The film adaptation of the highly sexual book, 50 Shades of Grey hasn't even hit cinemas yet, but it is generating a lot of hype all thanks to a 2 1/2 minute trailer that was released recently.
The Escapist Magazine said that according to Universal, the trailer of 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James made history in its first week as the most-watched launch movie trailer earning over 100 million views across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and other social sites. In the YouTube channels owned by Universal, the trailer has already passed over 33 million views, while the trailer uploaded on Universal's YouTube channel has gotten 13 million views. Its UK counterpart did even better with 20 million views.
"Fifty Shades of Grey trailers are pulling monumental views. Add to that ripped and reposted versions on movie fan channels. It's unprecedented for a film that's six months out," commented RelishMix CEO, Marc Krazen.
As for the unprecedented numbers, Escapist also added that before the full 2 1/2 minute trailer was shown, a 15 second teaser premiered unannounced on Beyonce's Instagram account, which has 14 million followers, on Saturday, July 19.The post on Beyonce's page raked up 443,000 likes and over 85,000 comments. The singer's remixed version of Crazy in Love is featured on the film's soundtrack. In addition to this, the trailer, which was released July 24, became the most-watched trailer on YouTube on that day.
Meanwhile, it racked up over 98,000 mentions per hour on Twitter and was the number one Google trending topic in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The article also said that an additional 13 million uploads were viewed on various platforms including Yahoo, IMDB, and Apple. Universal also said it got an additional 40 million views on Facebook through the studio's domestic and international channels, as well as Beyonce's Facebook page, where the trailer got 446,000 likes and 222,000 shares.
While the trailer is being talked about due to its unprecedented numbers, The Independent reported that the trailer sparked outrage from US conservative groups who are concerned that the film glamorizes sexual violence towards women. It said that Morality in Media criticized the film for "telling the public (especially the youth) that humiliation, degradation and torture in sex is normal."
50 Shades of Grey is set for release on February 13, 2015 and is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. The film stars Dakota Johnson (21 Jump Street) as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dorian (Once Upon a Time) as Christian Grey. Beyonce's track, Moreover, the Fifty Shades of Grey novels have already sold over 100 million copies.
