Ghostbusters’ New International Trailer, Now With 99% More Chris Hemsworth

At 4 AM this morning I saw the following Tweet from GamesRadar: “New Ghostbusters Trailer Has More Chris Hemsworth and Crowdsurfing.”

Go shut the front door! A new Ghostbusters trailer? Like, a brand new trailer completely different than the one which premiered less than a week ago? Wow. Sony is so paranoid about the negative reaction to the first trailer that they rushed out a new one, huh. I hope you’re happy, internet. You made Sony feel bad. Look at all the moping they’ve been doing!

But, seriously, is this unprecedented? Has a studio ever moved this fast to deliver a new movie trailer after the first one was met with more dislikes than likes on YouTube?

Yeah, that’s not what’s actually happening here. Studios usually have two different versions of movie trailers, one for domestic audiences and one for international. Last week saw the debut of the domestic trailer. Today was the debut of the international trailer. As per usual with these things, it’s similar to the domestic but offers plenty of new footage as well as an interesting glimpse into what the studio’s marketing team thinks will appeal more to international audiences.

As far as jokes go, the domestic trailer was the Leslie Jones show whereas the international trailer drops almost all of her footage in favor of emphasizing Chris Hemsworth’s doofy male secretary character Kevin. That’s a significant difference considering Hemsworth only appeared in one shot near the very end of the domestic trailer. Now here he is in the international trailer getting hired as the secretary right away because Kristin Wiig’s character is so overwhelmed by how hot he is. The editing implies he’s the one who inspires them to create the proton packs because they need some way to capture the ghosts. He’ll also apparently get his own Ghostbusters outfit at some point, and the trailer gives the final joke to him (he draws a ghost with boobs for a logo, doesn’t get why they wouldn’t like it).

To sum up, domestic audiences are being sold a movie about four women, one of whom is clearly the sassy black friend, and international audiences are being sold a movie about four women and their male secretary who’s gorgeousness makes them come down with a mad case of the vapors.

Beyond the jokes with Hemsowrth, there is an increased emphasis on the action, particularly highlighting all the upgrades which have been made to the new proton packs. Sadly, though, there is a crowdsurfing gag which feels about as dated as the Exorcist riff in the domestic trailer.

I’m guessing the emphasis on Hemsworth is a creation of Sony’s marketing department, not a reflection of the actual finished film. However, Sony just can’t win either way. As of this writing, this trailer has more dislikes than likes on YouTube.

Ghostubsters comes out July 15, 2016.

Closing Thought: Does Kate McKinnon have a single line in either trailer, domestic or international?

Source: GamesRadar