History NeverTrustATrailer / LiveActionFilms

** ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' had a trailer that showed shots of Darth Vader in his iconic costume, and showed what appeared to be various characters reacting to it (R2-D2 beeping wildly, Padme looking nervous, etc.). The trailer made many audiences think that the costumed Vader would have a large role in the movie itself. In fact, Anakin doesn't get armored up as Vader until the last few minutes of the movie; he interacts with none of the other characters except for Palpatine and doesn’t do anything threatening.

* The trailer for ''Film/HoneyWeShrunkOurselves'' shows Mitch fainting when he sees his shrunken mother on the counter and makes it seem like a comedic FaintInShock. It's actually a serious situation taken out-of-context: Mitch has chronic potassium deficiency and faints because he hasn't had his medicine, which the shrunken adults have been trying to get to him without success.

* The trailer for the ''Film/{{Arthur 2011}}'' remake has this pretty bad. The trailer makes it look like Jennifer Garner is playing the Liza Minnelli role and a random actress in one scene is playing the fiancee. In actuality, Jennifer Garner is playing the fiancée and Greta Gerwig (who appears in a grand total of one shot in the trailer) plays the actual love interest.

* The latest Sherwood Pictures release ''Courageous'' features a [[https://youtu.be/i9VT_NBIVfs brief montage of scenes at the end of the trailer]] following a speech by Adam Mitchell (part of Albany's Sheriff's Department) calling on the men to be strong fathers (the crux of the movie). One of the clips involves another officer, Shane Fuller, hanging with his son. In the actual movie, by the time the speech is made, Shane is [[DirtyCop in prison for stealing drugs from the evidence room to be sold in exchange for cash]].

** First of all, after some scenes of Jane's childhood, it shows her as a young woman fleeing across the moors, interspersed with text that reads "She sought refuge," before showing her first meeting with Mr. Rochester. The implication is clearly that she runs away from her BoardingSchoolOfHorrors and by chance meets Rochester, who takes her in, when really she leaves Lowood School to go to work for Rochester as his ward Adéle's governess, and the scene of her wandering the moors is from [[spoiler: after their aborted wedding.]]

* ''Mignonnes'' is a French drama about an eleven-year-old Senegalese immigrant girl who joins a hip-hop dance group, its writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré intending it as a satire and critique of the [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior sexualization of young girls]] in popular culture. So what happened when Creator/{{Netflix}} picked it up for American distribution? They gave it the English-language title ''Film/{{Cuties}}'' (a word that, while a literal translation of "mignonnes", has [[PaedoHunt very different connotations]] when used to describe young girls, especially in any sort of sexualized context) along with a poster that features the film's tween girl protagonists in {{stripperiffic}} dance wear and seductive poses, making it look like a ''Film/StepUp'' ripoff with added pedophilia -- in other words, exactly what the film is criticizing. The outrage from all quarters was so immediate that Netflix hastily apologized, pulled the marketing material they created, and switched to the original, more modest French poster.

* The American trailer for ''My Baby Is Black!'' (French title: Les Lâches vivent d'espoir) makes it look like the white female lead having a black baby is some kind of medical mystery, but in the film itself they show from the start that the baby is black because the father is. The title change was also to make it seem like an ExploitationFilm, when it's more of a serious drama.

*** Scenes of Finn wielding a blue lightsaber are heavily advertised in all of the trailers, heavily implying that he is an up-and-coming Jedi set to follow in Luke's footsteps. [[spoiler:It's actually ''Rey'' who is groomed to become a Jedi, is shown developing Jedi powers, and has the final battle with Kylo Ren while Finn is never implied to have any Force sensitivity ― only using the lightsaber a few times in a pinch. This makes him shown wielding it the nonverbal equivalent of ExactWords.]] Meanwhile Rey ― the film's other main character who is far more central to the plot ― was barely in many of the trailers, making the film's entire marketing campaign a total misdirect to purposefully conceal the film's story.

* The first trailer for ''Film/SupermanReturns'' consists entirely of footage of a teenage Clark experimenting with his powers, Martha Kent checking out a mysterious meteor in her back yard, and Lois Lane meeting Superman on a rooftop and looking shocked--all set to Jor-El's narration about why he's sending Kal-El to Earth. This gave a lot of people the impression that the movie was a {{remake}} of ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' instead of its latest sequel. The fact that the title hadn't yet been revealed (the posters and trailer just showed the Franchise/{{Superman}} logo on a blue background) didn't help.

* Creator/GeorgeClooney's film ''Film/UpInTheAir'' has Clooney saying many life-affirming quotes in voiceover, making it appear that he's some sort of frequent-flier-mile-happy life coach ''a la Film/LoveHappens''. A later trailer reveals the character is the complete opposite: he's "hired by companies to fire people when they don't have the balls to do it themselves," and the young airline stewardess-like woman is his protégé. He does make money by being a life coach on the side, but this is more of a subplot. The philosophy he teaches is also ''extremely'' cynical, contrary to the trailers. [[spoiler: At least initially.]]

* A trailer in 2002 advertised the film ''Lucky Star'' directed by Michael Mann and starring Benicio Del Toro as a professional gambler milking vast amounts of money from casinos and the stock market before drawing the attention of government agents. Turned out that there was never going to be a film at all -- the whole thing was actually an advert for the new Mercedes SL, his getaway car. The new Volvo [=S80=] also used a film-trailer-style TV ad, and LG also pulled this stunt with its new Scarlet line of [=TVs=].
** This particular variant was parodied by Samsung in a fake trailer promoting smartphone. "No Guns", "No Romance", "No Plot", "Just Phone". "The Greatest Product Placement Movie of All Time".
*** So he's the jerk to blame for giving the ad execs the "bright" idea of those smarmy, annoying commercials we got flooded with at the theaters over the last couple years!

* The trailer for ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'' shows the two leads happily walking about and openly abusing everyone they come across in petty fashion, JustForEvulz. In the actual film they are both con men who make sure to maintain a good appearance in order to take advantage of their victims, and they're primarily antagonistic towards each other.

* The trailers for ''Film/{{Flubber}}'' made it look more like a remake of ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' but instead, Flubber is a semi-sentient ''goo'' that can dance in addition to make things bounce. What we got was a movie that was more about a fully sapient robot that was apparently created by accident.

* In the original teaser trailer for ''Film/TheSantaClause,'' the voiceover narration claims that Santa was "out for the rest of the season" after falling off Scott's roof, implying that he was merely injured and that Scott would be a temporary substitute. In the actual movie, Santa is killed by the fall and Scott becomes the new Santa permanently. Although [[spoiler: ''Series/TheSantaClauses'' eventually reveals that the previous Santa didn't really die.]]

* Creator/MNightShyamalan's ''Film/LadyInTheWater'', while marketed as a horror movie, is actually a semi-metafictional fantasy story with only a few moments of suspense. This was also true for another of his films, ''Film/TheVillage''. Its trailers present it as a scary horror film while in truth it's nothing but a drama/love story movie. [[spoiler: Albeit with a couple of Shyamalan's trademark twists.]]

** The 2024 film ''Film/MeanGirls2024'' is actually an adaptation of the [[Theatre/MeanGirls broadway musical]]. Not that you would know this from watching the trailer, which does not feature a single character singing. This is an incredibly baffling decision, as it gives viewers the impression that the movie is nothing more than a soulless remake of the original with absolutely nothing new to offer.

** The 2024 film ''Film/MeanGirls2024'' is actually an adaptation of the [[Theatre/MeanGirls broadway musical]]. Not that would know this from watching the trailer, which does not feature a single character singing. This is an incredibly baffling decision, as it gives viewers the impression that the movie is nothing more than a soulless remake of the original with absolutely nothing new to offer.

* This was certainly the case with Music/TheMonkees' 1968 film ''Film/{{Head}}''. Rather than a movie-length episode of the band's [[Series/TheMonkees TV series]], which the fans would have expected, ''Head'' was a [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible strange, surrealistic, absurdist]] [[CerebusSyndrome Grand Statement]] about the band's manufactured image, mass media and rampant consumerism, with subtle anti-war messages scattered throughout. By the same token, it did feature to some degree the Monkees' madcap humor and an assortment of musical selections by the band, and [[Music/FrankZappa numerous]] [[Creator/TeriGarr guest]] [[Creator/AnnetteFunicello stars]]. An [[DadaAd avant-garde, minimalistic, black-and-white, dialogue-free TV commercial]] [[https://youtu.be/La0RsMB3MTU showing PR man John Brockman]] with the word "HEAD" appearing on his forehead in the last few seconds was shown, advertising the movie, with no mention of the Monkees (or the fact it was for a movie) at all. Predictably, the movie bombed, being too surreal for the band's teen demographic, while the presence of the already unfashionable Monkees alienated the counterculture. The movie [[VindicatedByCable won a new audience]] by TheNineties after repeated midnight movie showings on cable and its release on video.

** ''Film/BirdsOfPrey'' lied throughout its early marketing, as the trailers highlight Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya alongside Harley Quinn making it seem like the movie would follow them coming together with Harley being the quirky Jack Sparrow-esque lead. In actuality the whole film is about Harley with the titular ''Birds of Prey'' being secondary characters who only come together as a team right at the very end during the climax. Warner Brothers eventually changed to title to ''Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn'' to be better reflect the actual plot.

** The original teaser trailers for the first two films made them look far darker in tone than what they actually were, especially [[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen the second film]], which really was supposed to be the darker installment. It ended up filled with humor and some of the most juvenile comedy available. Needless to say, the [[Film/{{Transformers}} first film]] was much better in this regard.

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2'':

* In the original teaser trailer for ''Film/TheSantaClause,'' the voiceover narration claims that Santa was "out for the rest of the season" after falling off Scott's roof, implying that he was merely injured and that Scott would be a temporary substitute. In the actual movie, Santa is killed by the fall and Scott becomes the new Santa permanently.

* Trailers for ''Film/LittleWomen2019'' made one speech from later in the film look like a triumphant statement on female empowerment, leaving out the last line that changes its meaning entirely. (Or the fact that it's said at the protagonist's DarkestHour) While the film has a definite feminist message, it's a lot less {{Anvilicious}} about it than the trailer would have you believe.

** The [[Film/BackToTheFuture first film]] was released at a time where the most successful comedies were raunchy R-rated affairs (e.g. ''Film/{{Porkys}}'', ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds''). Thus, many trailers featured the line "You mean my mom has the hots for me?!" to make it seem like such a film with a science fiction element, when the film is much more of a sci-fi comedy for all audiences with that mom thing being a subplot. Creator/RobertZemeckis and Bob Gale have spoken negatively about this in interviews.

* Another backfiring example: ''Film/MenInBlack''. An early trailer made it look like an eerie sci-fi FX extravaganza punctuated with mild humor. In truth, humor is its greatest strength. Sadly, later trailers [[TrailerJokeDecay spoiled some of the best humor.]] The trailers also committed the common sin of [[MissingTrailerScene including scenes (and dialogue) that were nowhere to be found in the actual film.]]

* The first trailer for ''Film/SupermanReturns'' consists entirely of footage of a teenage Clark experimenting with his powers, Martha Kent checking out a mysterious meteor in her back yard, and Lois Lane meeting Superman on a rooftop and looking shocked--all set to Jor-El's narration about why he's sending Kal-El to Earth. This gave a lot of people the impression that the movie was a {{remake}} of ''Film/{{Superman}}'' instead of its latest sequel. The fact that the title hadn't yet been revealed (the posters and trailer just showed the Franchise/{{Superman}} logo on a blue background) didn't help.

* ''There are numerous impressive stunts in the trailer and ads for the Jackie Chan kids film ''Film/TheSpyNextDoor.''. They are indeed in the movie...during the opening credits, as a series of clips to establish Jackie's character's skills. Even more egregiously, the clips were not actually filmed for ''The Spy Next Door''; they were all taken from Jackie Chan's earlier films!

* The trailer for ''Cold Creek Manor'' made it seem like the house was haunted. Instead, it was just some crazy guy messing with the family (when we want ''both'', we know [[Film/TheShining where to go]]).

* The trailer for the 1986 Troma film ''Combat Shock'' toted it as being a Rambo-style bloodbath, though the film itself was more of a psychological horror.

* The trailer for ''Film/{{Elysium}}'' heavily implies that Max's exosuit is what gives him the ability to override Elysium's system. It doesn't, but the virus it lets him download from Carlyle's brain does. It also implies some shots of Kruger are actually of Max (such as Kruger's PowerWalk when he [[spoiler:begins the coup and specifically starts gunning for Max]]), and that Kruger is assisting the hero. The trailer also implied that Max's exosuit can remotely crash a ship, which was just gesture by Kruger (activating sticky homing explosives).

* NeverTrustATrailer/MarvelCinematicUniverse

* ''Film/TheWaterHorse'' trailers suggested it would be a kiddy film about a boy and his cute little water dragon, in the tone of ''Film/{{Babe}}''. One trailer even showed the bulldog saying it was the titular horse's "best friend". Sure, the movie starts out this way, but for the most part it's a lot more gritty than that, especially when the water horse grows up. It nearly kills the boy, and devours all the lake's wildlife. Towards the end, the military mistakes the water horse for an enemy sub [[spoiler: and nearly kills him and the boy.]] Oh, and that bulldog who is supposedly the horse's best friend? [[spoiler: Towards the end, when the water horse goes berserk, he swallows the dog whole and then tries to kill the owner. Make one wonder if the marketing people even watched the movie, there wasn't any hint of friendship between the dog and the water horse. The dog spends the earlier part of the film trying to catch the water horse when it's a baby, and then spend the end of the film in the water horse's belly.]] Combine all that with a boy who is counting down the days when his father will come home from the war, [[spoiler: only to slowly realize his father is never coming back since he's dead]] and it's far from the happy-go-lucky mood of the trailer. That said, it isn't a depressing film and there are some heartwarming moments.

** And despite a name change (to ''Film/TheWatch2012 The Watch''), the second trailer isn't any better about it. It's like Fox doesn't want anyone to get interested the film. Possibly an EnforcedTrope, since the marketing had to be revamped due to the Trayvon Martin case being uncomfortably similar to the movie's premise (about neighborhood watchmen who get a bit overzealous).