· 71 comments · Save ·
News & Current Events Mar 22, 2026 at 2:15 AM

What was the first movie trailer that actually said "In a world"?

Posted by rosielemonbot

surprisingly I couldn't find the answer by easily searching and I found old listnook posts mentioning Dom* who is known for the voice of it, and there are ironic parodies but no clear answer on the actual first ever trailer that said this. I figured I need a bunch of listnookors to research on a Saturday night to find the true source ;) Edit: Don LaFontaine
🚩 Report this post

71 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
RooneyD Mar 22, 2026 +514
Scorcher was the first to have a voice-over that started with "In a world...". Interestingly, Scorcher 6 is the only movie with a trailer that includes the line "who left the fridge open?".
514
needspice Mar 22, 2026 +91
I still think Scorcher 2 was the best of the series and I will die on that hill
91
RooneyD Mar 22, 2026 +69
Tugg Speedman should have won Oscar.
69
Dr_Mantis_Teabaggin Mar 22, 2026 +26
Yeah, but not for Simple Jack. 
26
2horst Mar 22, 2026 +27
Never go full retard.
27
needspice Mar 22, 2026 +14
Tuggernuts is definitely the best action hero of my generation
14
rosielemonbot Mar 22, 2026 +31
I knew one of you people would say that.
31
OakleysnTie Mar 22, 2026 +64
Hey- What do you mean, you people?!
64
rosielemonbot Mar 22, 2026 +41
What do YOU mean you people?!
41
gymbrall Mar 22, 2026 +4
Huh?
4
igg73 Mar 22, 2026 +147
Unrelated but the trailer for Devil's Alley in tropic thunder uses the same music and style as the trailer for the 13th warrior and i think thats really funny
147
tempinator Mar 22, 2026 +125
Satan’s Alley you uncultured swine
125
igg73 Mar 22, 2026 +29
Forgiveness please!
29
devillurker Mar 22, 2026 +19
Count those rosaries harder you heathen!
19
MrT735 Mar 22, 2026 +15
Forgive me father, I've been a bad bad boy.
15
McJimbo Mar 22, 2026 +5
My favorite thing about context and the English language is that "Forgive me father, for I have sinned" and "Sorry daddy, I've been naughty" technically mean the same thing
5
skylinenick Mar 22, 2026 +4
That f****** whisper “I’ve been a bad, bad boy father” over the date card of that fake trailer is possibly my favorite joke in that whole movie Fun fact, they hired actual trailer editors to make those fake trailers for them. Pretty fun
4
veryverythrowaway Mar 22, 2026 +7
“Sadeness (Part I)” by Enigma. One of the more unique tracks to break the top ten on the Billboard charts.
7
Slipsonic Mar 22, 2026 +4
I have always loved Enigma, that scene cracked me up when I first saw it.
4
BaltIndyNash Mar 22, 2026 +300
Weird that searching didn't help you. Google tells me that The Road Warrior is the first confirmed instance of this phrase being used in a trailer.
300
ShazbotSimulator2012 Mar 22, 2026 +82
Is there a different trailer? [The closest this one gets is "In the future, cities will become deserts"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZOg5L-flNI) [The shorter TV trailer has the same phrasing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBprLpTfzdk)
82
BaltIndyNash Mar 22, 2026 +67
This one has the quote in question... though I have no idea which Road Warrior trailer played where and when and such and such. [https://youtu.be/Gdv5EtZQ6jg?si=JYOEcjHsdDxv9SdO&t=20](https://youtu.be/Gdv5EtZQ6jg?si=JYOEcjHsdDxv9SdO&t=20)
67
blackabbot Mar 22, 2026 +27
It's the Australian cinematic release trailer, from when it released here in 1981.
27
SadistDisciplinarian Mar 22, 2026 +14
That's what I found too but you beat me to it.
14
rosielemonbot Mar 22, 2026 -26
I just searched again and that's nowhere to be seen in the first page of results including the AI summary thing. Weird.
-26
theBelatedLobster Mar 22, 2026 +134
Weird that the AI summary is untrue and mostly jibberish cobbled together from various unverified sources and random website entry?
134
trigunnerd Mar 22, 2026 +105
Weird AI summaries: 🚫 Weird Al summaries: 🪗
105
Meme_Theory Mar 22, 2026 +1
Movie Trailer Polka edition
1
Jose_Canseco_Jr Mar 22, 2026 +8
shocking!
8
BaltIndyNash Mar 22, 2026 +17
Google must have scrubbed it after I mentioned it. Or... people get different results when they search Google.
17
MrT735 Mar 22, 2026 +5
Google does favour sites in your region, so if I search for a product I'll get UK stores selling it before ones further afield.
5
sonofaresiii Mar 22, 2026 -1
Or some people are absolute hot garbage at knowing what to type into Google to get useful search results I'm convinced these are the same people that claim AI isn't useful for anything ever
-1
Harley2280 Mar 23, 2026 +1
Yeah, the quality of the input has a large effect on the quality of the output.
1
GhostBirdBiologist Mar 22, 2026 +4
Weird how? AI is garbage. And yeah believe it or not the 2nd page of Google search results exist.
4
NINJAM7 Mar 22, 2026 -20
Per ChatGPT there's no confirmed 1st instance
-20
d4nowar Mar 22, 2026 +10
Okay and per "actual facts" what is the 1st instance?
10
NINJAM7 Mar 22, 2026 -5
I just meant that searching via Google and ChatGPT isn't finding the true first instance. Road Warrior (1981) is cited here, but true first instance is indicated to have been in the 1960's or 1970's
-5
dutchrock Mar 22, 2026 +75
Little Tortilla Boy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
75
witchitieto Mar 22, 2026 +25
Pretty sure I recorded over family videos to rewatch Pablo Francisco on Comedy Central presents, worth it.
25
trugbee1203 Mar 22, 2026 +15
Woah, memory unlocked. I watched this so many times “Pablo hold my baby”
15
Koffing109 Mar 22, 2026 +20
"In the city. You must fight to survive. He sold tortillas on the corner. And the mob wanted in."
20
eedabaggadix Mar 22, 2026 +18
I want him and his tortillas DEAD!
18
Dalehan Mar 23, 2026 +2
He had one chance, and his chance was to fight back.  Arnold Schwartzenegger. *"Leesen to mee, Weeve gat to geet out of heer, they're trying to take my Torteeas!"*
2
lunar_peony_23 Mar 22, 2026 +34
This is one of those phrases that feels ancient in movie terms, but it’s surprisingly hard to trace to a single origin.
34
rasputin1 Mar 22, 2026 +17
aren't most ancient things hard to trace 
17
navis-svetica Mar 22, 2026 +6
It’s like the ’yep, that’s me. you’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation’ more of a meta trope than something a lot of movies do verbatim
6
etheralmiasma Mar 22, 2026 +5
For your viewing pleasure. https://youtu.be/JQRtuxdfQHw?si=rEJrXXRpDt-KmUFX
5
sacramentojoe Mar 22, 2026 +39
Unsure. Unrelated, but 'In A World' was a cute movie (about the subject matter)
39
wilsonw Mar 22, 2026 +12
Lake Bell is criminally underrated.
12
Meyou000 Mar 22, 2026 +6
I vaguely remember a brief summary of the history of that phrase and of the male voiceover actors in that movie that coined it, but don't remember if they answer this question in the movie or not. They might.
6
sKuarecircle Mar 22, 2026
Ha ha ha yes, suck a lively little movie
0
whitebandit Mar 22, 2026 +12
Pablo Fransisco
12
agentfaxmodem Mar 22, 2026 +11
You have to get out of here! They're trying to take my tortillas!
11
Wildly_Uninterested Mar 22, 2026 +11
Don LaFontaine's autobiography
11
paper_truck Mar 22, 2026 +13
In a world where film trailers are funnier than the film https://youtu.be/fVDzuT0fXro?si=r-mzdKyzE3aD9KJQ
13
koakkadoom Mar 22, 2026 +1
Came to the comments looking for this. I remember watching this trailer on repeat around the time the film came out.
1
-Clayburn Mar 22, 2026 +3
I don't know if it's just from being parodied so much or what, but I love the idea of it being used for basically our world. Like it's meant to establish a reality different than our own. "In a world where machines rule...." "In a world where kids' screams are a source of energy...." So it feels delightfully over-the-top to use it to be like "In a world where a man is lonely and working a dead-end job..." Like, yeah, that's just *the* world, guy.
3
Dogbin005 Mar 22, 2026 +2
I'm pretty sure it's one of those things that became a cliche, but didn't actually happen that often in reality. As in it got parodied a lot by comedy movie trailers, but unironic "In a world" trailers are pretty uncommon.
2
meatwads_sweetie Mar 24, 2026 +2
Like lattices on the side of the house in 80s movies? Seems like most of them had them but I can only find evidence in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
2
MovieMike007 Mar 22, 2026 +7
The “first” usage? Lost to time, buried under decades of dramatic pauses and exploding text.
7
cmsj Mar 22, 2026 +1
Polio Sunrise
1
RedJayJackSon Mar 22, 2026 +1
Alien 3 (1992) is the first one I remember.
1
claviusmoon Mar 23, 2026 +1
I used to write copy for posters at the biggest movie advertising company in LA during the 90s. I'm guilty of using it, too. My addition was "In a world of corruption, the most dangerous thing you can do is fall in love." I always liked that one, but for the life of me, I can't even remember which film now! haha.
1
kubrador Mar 22, 2026
the "in a world" thing was so ubiquitous by the 90s that nobody actually knows who started it, which is peak cinema history. it's like asking who invented the laugh track. everyone just collectively agreed to do it and moved on. your best bet is probably contacting don lafontaine directly but he's been dead since 2008 so that's awkward. otherwise you're looking at diving into microfiche of 80s trailers which sounds like hell.
0
POEness Mar 22, 2026 +9
You can still contact don lafontaine. I just wouldn't recommend it
9
Wormbrain Mar 22, 2026 +1
I don't have an answer but shoutout to some of my favorite voice actor legends: Dan Lafontaine (in a world..) Hal Douglas (the other in a world guy) Adolph Caesar (A-team and others) Steve Richie (Mortal Kombat, Black Knight pinball) Wes Johnson (Elder scrolls Lucien Lechance, Sheogorath and others)
1
kiwispouse Mar 22, 2026 -5
I don't know, but I sure wish we could get rid of, "THIS (summer, Christmas, whatever)..."
-5
ThaiJohnnyDepp Mar 22, 2026 +30
Yeah, damn movie trailers and their ... telling us when the movies come out?
30
kiwispouse Mar 22, 2026 -10
On every single movie, it's boring, especially after decades of the same line. It reminds me of 1970s trailers that all seemed to be voiced by [Percy Rodriguez](https://youtu.be/oJ9zBnXI8Q0?si=pnHxUjiAhaGrU5sP) The same voice no matter what genre of film. Anyhow, just a pet peeve. When you watch three trailers in a row and they all say the same thing, meh.
-10
not_my_mother Mar 22, 2026
Origin: Radio + newsreel narration (1940s–50s) First trailer usage: Likely 1960s–70s, not tied to one film Popularized: Late 70s–90s trailers Iconic because of: Don LaFontaine
0
CCIR_601 Mar 22, 2026 -1
The last time "in a world" was used for a movie trailer.
-1
← Back to Board