Total Recall

In the current age of movie marketing, releasing a single trailer is an admission of defeat. True event movies demand a trailer for the trailer, thus acknowledging that they’re such a big deal that even the preview is hotly anticipated. It’s a strategy that recently worked for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, anyway, so what the hell—Len Wiseman’s going to do it for his Total Recall remake, because what, Ridley Scott thinks he’s better just because his movie is 95 percent original? Screw that: Total Recall’s also got originality in its refusal to get its ass to Mars and its many other divergences from both the Philip K. Dick story and Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, hence it has its own mysteries worth parceling out in teasers on top of teasers—a three-titted approach to advertising, if you will.

This 30-second first glimpse doesn’t do much to set those up, of course, instead offering a dialogue-free look at Colin Farrell sitting in a familiar-looking chair before embarking on a montage of slow-motion jumping, fireballs, and flying cars. Lots of flying cars, actually. Remember when you saw the original Total Recall and were like, “What, the future has hologram tennis instructors but no flying cars?” Well, Len Wiseman fixed that for you. Anyway, you’ll get a better idea of what to expect when the full trailer debuts this Sunday during the Boston Celtics/Miami Heat game, and then we relive it all over again on Monday. See you at the party, Richter!