Neuroscience and business professor Moran Cerf and neuroscience Ph.D. researcher Sam Barnett directed the study, in which they developed a new technique using electroencephalography to analyze participants’ brain waves as they engaged with trailers in real time.
Each trailer received a “neural similarity score,” based on the extent to which watchers had similar brain patters, which Barnett said is a sign of being truly engaged in a university article about the study. Higher scores had a direct correlation with more memorable trailers — and films that eventually did better at the box office.
In the article, Barnett said that method could have helped “Muppets Most Wanted” earn more than the $51.1 million the 2014 Disney film eventually grossed at the box office.
“‘The Muppets’ trailer’s highest engagement came too late,” Barnett said, noting that engagement in the second half of the trailer increased after non-puppet actors Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey were introduced. “If the production company had used our neural similarity technique in their focus groups, they could have considered edits to increase the engagement and ticket sales.”
Every Super Bowl Movie Trailer Ranked, from 'Life' to 'Guardians'
10. "Logan"
A shorter and more somber take on the trailer we've already seen, this "Logan" teaser doesn't reveal much more about the movie. That's okay, though, because Logan and X-23 tearing up bad guys is enough.
9. "Baywatch"
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Zac Efron make for a pretty good comedy duo in this "Baywatch" trailer. The reboot's much-goofier take on the '90s TV show seems like a good direction, and the trailer's gag about Efron's Speedo bodes well for laughs.
8. "A Cure for Wellness" "Take the Cure" In the second half of the big game, we got a second trailer for Gore Verbinski's "A Cure for Wellness." This tongue-in-cheek pharmaceutical ad approach gets creepier as it goes on, but it's nothing compared to the first trailer.
7. "Life"
The discovery of alien life is usually bad news in movies. We don't see much of what Jake Gyllenhaal is afraid of in the Super Bowl LI "Life" trailer, but it certainly looks dangerous. Watch the trailer here.
6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"
Looks like all the pirates are coming out to fight Javier Bardem in the fifth "Pirates" movie. As usual, the special effects that give life to undead pirates and giant naval battles are looking pretty awesome, even if those barnacles on Orlando Bloom's face are gross.
5. "A Cure for Wellness"
The first trailer aired during the Super Bowl for "A Cure for Wellness" is full-on unsettling. Its spooky hospital filled of creepy medical professionals suggest things aren't going to go well for the patients, and the snippets of medical experiments are already giving off some uneasy feelings about seeing the movie.
4. "Transformers: The Last Knight"
Things are bad with Optimus Prime missing in action -- but worse when he comes back as a seeming bad guy. The trailer for Michael Bay's next robot action blowout was full of explosions, space, and robots wailing on each other for the big game. Not a ton of new information though.
3. "Ghost in the Shell"
A cyberpunk dystopia always looks awesome in trailers, and "Ghost in the Shell" gets even more props for peeling the skin of cyborg Scarlett Johansson's face. The whole trailer has a frightening foreboding to go with lots of scenes of Johansson beating people up.
2. "The Fate of the Furious
Dom's evil, Jason Statham is good, and a submarine gets into a car chase. But the best part of this extended "F8" trailer is listening to Tyrese Gibson's shriek as his car gets dragged under the ice.
1. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"
The Guardians' Super Bowl LI showing was almost sensory overload, but in the best way possible. Gamora's giant gun is a personal favorite, but everything from space ship battles to a very rude Baby Groot looks like a ton of fun. And it looks great that the Guardians are expanding with the additions of Yondu and Nebula from the first movie.
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Super Bowl LI has been full of blockbuster movie trailers, and we’ve ranked every single one
10. "Logan"
A shorter and more somber take on the trailer we've already seen, this "Logan" teaser doesn't reveal much more about the movie. That's okay, though, because Logan and X-23 tearing up bad guys is enough.