Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer lands on YouTube as Disney kicks off marketing push
The action-packed trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first installment in Disney's standalone Star Wars spin-off series, has landed on YouTube much to the excitement of the fandom.
The clip is the first marketing push for the Lucasfilm movie, with the campaign poised to run until its release in December 2016. It's clocked up over 314,128 views in the first hour of release, following on from the buzz of JJ Abram's popular 2015 episode, The Force Awakens.
A series of brand tie-ups with the likes of Lego, and a marketing budget thought to be worth $350m helped The Force Awakens smash records to become fastest-ever film to reach $1bn in global ticket sales last year; something Lucasfilm will be hoping the latest movie can live up to.
The new Gareth Edwards-directed movie takes place before the events of the first ever Star Wars Film and fourth in the saga, Episode IV – A New Hope. The two-minute teaser introduces viewers to the new "reckless, aggressive and undisciplined" lead character, Jyn Erso, who is portrayed by British actress Felicity Jones
The trailer sees the Alliance turn to the young rebel in a desperate attempt to bring down the evil legion led by Emperor Palpatine.
The commercial comes two days after The Force Awakens was released on Blu-ray, with the next episode in that series set to hit the silver screen in December 2017.
Blockbusters like Star Wars have been credited with helping boost cinema ad spend in 2015. Global investment in the channel grew by 7.6 per cent globally in 2015, and is set to increase by five per cent in 2016 according to media network Carat. The Force Awakens brought in $25.40 for every $1 spent on advertising last year in the US, according to Kantar Media.
Ahead of The Force Awaken's release in 2015, The Drum caught up with original Star Wars ad man Charles Lippincott, to find out the secret sauce behind the franchise's success.