No one is safe from the trend of teasers for trailers and trailers for snippets and snippets for footage releases and… It just keeps going on and on. But you might think a prestige production such as Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln would be free of such things. You would be wrong! With Google seemingly in charge of the first wave of promotion, a teaser for Thursday’s planned trailer release is now online and can be viewed below.

It seems an oddly high-tech campaign for what is promised to be an old-fashioned, sweeping look at a particularly tricky part of Abraham Lincoln’s life (you know, aside from the whole getting shot while trying to appreciate legitimate theatre part).

And you really only get a few seconds here, with some voice-over and brief shots of the man himself. It’s largely from the back of his head, though, because, er, it’s a teaser? It’s not like we haven’t already seen what he looks like…

Still, all – or rather, more – will be revealed on Thursday where the trailer will go live followed by a Google+ hangout (AKA Q&A sesh) between Spielberg and cast member Joseph Gordon-Levitt. UK readers will need to be up late, as it’ll kick off at 7pm EST / 4pm PST on Thursday, AKA midnight here in Blighty. With luck, it’ll also be archived for anyone who doesn’t want to stick matchsticks under their eyelids or develop a caffeine addiction.

Lincoln itself will arrive on January 25. And for an exclusive chat with some of the film’s creative team, check out the latest Empire, which you can find in all reputable newsagents and via the UK or US iPad edition.