MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why do Movie “Trailers” play BEFORE the movie starts?

In Movie Theater Captivated Audience Watching New Thriller Film about Space Exploration with Walking Astronaut.

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why do Movie “Trailers” play BEFORE the movie starts?

I’ve always found it strange that a movie trailer plays before the movie when the word “trailer” means to come after. So why are they called that?

Back when trailers were first being made in the 1910s it was the silent film, Charlie Chaplin era. They actually did show them after the movie so it was “trailing” the film. Then what ended up happening is the advertisers and producers realized people were getting up and leaving immediately after the movie they came to see ended and not seeing the trailers at all. So the decision was made to move them ahead of the feature film. The term “movie trailer” just managed to stick all these years later.

 

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