Great news for The Avengers, good and bad news for George Lucas, and troubling news for a $250 million would-be blockbuster.
A look at how Sunday's Super Bowl movie ads fared with viewers—and potential ticket buyers:
The 30-second Avengers spot, featuring the prized class picture of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow, was rated best of the theatrical trailers in USA Today and Facebook's Ad Meter survey.
The ad was also hailed as the most enticing and among the most memorable of the movie commercials in a MovieTickets.com poll.
In all, seven upcoming movies were hyped in ads that aired during Super Bowl XLVI.
The commercial for Lucas' Star Wars 3-D rereleases came out on top in the MovieTickets.com sample as the most-memorable movie spot.
But while football fans recalled the ad, they apparently didn't like the ad. The Phantom Menace-hyping clip came in next-to-last among the movie commercials in the Ad Meter rankings.
But the worst notices of all were for John Carter.
The Disney sci-fi epic with the reputed quarter-of-a-billion-dollar price tag was rated the least-memorable movie ad in the MovieTickets.com survey, and among the worst Super Bowl ads of any kind in the Ad Meter stats.
Last year, the lowest-rated movie ad in the USA Today 2011Super Bowl survey turned out to be one of the year's biggest busts: Cowboys & Aliens.
But there is hope for John Carter, opening March 9.
Last year, the next two lowest-rated movie ads turned out to be two of the year's biggest hits: Thor and Fast Five.
Here's a quick look at how the movie ads stacked up, from best to worst, in the USA Today-Facebook Ad Meter rankings:
- The Avengers
- Act of Valor
- Battleship
- Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation
- Star Wars rereleases
- John Carter