10 overplayed pop anthems that movie trailers have officially ruined: Do you agree?
In spring 2010, David Fincher hired trailer editor Mark Woolen to produce the teaser for “The Social Network.” A few years earlier, Woolen had stumbled across a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” on a site he describes as GeoCities-esque. He posted it under the footage, and entertainment sites scrambled to find out who sang it, setting blogs afire.
Within a few years, the move had a name: “trailerizing,” which means changing a song’s tempo or mood while leaving the lyrics alone, per Collider. Music supervisor Jonathan McHugh explains the appeal: “You give people something familiar.”
Ten songs follow, each with its original artist, the trailers that used it, and our verdict. Do you agree?
“Creep”: the one that started it
Radiohead’s song, covered by the Belgian women’s choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, scored the 2010 “Social Network” teaser. Many consider it the trend’s patient zero. Verdict: still the best use of it, and the standard every copycat misses.
“Mad World,” before the trailers
Tears for Fears made “Mad World” a bouncy pop song. Gary Jules slowed it into something grim for “Donnie Darko,” and for about a decade afterward it was hard to escape. An early trailer example was the Gears of War game trailer.
Three trailers, one Lorde cover
“Catching Fire” used Lorde’s slow take on “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” So did “Dracula Untold” and the game “Assassin’s Creed: Unity,” per TV Tropes. In the “Dracula Untold” trailer, Lorde sings “Welcome to Your Life” as Vlad, played by Luke Evans, strikes a bargain with the Master Vampire. One critic ranked it a good match for the story. Verdict: it fits.
Is “Crazy in Love” even a cover?
Not quite. For the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trailer, Beyoncé didn’t hand her hit to someone else. She remade it herself, and “Crazy in Love (2014 Remix)” came out as a single on February 10, 2015. ScreenCrush called it perhaps the finest use of the trope since “The Social Network.”
“Immigrant Song”
Led Zeppelin’s 1970 track scored the first “Thor: Ragnarok” trailer, and the second used Magic Sword’s “In the Face of Evil.” One fan list calls the pairing a perfect needle drop. Verdict: the original, not a cover, so it gets a pass.
“Survivor”
Destiny’s Child’s anthem got a slow cover for the 2018 “Tomb Raider” trailer. It fit the title, but you could see it coming.
“Black Hole Sun”
Soundgarden’s grunge classic became a choir-style cover for a Liam Neeson thriller, “A Walk Among the Tombstones,” per Moviefone. Ranker also lists it among slowed-down trailer covers.
“Happy Together”
Director Baz Luhrmann used the sad-cover trick twice for “The Great Gatsby.” The second trailer had an ironic cover of the Turtles’ song, sung by Filter frontman Richard Patrick, per ScreenCrush.
“I Started a Joke”
The “Suicide Squad” trailer slowed the Bee Gees’ song, and Moviefone called it the latest example of the 2016 trend. Do you agree it was overdue?
“Crazy”
The “Birdman” trailer slowed down Gnarls Barkley’s hit, with the original artist performing, per The Comeback. It even threatens to speed up before settling back down.
The bottom line
Woolen found his cover on a GeoCities-style site. Studios now commission covers for that purpose, and most trailer covers never make it onto the film’s soundtrack.
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