Did the movie trailer kill Mr. Fox?

I was looking at DVDs available from the library and came across Fantastic Mr. Fox. Recently, I heard someone refer to George Clooney as Mr. Fox - connecting his "foxy" looks with his film character. Clooney was the voice of Mr. Fox in the film.

I like George Clooney. I like animated films. I wondered why I hadn't seen the movie before. Then I looked up the trailer on YouTube. My first thought was, "Meeh."  Is the trailer why I didn't see it? I can't remember. In looking at the YouTube comments, folks didn't think that the trailer did the movie justice. I decided against watching it until I realized that the film was based on a book of the same name by Roald Dahl (other famous works James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG - The Big Friendly Giant, Matilda, and The Witches).

It made me wonder, did the movie trailer kill Fantastic Mr. Fox at the box office? Can a movie trailer make or break a movie?  Maybe. Movie-trailer maker Amanda Woods (played by Cameron Diaz) said in The Holiday, "That's why they pay me the big bucks."

Can you think of a movie whose trailer turned you away from watching it, even though it might have received good reviews? Roger Ebert seemed to like Fantastic Mr. Fox.



P.S. Check out Star Li's thoughts on music and movie trailers in her Women Wonder Blog post, The Music Makes the Movie: How a Trailer Can Make or Break your Film. I totally agree with her on Miami Vice.