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At first glance, the new trailer for the upcoming Great Gatsby movie looks pretty much like the two that preceded it. All three have fast cars, period costumes, Art Deco design, and director Baz Luhrmann’s signature lavish, kaleidoscopic party scenes. The first Gatsby trailer was a meditation on a city and a time, filled with one question: “Who is this Gatsby?” The second was basically more of the same, but with the implication that Gatsby has secrets. But the latest trailer, while keeping up those themes, does something else.
If you’re paying attention, it gives away the entire plot (except the conclusion) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel.
Which, in most trailers, would be a bad thing; it’s a bad sign for a movie if you have all the punch lines in the preview. On the other hand, maybe it doesn’t really matter. Gatsby‘s not yet rated, but it’s likely to be at least PG-13, given the subject matter, which means that a fair chunk of the American audiences at whom the U.S. trailer is aimed should have reached the age by which you’re supposed to have already read the book.
The Great Gatsby will be in theaters May 10, 2013.
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