Posted 05.22.12 by Chris Continuing the trend of giving fans a sneak peek of upcoming movies, Sony announced today that a six-minute preview of The Amazing Spider-Man will run before all 3-D IMAX and select 3-D showings of Men in Black III this weekend.
Last December, Warner Bros. successfully generated good buzz about The Dark Knight Rises by attaching an extended preview to IMAX screenings of Mission Impossible 4. However, Sony's decision to preview Spider-Man before Men in Black III seems to be about boosting MIB 3's opening numbers as much as building buzz for Spider-Man (Warner Bros. didn't release Mission Impossible 4, so the Dark Knight Rises preview was an unexpected bonus for Paramount's bottom line).
The Men in Black franchise has been dormant for 10 years so anything Sony can do to push fans to go see Will Smith and Co. is probably a good move. While tracking for MIB 3 is strong, with a reported budget of $375M (including marketing and advertising), Sony faces a steep uphill battle to see a profit.