The trailer for Disney's upcoming film, Cruella, reached a major viewing milestone.
The teaser for the Emma Stone-starring film drew 71 million views in 24-hours following its release, according to Deadline. In doing so, the Cruella trailer beat out the previous 24-hour trailer viewership figures of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (61.7 million) and the Will Smith-Guy Ritchie hit Aladdin (60.8 million), which were both released pre-COVID-19.
Despite pulling in massive views, the Cruella trailer still fell short of the 224 million global views reached in the first 24 hours following the release of Disney's The Lion King, which dropped on Thanksgiving 2018. The trailer for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan also reached an impressive 175 million first-day views when it was posted in July 2019.
It's also worth pointing out that Disney’s Super Bowl trailer for its streaming series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier received 125 million views in its first 24 hours, setting a record for any streaming series.
The Cruella trailer did reign supreme, however, in regard to the amount of social conversation surrounding the film after the premiere of its first trailer. Specifically, Cruella received 265,0000 mentions on social media in the 24-hours after its trailer release, surpassing the online mentions of both Disney live-action films Aladdin (228,000) and Beauty and The Beast (154,000).
Following the Cruella trailer release, PETA requested in an official statement that Disney and the film promote pet adoption while promoting the 101 Dalmatians prequel.
"No character spotlights the cruelty of wearing fur or skinning dogs better than Cruella, but PETA’s praise will be on paws until Disney takes steps to stop a repeat of 1996, when animal shelters were flooded with Dalmatians reportedly bought and discarded by 101 Dalmatians fans who weren’t prepared for the puppies to grow up," PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange recently told CBR. "The devil is in the details, and Cruella must remind viewers that animals are individuals -- not accessories -- and adopt them."
The trailer release also got fans talking about the similarities between Emma Stone's Cruella and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, with graphic designer BossLogic even posting a mock-up of Stone-as-Quinn.
In the BossLogic edit, Stone is depicted with a half red, half black hairstyle, matching eyeliner and clothes. Her face also features Quinn-esque white makeup, red lips and Quinn's signature black Three of Diamonds face tattoo. The artist captioned his rendering, "I hear you."
Directed by Craig Gillespie, Cruella stars Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry and Emily Beecham. The film arrives in theaters on May 28.
Source: Deadline