Stephen Colbert runs up against the limits of his promotional budget for “The Late Show” in a new theatrical trailer for the program.
The trailer, which is playing in AMC, Regal and Cinemark theaters, as well as in over 35 smaller circuits, features Colbert standing before a white background and trying to take advantage of big-screen effects.
Colbert tells viewers to put on their 3-D glasses and then uses props to imitate the effect of text popping off the screen, before he’s informed that they can’t afford to shoot in 3-D. “What? We can’t afford 3-D?” he says. “Well now I look like an idiot. Please tell me we at least still have the CGI dragon.”
Enter: a green ball on a stick that would serve as a stand-in for a computer-generated image, at which Colbert screams as though under dragon attack: “We’re going to put in flames, right?”
Colbert will host his first episode of “The Late Show” on Sept. 8 with George Clooney appearing as his first guest.