Fast & Furious 6 teaser wins the Super Bowl. I dare Universal to not cut any more marketing materials until after it opens.

Well, that was worth the wait, but then Universal, like Paramount's Transformers series, has always done well by way of Super Bowl teasers with this long-running franchise.  A few notes.  A) Are the random shots of scantily-clad gyrating women really necessary?  B) I still think Universal is nuts not to open this one in April where it will absolutely dominate the pre-summer season.  Oh sure, it may well win the Memorial Day weekend race, but everybody loses a little by the demo head-to-head match ups.  The Hangover III and Fast & Furious 6 are literally targeting the same demographic and both films will open a bit less than they otherwise would have without direct competition.  Coming off the obscenely good and quite popular Fast Five, an unopposed Fast & Furious 6 would be looking at a $100 million+ Fri-Sun debut.  Heck, The Hangover part III may well have a shot at that too under different circumstances, even if the second film wasn't quite as beloved as the first one.  But going head-to-head?  Now both will be lucky to get past $75 million apiece.  For what?  A dick-measuring contest?  Anyway, last point, this is such a grand and effective teaser that I challenge Universal to stop.

Well first of I all I challenge Universal to say 'to hell with mutually assured destruction' and move the film to April 12th.  But more realistically, if only by default, I dare Universal to make this clip the beginning and the end of their marketing campaign.  You've set up the plot, establishing returning characters, teased some astonishing stunt work that has fans going nuts on the Twitter-sphere, and ended on a cliffhanger that is a shock to anyone who didn't watch the entire end credits of Fast Five.  Use this as your theatrical trailer and quit while you're well ahead of the game.  Whatever TV spots need to be cut can be culled from the footage above.  No expanded trailers, no more new footage, no clips released the week before release, no behind-the-scenes featurettes spoiling the magic before paying audiences even get to see the film.  Universal has a massive smash hit locked in the box with this Super Bowl teaser alone.  Will they have the courage and confidence to let it ride?  Will they say "Anyone who doesn't want to see Fast & Furious 6 after that teaser damn-well isn't going to want to see it no matter what we do" and leave the rest of the film unspoiled?  It's a pipe dream to be sure, but Universal has done their job and sold the movie in the best possible way to the key demographic.  It's not just a matter of quitting while you're ahead as opposed to just standing up for the idea of not basically releasing the film in piecemeal prior to its actual theatrical release.  Someone's gotta stand up for the idea of the relatively fresh theatrical experience.

Scott Mendelson