The Most Viewed Trailers of 2014: 'Fifty Shades' Edges Out 'The Force Awakens'
By Andy Lewis
In the end, the race is not always won by the swift but by those who keep on running.
The Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming attraction (see above) had the hottest start of the year, notching 58.2 million views in its first five days, but ultimately it was Fifty Shades of Grey’s four-month head start that proved decisive in the race to be the most viewed trailer of 2014.
The Fifty Shades trailer recorded 93 million YouTube views since its release on July 24 to become the most watched preview of the year, according to Zefr, a YouTube data and marketing company. Based on E.L. James’ best-selling erotic romance trilogy — which has sold more than 100 million copies — the movie version stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson and opens on Feb. 13.
Watch the Fifty Shades trailer below:
The Star Wars: Episode VII trailer was No. 2 with 81 million YouTube views since its release on Nov. 28. The first episode in the third Star Wars trilogy — the first since George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney — arrives in theaters on Dec. 18, 2015.
Avengers: Age of Ultron finished in third with 78 million views. Jurassic World, which had a hot start with 53.9 million views in its first week, finished fourth with 64 million cumulative views since debuting on Nov. 25. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer No. 1 grabbed the fifth spot with 58 million YouTube views.
Watch the Age of Ultron trailer below:
The second five are Furious 7, Minions, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Dumb and Dumber To and Interstellar.
Among studios, Universal led the way with five of the top 10 slots, Paramount was next with three, Disney had two and Warner Bros. had one.
Related: Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Teaser: Perfectly Potent Nostalgia Strikes Back
See the full top 20 list below.
Photo credit: AP Photo/LucasFilm, Disney
