Comic-Con has just wrapped up, which means that a ton of new posters and advertising were released for movies upcoming in 2012 and 2013. Here’s a peak at a few of the posters that made the rounds as Comic-Con exclusives. (Plus one poster that insists Dominic Monaghan looks tough with a gun. When will they learn?)
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ IMAX
As has been the trend recently, people who attend the midnight IMAX screenings of this year’s summer blockbusters get a free poster. (This happened with ‘John Carter’ and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’.) ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is no different, other than that its poster is probably the best of the bunch. As a matter of fact, it looks pretty damn good, and I must admit, just a little bit scary.
‘Pacific Rim’
Guillermo del Toro’s new movie about giant robots and monsters gets a new poster just in time to hype the flick at Comic-Con. While the poster provides a requisite hero shot of the main character staring slightly off camera while bathed in a spotlight, the way the giant robot dwarfs everything else is pretty cool. Checking this poster out makes me think that ‘Pacific Rim’ could be everything ‘Transformers’ wanted, but failed miserably, to be.
‘The Hobbit’
Whether this is an advertisement for Peter Jackson’s new film ‘The Hobbit’ or simply a poster advertising the beauty of New Zealand for the country’s tourism bureau is up for debate. Either way, it’s a beautifully simplistic design, but still has a lot going on. With all the subtle detail, this poster would look great on anyone’s wall.
‘The Expendables 2’
Remember that last Posterizing where we talked about actors who shouldn’t try to look like badasses holding guns? Well, this poster is the exact opposite. It has so much manliness that it’s probably covered in testosterone. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had a warning that said, “Danger: If touched, facial hair growth eminent.” I’m also a big fan of the old grindhouse look of this poster.
‘Game of Thrones’
It’s not just movies getting in on the poster game nowadays. At Comic-Con, some ‘Game of Thrones’ posters were sold courtesy of the poster boutique Mondo. This one is my favorite. Created by artist Martin Ansin, it features many cool images and likenesses from the show. I wish I could have been there to purchase this one.
‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’
The new Sam Raimi ‘Wizard of Oz’ reboot/sequel/re-imagining has finally gotten some advertising. Like the ‘Hobbit’ poster above, this one is extremely detailed, yet vividly simple. I really dig the fact that most of the poster’s space is taken up by the artistic image. The title, while nice, is packed into the bottom corner, and the blurbs up top about producers and directors aren’t overbearing. A very nice job on this one. I could picture this one hung up in a kid’s room.
‘The Day’
I have no idea what this movie is about, nor do I have desire to pull up its information on IMDb. What I do know is that the people behind the advertising campaign of ‘The Day’ didn’t read my last Posterizing post. So, for their sake, let me repeat: There is never a time when Dominic Monaghan looks tough carrying a gun. Never.
Alex
Does anybody else think that the “Pacific Rim” poster looks kinda like the cover to the video game “TimeShift”? Just curious if anyone else thought that.
Nicholas Herum
The Prometheus IMAX poster was pretty cool looking as well. The Pacific Rim poster is terrible which is unfortunate since several of del Toro’s films have had good poster in the past. The Hobbit poster is great looking but I wish it would have been a little more abstract.
Alex
The Hobbit poster seems _very_ reminiscent of the Fellowship teaser poster with the river and the two enormous statues. Even has a similar color palate. That’s a good thing. My Fellowship teaser banner is one of my most prized possessions.
JM
‘Pacific Rim’ poster looks kind of ‘Mass Effect’-y, which is weird for a surfing movie.
William Henley
Okay, I so totally want The Hobbit poster and the Oz poster to hang on my wall!
Julian
The poster makes it look like the movie is called “Oz: The Great and Powerful”. Confusing! Also, I wouldn’t consider Sam Raimi a visionary director … based on “The Spider-Man Trilogy”. What was visionary about that?
William Henley
It is called Oz: The Great and Powerful.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623205/
Julian
Ah. But our dear Aaron wrote ‘The Great and Powerful Oz’ in his rundown. Hence my confusion.
Josh Zyber
Fixed, thanks.
William Henley
BTW, if you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1NGnVLDPog
I am SO excited about this one! Actually recognized a few creatures from the books!This looks very very good, and I am definately going to go see this when it comes out!
Thulsadoom
I like that the Oz poster is painted by the looks of it (albeit digitally). I’m so sick and tired of generic looking photoshop composites.
Pacific Rim looks reasonably interesting. But Del Toro is a big Drew Struzan fan, and I bet he wishes he could have had a painting by him for the poster. In fact, chances are he may even have commissioned a private one even though the studios wouldn’t let him use it for advertising.
Aaron Peck
AuthorStruzan has been retired from studio movie poster work for a while now.
How would it be to have enough money to commission an original Struzan? Sheesh. His original paintings are on sale for $10k on his website.
Josh Zyber
I thought Struzan had done the poster for Super 8? Or was that just an “homage” to his work?
Thulsadoom
I’m pretty sure that was a digitally painted homage. Still, great poster though. I don’t mind digital paintings, it’s just that they should be paintings!! 😀
Aaron Peck
AuthorThat ‘Super 8’ poster was a really cool fan made poster as an homage to Struzan.
Thulsadoom
He’s been ‘technically’ retired from doing poster work, but he has done personal commissions of movie posters for some directors, when there won’t be any studio interference involved and he has the freedom to pretty much create his vision.
So while you won’t see a Struzan poster officially advertising a movie, the occasional one will very probably be commissioned now and again. Here’s hoping!!
I know if I was a film director, that side of the advertising is something I’d dig my heels in for, and go sulk in a corner and be un-cooperative until they gave in. 😉 Del Toro should have a “If you don’t let me use an un-meddled Struzan poster for the main advertising, I can bad-mouth the studio with impunity till the end of days!” clause in his contract.
I think the absolute best gallery to show how generic and uninspiring and boring modern movie posters are, is the apple trailers page. Even the films that sound interesting have posters that make you want to bang your head against a brick wall for the utter lack of inspiration and style in them.
Raul
The “O” in “Oz” looks like The One Ring.
Aaron Peck
AuthorThe One Ring even rules Oz.