It is getting down to that time of year again. The NFL season is almost over, which means theSuper Bowlis right around the corner. Despite a complicated and messy year, the NFL managed to get through all 16 regular-season games, and the playoffs, arriving at the big game, which will take place on February 7. That usually means lots of ads for Hollywood’s biggest movies and TV shows, though that may change this year given the uncertain state of the industry. And, rather amazingly, only four of the movies advertised during last year’sSuper Bowlhave been released, with many others still waiting in the wings.
The cost of a 30-second ad slot duringSuper BowlLIV, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers, was said to run about $5.6 million.Many movies were advertised during the game, with studios hoping to parlay that ad money into box office dollars. And yet, onlyThe Invisible Man, Disney’s live-actionMulan,Sonic the HedgehogandThe Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Runhave been released, just shy of a year later. AndSpongebobis even kind of a technicality, as the movie debuted on Netflix internationally and in theaters in Canada. It will get a streaming release on CBS All Access, soon to be Paramount+, later this year in the U.S.Bill & Ted Face the Musichad a Super Bowl presence with a Walmart commercial and social teaser but no official footage or TV spot was released during the game.
Othermassive blockbusterssuch asNo Time to Die,Top Gun: Maverick, Marvel’sBlack Widow,F9, akaFast & Furious 9,Minions: The Rise of GruandA Quiet Place Part IIwere all advertised during theSuper Bowl in 2020. All of them have since been delayed multiple times by their respective studios. In the month following theSuper Bowllast year, the world fell apart. Health and safety concerns took precedent worldwide, with movie theaters shutting their doors for months as a result. Even now, the industry is largely struggling to get back on its feet, with the box office more or less on life support.
In essence, this means the millions of dollars that were spent on those ads went to waste. Ads like that are only good so long as they impact the public consciousness come release time. With many of these movies not coming out until much later in 2021, thoseSuper Bowl commercialsare nothing but a distant memory to the average moviegoer.
No Time to Die,Daniel Craig’s final James Bond movie, was set to arrive in April but has now been delayed until October 8 of this year.Top Gun: Maverickis positioned as a summer blockbuster, with the Tom Cruise sequel eyeing a July 2 release.Minions: The Rise of Gruis set for that same date. But those are on potentially shakey ground with all of the recent release date moves.Black Widow, the long-awaited solo movie for Scarlett Johansson’s Marvel hero, ultimately was delayed a full year, currently set for May 7. Again, that date seems far from certain right now. The same can be said forF9, which is also set for May, arriving on the 21.A Quiet Place Part IIwas recently pushed back again as well from April to September 17.
Whether or not studios opt to take the risk at this year’sSuper Bowlremains to be seen. It seems like a huge gamble, though one that could pay off for major upcoming streaming releases, such asGodzilla vs. KongorMortal Kombat. Netflix could also make use of the game to get eyeballs on its upcoming slate. Or maybe, just maybe, we see some commercials for the same movies two years in a row.Super BowlLV is set to air February 7 on CBS.
