Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt will play a stuntman and director who get caught up in a real-life thriller in the upcoming action-comedy The Fall Guy. It’s a story that blurs fiction and fact, with a meta film about filmmakers that looks absolutely delightful. Now it has its own delightful uber-meta promos. Its two stars, Hannah Waddingham, (actual) director David Leitch, and some surprise guests came together to market The Fall Guy as the ultimate interconnected movie experience. And to also ruthlessly make fun of Ryan Gosling.
Things get extra silly and extra funny in Universal’s The Fall Guy promos. They begin with a big pitch from the film’s fictional producer Waddingham. She shares her idea for selling the film by imagining Gosling and Blunt as the stars of other famous movies. It’s not a coherent strategy, but it does make for some very funny fake posters.
In the second promo Waddingham tries to get social media stars on board to promote the movie. Effective? Kind of actually, yeah. But be warned: do not watch this if you are hungry and not eating anytime soon. Anti-warning: do watch this if you love arguing over wizards and chicken parm.
In the third promo Waddingham recruits some big NBA stars to help out. Only, they’re not really into The Fall Guy. They’re only care about Blunt and The Adjustment Bureau. They think she should really work with Matt Damon again, as Gosling once again remains the butt of these ads’ jokes.
Finally, Universal sent its fictional stuntman out with his actual ones for a Journey-supported carpool to work/Hill Valley from Back to the Future. This promo is both a fun advertisement for the film and a warning. What’s the warning exactly? Don’t bring a coffee into a car driven by a professional stuntman.
Great approach. No notes. (Including on all the coats they made for the cast and crew of this movie.) If Gosling gets to walk around with that face and that much talent he should also have to eat s**t for our enjoyment. And we do enjoy these promos. If the movie is as good as these we are all in for a good time when it comes to theaters on May 3. The Fall Guy already looked like a lot of fun from its actual trailers. These might be meta commercials, but the cast’s charisma, comedy, and charm are very real.
Originally published on April 18, 2024.