Man, tip your cap to the marketing crew at 20th Century Fox, which redirected one of 2012's most unfortunate current-events overlaps into a completely revised angle that it probably should have pursued in the first place. Behold: the new and improved teaser for The Watch, complete with introduction by star Vince Vaughn.
The actor unveiled the package last night during a surprise drop-in on Conan, where the host's mock protest against unannounced guest appearances gave way to exactly that — just the thing the retitled summer comedy (née Neighborhood Watch) needed in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin tragedy in Florida. Gone are the prowling, leering suburban vigilantes bringing to mind Martin shooter George Zimmerman, swapped out right up front for Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade as a fierce, do-it-yourself, alien-hunting cadre.
(Skip to 1:55 for the teaser.)
OK, so still a little vigilante-ish and creepily gun-dependent in the end, but whatever. I laughed! Which is saying something, I guess, because that last trailer made this look almost wholly unsalvageable under the circumstances.
Also? Kudos to Fox for catching some of Men in Black 3's alien-comedy buzz for the week. You'd be forgiven for thinking Conan hadn't been able to book Josh Brolin for Thursday night.