HBO is set to air its first Super Bowl commercial in 20 years this Sunday, when the season 2 trailer for Westworld will play before a massive audience on NBC. According to Entertainment Weekly, the ad was directed by Westworld co-creator, and will contain contain footage exclusive to the trailer.
HBO has purchased ad time during the Super Bowl only twice before: 1997 and 1998, and those were commercials for HBO in general, not a specific show. on top of that, NBC is charging a hefty $5 million for every 30 seconds of air time, so if HBO is willing to shell out all that money, we figure they must have something worth seeing on their hands.
Here’s the trailer from last year’s San Diego Comic-Con:
With Game of Thrones gearing up for its final season, HBO is looking for something to replace it. The network has already made headway with Westworld, a smart take on science fiction that proved popular in its freshman season, albeit not as popular as Game of Thrones was back when it premiered. Crucially, though, Westworld picked up viewers as it went along, which is vital if HBO is trying to turn it into a Thrones-sized phenomenon.
The trick will be in the follow-up. We’ll see if Westworld can continue its momentum when season 2 drops. Thanks to this Super Bowl trailer, we might even know what that will be soon.
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