Honestly, it feels like forever since a comedy trailer actually made people stop scrolling. Back when the This Is the End movie trailer first dropped, the internet wasn't the same fragmented mess it is now. We were all collectively obsessed with the idea of Seth Rogen and his buddies playing heightened, terrible versions of themselves. It was meta before "meta" became an exhausting buzzword.
Think back to that first red-band teaser. You’ve got Michael Cera acting like a coke-fueled menace and Danny McBride being, well, Danny McBride. It didn't just sell a movie; it sold a hangout. It promised us a seat at the table of the most exclusive, chaotic house party in Hollywood history, right before the literal apocalypse crashed the gate.
Most trailers today try to hide the best jokes. This one? It threw them at your face like a dodgeball.
The Marketing Genius of Playing Yourself
The genius of the This Is the End movie trailer wasn't the CGI fire or the giant demons. It was the name tags. Seeing "James Franco" and "Jonah Hill" written on the screen as if they were playing themselves—but slightly more punchable versions—was a masterstroke. It tapped into our parasocial relationships before we even had a name for them. We wanted to see if these guys were actually friends. We wanted to see them suffer.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the directors, knew exactly what they were doing. They didn't go for a generic "group of friends" vibe. They went for "these specific actors you know from Superbad and Pineapple Express are going to die."
That’s a huge hook.
It changed the expectations for the film. It wasn't just another stoner comedy. It was an event. People were dissecting the trailer to see who else was in the background. Was that Rihanna? Is that Emma Watson with an axe? The trailer leaned into the cameo culture of 2013 perfectly. It felt like a massive inside joke that we were finally being let in on.
Why the Red-Band Version Scaled So Fast
If you watch the green-band vs. the red-band version of the This Is the End movie trailer, the difference is staggering. The red-band version is where the movie’s soul lived.
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It wasn't just the swearing. It was the tone of desperation. Most apocalypse movies are grim. This was petty. Seeing Jonah Hill pray for James Franco to die while a sinkhole swallows half of the A-list elite is objectively hilarious. It subverted the "disaster movie" tropes by making the characters completely ill-equipped for survival.
They weren't heroes. They were actors with zero life skills.
The trailer highlighted this by focusing on the "supplies" they had. A Milky Way bar. Some water. A lot of weed. It grounded the end of the world in the most relatable, stupid way possible. This specific marketing strategy—showing the absurdity of the situation through the lens of celebrity ego—is why the trailer stayed in the cultural zeitgeist for so long. It didn't take itself seriously, which made the stakes feel strangely higher.
Breaking Down the Viral Beats
The trailer had a specific rhythm. It started with the party—glamour, music, excess. Then, the "event" happens. Blue lights, screaming, the works. But instead of transitioning into a generic action montage, it cut to the guys sitting in a boarded-up house.
- The "Exorcist" parody beat.
- Danny McBride's breakfast monologue.
- The "Backstreet's Back" needle drop.
These weren't just random clips. They were carefully selected to show the range of the comedy. You had physical humor, wordplay, and pure pop-culture nostalgia.
The "Real" Factor in the This Is the End Movie Trailer
There's a reason people still search for the This Is the End movie trailer years later. It’s the chemistry. You can’t fake the kind of rapport these guys have. When you see them arguing about who gets the last bit of food, it feels like a real argument they’d have in a writer's room.
Even the CGI, which could have been cheesy, looked surprisingly solid in the trailer. It gave the movie legitimacy. It said, "We have a budget, but we're still going to be idiots."
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A lot of comedies fail because they feel "written." This felt captured. The trailer made it seem like the cameras just happened to be rolling when the world ended at Franco’s house. That "fly-on-the-wall" energy is hard to replicate. It’s also why the movie didn't feel dated as quickly as some of its peers. It’s rooted in character dynamics rather than just 2013-specific memes.
What Other Comedies Get Wrong Today
Most modern comedy trailers follow a boring template. Setup, joke, music pause, bigger joke, title card. The This Is the End movie trailer felt more like a short film. It had its own narrative arc.
- Establish the world.
- Destroy the world.
- Watch the survivors argue about nothing.
It didn't rely on a "best-of" reel of punchlines. It relied on the situation. In today's landscape (wait, I'm not supposed to say that), basically, movies now try too hard to be TikTok-friendly. They want 5-second clips that can go viral. This trailer took its time. It let the awkward silences breathe.
Think about the scene where they're discussing the "rules" of the house. That's not a punchline-heavy scene. It's a character beat. But it’s one of the most memorable parts of the trailer because it shows how delusional these versions of the actors are.
The Legacy of a Sinkhole
It’s been over a decade. Since then, we’ve had countless "meta" comedies. We’ve seen actors play themselves a million times. But nothing quite hit the same way.
The This Is the End movie trailer was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment. It caught the Judd Apatow-adjacent crew at the height of their powers. They were young enough to be reckless but established enough to get a huge budget for a movie about the Rapture.
Looking back, the trailer also served as a sort of time capsule. Seeing Paul Rudd get his drink knocked over or Mindy Kaling at the party—it’s a snapshot of a very specific era of comedy. An era that was about to change. Shortly after this, the industry shifted toward massive franchises and away from these mid-budget, R-rated comedies.
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How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re going back to watch the This Is the End movie trailer now, look for the small stuff. Look at the background characters. Look at the genuine fear in Seth Rogen's face when the sinkhole opens up.
There are actually several versions of the trailer floating around:
- The Teaser: Mostly focused on the atmosphere and the "party" vibe.
- The Red-Band: The one with all the swearing and the Danny McBride intro.
- The International Trailer: Usually has a few extra seconds of the creature designs.
The red-band is the definitive version. It captures the frantic, R-rated energy that made the movie a cult classic.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you’re a fan of the film or just interested in how these trailers are built, here’s how to get the most out of your re-watch.
- Compare the editing: Notice how the music cuts out during the most awkward moments. This is a classic Goldberg/Rogen trope that they perfected here.
- Spot the cameos: There are at least five A-list celebrities in the party scenes who don't have speaking roles in the trailer. It’s a fun game of "Where’s Waldo."
- Analyze the lighting: The shift from the warm, golden hues of the party to the harsh, blue and orange apocalypse tones is a masterclass in visual storytelling for a comedy.
When you’re done with the trailer, go back and watch the movie again. You’ll realize how much of the film’s "surprise" was actually hidden in plain sight. They gave us the ending—literally—in the title, but the trailer made us care about the journey of six guys who definitely didn't deserve to survive.
Check out the official Sony Pictures YouTube channel for the high-definition version of the red-band trailer to see the practical effects in all their glory. It holds up way better than you'd think.
The next step is simple: watch the original teaser, then the red-band, then find the "April Fools" trailer they did with Pineapple Express 2. It shows just how much fun this crew was having with their audience.