Movie trailers have always excited me. Back when DVDs were a thing, I remember having to do some extensive research (read: watch tons of trailers) before deciding on which ones to buy in order to get through my weekends. No matter what the film, trailers are what create the anticipation – especially if a film carries a relatively simpler theme rather than action or thrillers.

Today, Netflix and other streaming platforms allow us to view trailers without even having to click on a button and we can decide almost immediately whether we want to watch a film or not. While trailers come in many different styles – some outlining the synopsis and others simply offering glimpses from the film itself – one style of trailers has captivated me more than anything else.

I watched separate trailers for 6 Underground and for Season 3 of La Casa De Papel (Money Heist) and was excited by both. But then I came across a trailer where Ryan Reynolds of 6 Underground makes a phone call to The Professor from La Casa De Papel and a very interesting conversation ensues. It was a brilliant idea to promote both the film as well as the TV show in a single creative asset by overlapping the narratives and connecting their protagonists, while showing glimpses of their iconic characters in exciting action sequences.

A trailer like this demonstrates the potential of cross-promoting films within each other’s narratives, as seeing favorite characters from completely different worlds interact with each other offers a very exciting experience as well as fulfilling the objective a trailer is supposed to achieve.

Muhammad Ali Khan is Associate Director Creative & Strategy at Spectrum VMLY&R. He also teaches in the Masters of Advertising programme at SZABIST-Karachi.