Το trailer του Baywatch είναι γεμάτο δράση, γέλιο… βυζιά και κώλους. YEAH!

Ο Dwayne Johnson The Rock πρωταγωνιστεί στη μεγάλη επιστροφή του Baywatch ως Mitch Buchanan, ο περίφημος ναυαγοσώστης στο trailer του Baywatch. Να θυμίσουμε πως σε ρόλο έκπληξη θα συμμετέχει και ο original Mitch Buchanan, ο David Hasselhoff.

trailer του Baywatch

trailer του Baywatch

And the trailer hits keep on coming! Paramount/Viacom Inc. just recently moved Baywatch from May 19, 2017 to Memorial Day weekend, where it will now face off against Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. And now we have the first theatrical trailer for the movie. As you probably know, this feature film adaptation of what was once the most popular show in the world is something of a knowing (and R-rated) comedic riff on the property. More importantly for the purposes of this discussion, it stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario and Kelly Rohrbach among others.

The trailer itself looks fine. It is not quite as broad as you might expect, selling a mostly straightforward action comedy, with equal amounts of male gaze and female gaze and a few solid movie stars, that just happens to be based on an internationally-known brand. Whether or not the jokes work, the film seems to be somewhat relaxed, which is encouraging considering how farcical this could have been.

Obviously Johnson is a huge “put butts in the seats” movie star, Efron is a known entity who can be a draw in the right project, and Chopra, shown only briefly in this initial tease, is something of an added-value element/rising star thanks to her lead role in Quantico. As I noted last year, Dwayne Johnson has gone about picking a mix of outright original films and branded content where he is arguably as popular as or more popular than the franchise in question. Point being, while you can argue that the Baywatch name has a certain pull here and abroad, part of the sell will be merely the fact that it’s an R-rated beach comedy with that cast.

 

Ditto with Paramount’s xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Sony’s Jumanji sequel. Sure, you can make the case that the properties have some value/pull/draw. But, for what it’s worth, if these three films end up being relatively solid hits, it will be despite the brand/IP and not because of it. Audiences will flock to Jumanji next Christmas because it’s a family-friendly fantasy comedy with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillen. And if xXx III is an international smash, it will be because the cast includes Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, Priyanka Chopra, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ruby Rose among others.

Hollywood isn’t going to stop digging into the IP vaults anytime soon, nor will they stop reviving or rebooting former box office glories in the hopes of making new-age blockbusters. The reason Baywatch, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Jumanji are worth paying attention to is because those three films arguably look “attractive” enough in terms of cast and content that the known franchise elements may well be a bonus rather than the main attraction. If these films hit pay dirt, it will be an abject lesson. If you’re going to do a brand adaptation/reboot/revival, you’ll have a much better shot of success if you create a package that doesn’t much rely on the IP as a prime draw.

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