The 49ers and the Ravens may be playing against each other at the upcoming Super Bowl in New Orleans, but they’ll also be facing down superheroes, aliens, zombies, car thieves and more, as some of the major film studios have announced which upcoming releases will be highlighted during the game’s pricey ad breaks.
Brad Pitt will face the flesh-eating undead in a brand new 30-second spot for Paramount Pictures’ “World War Z” (to be released June 21) during the pre-game. The studio will also tease fans with a new 30-second spot for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness” (May 17) sometime during the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Universal Pictures plans to unleash the first footage of Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in a 30-second ad for “Fast & Furious 6” at some point during the game.
Disney will plug Sam Raimi’s “Oz The Great and Powerful” (March 8), and offer a 90-second pre-game spot for the Johnny Depp western “The Lone Ranger” (July 3), plus a new 60-second spot featuring Robert Downey Jr.’s return as the Marvel hero “Iron Man 3” (May 3), Coming Soon reports.
Meanwhile, according to The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Fox and Sony will be sitting on the sidelines during the big game, despite the fact that the former has “The Wolverine” upcoming, while the latter is prepping Roland Emmerich’s “White House Down” for a June release. Likewise, Warner Bros. also won’t be shilling Baz Luhrmann’s 3D “The Great Gatsby,” even though it’s hitting theaters in May.
It’s hard to blame the abstaining studios with ads costing a reported $4 million for each 30 seconds during the game. Last year’s game earned a record-breaking 111.3 million viewers.
Super Bowl XLVII airs Sunday, February 3 at 6:30 pm ET on CBS.