Back in the mid-1990s, this movie called “Jerry Maguire” appeared. Before it debuted, the film company ran numerous trailers that were completely different in tone. Was it a sappy romantic comedy about Renee Zellwegger’s romance with Tom Cruise? Was it a cute comedy about Tom Cruise and this adorable, precocious kid? Was it going to be two hours of Tom Cruise shouting “SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!” to Cuba Gooding Jr.? Was it a sports movie? Who knows?
Actually, come to think of it, I own that movie and I still don’t know what the heck it is.
The point is, the studio tried to court several different types of movie-goers. And it looks like Columbia is doing that with their newest Bewitched Trailer. The previous trailer (which has been yanked so you can’t even see it now) was a goofy promo about the hysterically intense movie star who is looking for an unknown actress to play Samantha opposite his Darren in a movie remake of Bewitched, and unknowingly finds a real witch. It looked pretty silly and it was the first time we realized it wasn’t going to be a straightforward adaptation of the TV show.
I remember being somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t a remake, though it was funny to hear Farrell’s character fretting that on the old show they replaced Darren with a completely different actor and NO ONE EVEN NOTICED!
This new trailer is all about the witch/actress, emphasizing the real romance she has with Farrell’s character and the problem she has with her relatives in abandoning her powers. In other words, pretty much the setup of the old TV show. The tone is much more what you’d expect of a big-budget Bewitched, even though it still has the plot that these are actors and a witch re-enacting the old show. (Confusing to describe, I know.) Plus it ramps up the romantic comedy level, with one of those “If you liked Sleepless In Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, you’ll like this film!” pitches.