What is a film whose trailer alone presaged its success?

The original Matrix trailer was such stylish mystery and intrigue. Media consumption volume of the average person was drastically less than today and its release predated wide broadband availability. IYKYK but that film dropped like an absolute hype bomb and deserved all the love & success it received.

Just to add to this... When I first saw the trailer, I became completely obsessed with the film. I visited the website and read a bunch of short stories on there about the world of the Matrix.

And besides all that, when I finally sat down in theaters and watched Neo take the red pill, I had absolutely no clue what was happening. Their marketing material 100% avoided even spoiling the very premise of the film. All they did was build a mystery.
too bad they only made one Matrix film
Saw the trailer in the theater and thought, "What the fuck is THIS?!" Saw The Matrix two nights in a row. Never done that before or since.

Terminator 2 didn't even feature a single shot from the actual movie in its teaser trailer. It was just that iconic:

https://youtu.be/h4ThFNL_2tI?si=ufRA5SzDH1f6uf8b

And then the full trailer spoiled the main twist
- In what way?
I had not seen this before. It is like a prologue to the movie.
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Cloverfield. It didn’t even contain the title, just the date. It ended up being the biggest January opening of any movie.

It got a fair bit of criticism but that movie has had a lot of replay in my house. Solid and simple premise, moves quickly. I could do with a little less of the love story but it does make the ending hit a bit harder.

Blair Witch Project had one of the best marketing campaigns ever. Hitchcock's Psycho had a groundbreaking campaign as well.

Yeah I was in highschool (Aus) and we bought the idea that it was real found footage and a real legend, hook, line and sinker. Excellent marketing.
- Sounds like that one horror movie from when I was in HS - Paranormal Activity, everyone thought that shit was real in my class

Lion King, hands down. The trailer was just the entire opening scene, and seeing the trailer for the first time (in the theater, as was the style at the time), gave me chills. The scope of the animation was clearly something new, and Carmen Twillie & Lebo M fucking killed the vocals in Circle of Life

Good call!

Also using the opening scene as a trailer is such a classy move.

Independence Day. That shot of the White House being obliterated was amazing at the time.

The Phantom menace pops to mind. Just that teaser with the gungans on their mounts, walking in the fog was enough to get every one on board for a new star wars series.

It wasn't a very good series, but it did lead to greater things and was a success by all accounts.

Weird how so many talked shit about Phantom Menace but I saw it 4 times in a packed theater and was pumped everytime.
- Took me about half a dozen viewings to come to terms with the fact that it's not great, but I still enjoyed the nostalgia of the release and the hype around it.
- I was 12 and I all I remember thinking was double sided lightsabers are cool. Which was disappointing as I was a huge Star wars fan. I don't think I really liked it that much but going to the movies was always a big deal.
- Not everyone has taste.
- i think its a flick more than a film. visuals and audio were impressive, but almost none of the characters were developed or charming or even quotable. it even somehow managed to be more racist than should be possible.

I would say Inception, on two fronts. It was a good trailer for a good movie, but the trailer itself also resulted in dozens of movies throughout the year emulating the iconic "Inception horns" heard during the trailer.

Even though they're much less commonly used and to a subtler degree than Inception, the "braaam" is now an entire category of movie trailer sound design and is found in virtually every library of cues that trailer houses edit with.