FYI, you don't just see trailers in the theater. They're on TV as well.
I don't have "movie buddy friends". The few people I hang out with are what I'd consider to be general audience members.
For example my friend Logan loves Bayformers. He has no prior knowledge of the cartoon series. He has no idea who Michael Bay is. He has no idea who Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox are. He also went to see Thor, Ironman and The Avengers. He doesn't know any of the actors names (or at least didn't at the time), nor the directors, and he's never touched a comic in his life. It's all from the trailers.
The Hobbit too. He doesn't know who Peter Jackson and Martin Freeman are. He hasn't seen Lord of the Rings and refuses to because it's "old". I still have a text he sent me saying something along the lines of "dude, that looks awesome we have to see that!".
He is the modern day movie goer of our generation.
The same can be said for just about everyone else I went to school with. The Same can also be said for everyone I've met online from different states/countries excluding the members here.
Movies aren't big deals to "normal" people. They don't care about directors, and only slightly care about actors. The action, the visuals, the characters, the story (well maybe not so much the story), that's all that they see.
That doesn't make any sense though.
It's just like any other sci-fi movie but with more interesting and fantastical characters. It'll be successful regardless.
