It’s drums up for the trailer for Amazon’s new film “Sound of Metal"

Amazon Studios’ latest film "Sound of Metal" drowned out the competition in YouGov's weekly trailer survey. The Riz Ahmed-led drama follows a heavy-metal drummer whose life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.

Each week YouGov Direct investigates how effective a collection of movie trailers is in persuading people to consider seeing a film, what they think about the content of the trailer, and how good or bad they expect the movie to be. Thousands of people provide immediate feedback on movie trailers using the YouGov Direct platform.

Learn more about YouGov Direct and find YouGov Direct on the App Store and on Google Play.

“Sound of Metal” was the least well-known film going into this week's trailer competition. Before viewing the trailer, 38% of respondents said they had not heard anything about the movie and just 10% said they were likely to see it. After tuning into the trailer, that number jumped to two in five users (40%).

You don’t have to be a metal music fan to get excited for the film’s release. After watching the trailer, 43% of pop music fans, 49% of country fans and 50% of R&B fans said they were somewhat or very likely to see this movie.

So what made this trailer stand out? When we asked viewers what they liked best about the trailer, more than half of respondents said it was the film's heartfelt ‘story or themes’ (56%) while further 31% said it was the gritty look of the trailer. Fewer than two in five picked the trailer’s music or score (16%).

YouGov Direct also offers members the opportunity to look at viewing options in their area through Fandango. “Sound of Metal” had the highest click-through rate for any of the cinematic releases this week, with a rate of 2.2% percent. This compares to a benchmark of 1.7% percent for all trailers tested on the platform to date.

“Sound of Metal” was not, however, successful at persuading viewers to consider a trip to cinemas this weekend. Nearly three-quarters of those who said they were likely to see the film after watching the trailer said they would rather skip the cinematic experience and watch it via streaming or download services at a later date (74%). The other 26% said they would prefer to see it in movie theaters right away.

The top-performing trailer in the world of streaming this week was for Hulu’s latest offering, “Run”. This dark new drama stars “Split” actress Sarah Paulson as an unhinged mother trying to trap her disabled daughter at home.

Prior to seeing the trailer, 13 percent of YouGov Direct respondents said they were likely to see this maternal chiller. After viewing the clip on the YouGov Direct App, 36 percent said they were now likely to see it.

The trailer was a particular hit with female audiences: two in five female YouGov Direct users who viewed the trailer said they were likely to see this female led film (40%) -- compared with 32% percent of men.

“Run” was less successful at persuading viewers to consider subscribing to the streaming service that hosts it. That award goes to Netflix’s new holiday drama. After watching the trailer for “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” there was an increase of 4 points in intent to subscribe to Netflix.

YouGov Direct also asks respondents to tell us how good or bad they think a movie will be based on the trailer. Of all the trailers we tested this week, it was “ Sound of Metal”, “Collective” and “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” that came out on top. All three received a score of 3.7 out of a possible 5.0

Related:

• Netflix musical “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” is the most popular with viewers this week
• Trailer for prison thriller “The Informer” locks down the competition this week
• Trailer for Netflix horror “His House” really jumped out at viewers this week
• The trailer for the Liam Neeson crime thriller “Honest Thief” stole the show this week

Image: Getty

Methodology: Data is based on 4,000 interviews, including a minimum of 400 responses for each movie trailer tested. Surveys were conducted online on November 12, 2020.