YouTube is finally cracking down on fake movie trailers by removing ads and cutting off monetization for some of the biggest channels that make them — like Royal Trailer and Screen Culture. This could mean the end of an era for this strange corner of YouTube.
So what exactly is a fake movie trailer? You might think of parody trailers like Honest Trailers, but that’s not it. Or maybe fan-made trailers that mash together clips from real movies? Close — but not quite. These fake trailers are something else entirely, and that’s where the issue lies.
Fake movie trailers have grown into a mini-industry. What started as fans having fun editing clips has turned into full-scale operations, with teams creating slick trailers for movies that don’t even exist — often using AI-generated visuals. These trailers are especially popular for big superhero films or rumored sequels.
At first, creators used footage from real movies. But with generative AI, they can now invent completely new scenes and characters. The problem is these trailers often trick people into thinking they’re real. The word “concept” might be buried in the title or the description might say it’s not official — but let’s be honest, these channels want you to believe you’re watching something legit.
What’s worse is that many of these channels make serious money off this content, often by reworking other people’s creative work. And surprisingly, movie studios didn’t seem to mind — in some cases, they were even getting a cut of the revenue.
But things started to change after a report from Deadline exposed how widespread and misleading this trend had become. YouTube responded by cutting off monetization, which means these fake trailers won’t be nearly as profitable — and we’ll likely be seeing fewer of them soon.
Now, if only Meta could do something about the flood of AI-generated images taking over my Facebook feed, we’d really be making progress.
