competition as the target audiences were for different maturities.
The first two trailers were released back in 2014, around October - December, with a third being released on March 10th 2015, which again shows that they release multiple trailers to keep the audience reminded of the films release and plot. The regular releases of the trailer especially helps younger audiences remember as they do not have a long attention span. The third trailer was released only four months before the film's official release, letting younger viewers know that they have something to look forward to once school is over.
Release date source -Pearl and Dean :http://business.pearlanddean.com/films_guide
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