web counter
 

Which of these 5 Movie Posters Represents the Least Effective Way to Sell a Movie?

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (37)

Adjustmentbposter.jpg

how-do-you-know-m.jpg

(Source: Daemon’s Movies)

gun_poster_2-thumb-500x707-25379.jpg

(Source: Videogum)

I-Am-Number-Four-Po.jpg

(Source: Screencrave)

Rabbit-Hole-Poster-30-11-10-kc.jpg

(Source: Screencrave)

The-Adjustment-Bureau-30-11-10-kc.jpg

(Source: Screencrave)









Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance

← Horror Movie Trailer Roundup | And Now The Screaming Starts | If We Lose, We Should Throw Possums | This Week on "Glee" →









Comments

I'm in the last one! At least, I think I am...won't know till I see it if I made it past editing.

(Awesome! Do let us know once you've seen it. -- DR)

Posted by: KatSings at December 2, 2010 11:03 AM

Gun is a seriously ugly poster (oh, Val Kilmer, what happened?), but The Adjustment Bureau takes the cake for being a stylish-looking sci-fi thriller (as per the trailer) with an insanely bland poster. So many ways you could have made that poster visually exciting given the story.

How Do You Know has a perfectly decent poster. People don't go to that sort of movie for any other reason than "well I like Star X and Star Y and Star Z." So you show Witherspoon and Wilson and Rudd and Nicholson looking amusing.

I Am Number Four is actually quite striking with the divide between the black on the left and the fire on the right, plus the glowing hands. It feels like a rough draft of a better poster, but it's not bad.

Rabbit Hole is an arty poster designed for people who want to see an intelligent romantic film instead of a crap romcom. Like How Do You Know, it knows its audience and is playing to it.

Posted by: mightygodking at December 2, 2010 11:04 AM

I thought the Matt Damon one was Prince William and Waity Katey running from the paps.

Posted by: BWeaves at December 2, 2010 11:06 AM

the last: Damon movie! they're afraid of building?(the return of happening?)

Posted by: caro at December 2, 2010 11:06 AM

... mightygodking is on Pajiba now?

Posted by: twig at December 2, 2010 11:13 AM

As good as the trailer for The Adjustment Buerau is, the poster is super-bland. A subtle, shadowy figure overlooking their everyday lives would have been just as simple to do and probably more effective.

The poster for GUN is pretty awful, too.

Posted by: Markus at December 2, 2010 11:14 AM

I just found out The Olyphant is in I Am Number Four. Featuring him prominently is THE way to sell a movie. Fail.

And Val Kilmer, why have you forsaken me?

Posted by: Melissa at December 2, 2010 11:17 AM

Melissa, because he found the lure of donuts and cheap booze too tempting?

Posted by: Kayanne at December 2, 2010 11:20 AM

is it just me, or are a lot of the "seriously random lists" seeming less and less irreverent and more and more like market research/focus groups?

Posted by: idleprimate at December 2, 2010 11:21 AM

Gun Is the worst. It's just hideous.

The Adjustment Bureau would be far more intriguing, to me at least, if it didn't feature Damon and Blunt. If I saw a poster of buildings with just a shadowy figure on it I'd sure as heck look it up to learn more.

I Am Number Four feels cliche, to me. It looks like every "someone tough because of special powers posters" to me.

How Do You Know stinks of romantic comedy. I wouldn't see it. But I understand why it will draw a certain crowd.

Rabbit Hole feels the most creative, to me. I don't think I want to see the movie. But the poster gives me this weird voyeuristic feeling (the divisions feel like vertical blinds) and the changes with each vertical shift are interesting.

Posted by: lubeg at December 2, 2010 11:32 AM

Rabbit Hole looks like a real laughfest! I think I'll avoid all trailers and spoilers until it's released, then dress up like a party clown for the premiere! Anyone have some extra kazoos and a t-shirt gun I could borrow?

Posted by: Kballs at December 2, 2010 11:40 AM

The answer is all of them Mr. Rowles. Now what do I win?

I guess the people responsible for promoting this movie thought that Nicole Kidman one was clever - SEE! SEE! She can assume different expressions. But all it does is remind me of how much I dislike venetian blinds.

Posted by: Villain's Minion at December 2, 2010 11:41 AM

Pretty much what mightygodking said, except I like Damon and Blunt on the Adjustment Bureau poster. It strikes a very Hitchcockian pose, and I dig that.

Posted by: RobP at December 2, 2010 11:45 AM

i lose at this game cause i had not heard of these movies before (except the first one) but now i have a mild interest in seeing all of them. not at a theater, though. god, no, never at a theater (in case this is a focus group type thing...).

Posted by: Sinnh at December 2, 2010 11:51 AM

Gun is definitely the most horrid looking, but there are a whole lot of people that I probably have nothing in common with that are going to eat that shit up.

I Am Number Four is the winner. It looks slick and all, but it's got no star power on it. Nothing really seems to be happening on it either.

Clearly, Rabbit Hole is the loser, being the best poster. Incredibly well designed, gets across a deliberate mood, and star power to boot.

Posted by: Ian at December 2, 2010 11:56 AM

I just went to imdb.com and saw that Rabbit Hole is about a couple whose young son is killed in an accident.

I think that's the winner for most misleading poster.

Posted by: mswas at December 2, 2010 11:57 AM

Rabbit Hole is about a couple whose young son is killed in an accident.

Hmmm . . .

Fuck it. I'm still doing the clown thing.

Posted by: Kballs at December 2, 2010 12:00 PM

No...no, no, no. "Gun" is obviously direct from Photoshop Phriday. There's no way it's real.

Posted by: Jay at December 2, 2010 12:03 PM

Boo for rejecting my thoughtful, yet link-heavy comment.

Anyways, How Do You Know one is exactly what I'd expect from a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon. Or a romantic comedy starring EVERY OTHER FRIKKING ACTRESS ON EARTH besides Reese Witherspoon [ahem...He's Just Not Into You.]

Gun. Enough said. Actually, the font wasn't even changed. Now enough has been said.

I Am Number Four makes good use of the character being obscured by shadows while being lit by the contrast of the orange and blue glows. This tells me that I should avoid this film, because I have never truly enjoyed a movie that used this device on the poster (see: Legion, Last Airbender.)

Rabbit Hole is the most interesting, although it kind of gives me the impression that they photoshopped Aaron Eckhart's face onto the still from Eyes Wide Shut, printed it out, ran it through the shredder, and then attempted to reassemble the image. It could just be the presence of Kidman and her "personal demons" thing though.

The last one is just Run Matt Run for the millionth time. I do enjoy his expression though. It looks like it would fit right in with the dumb-founded looks seen on the first poster.

Posted by: penelope at December 2, 2010 12:10 PM

Val Kllmer is a cleft palette away from being the titular animalistic character in Beauty and the Beast. Scary times.

Also, someone tell 50 that it's 2010. Get a Glock; six-shooters are for cowboys and amine. I hope that "city caught in the crossfire" doesn't have mire than 10 or so people.

P.s. It's a trick question which movie to see; four posters of suck in a 2010 economy do not an ass in a seat make.

Posted by: D-Day at December 2, 2010 12:12 PM

The one with the people on it.

Posted by: admin at December 2, 2010 12:13 PM

Totally torn by Rabbit Hole: Aaron E is hot as hell (and can act!) but Nicole Kidman sucks the hot out of every man she stars opposite. She's like the Testosterone Thief. So that's out.

But I am going to stay far far away from the one with the Val Kilmer Imposter. Who does he think he is anyway? Val Kilmer is the best looking man on the planet and this Krispy Kreme dude thinks he can play off a passing resemblance and steal his identity? Shenanaigans.

How Do You KNow looks like it has NOTHING going for it but the knee-jerk goodwill of Wilson/Nicholson/Rudd/Witherspoon fans.

Does this mean I'm going to see I Am Number Four? No. It does not. It means I am probably staying home and watching some DVD with Gael Garcia Bernal instead because he never lets me down.

Posted by: klingonfree at December 2, 2010 12:14 PM

Sorry, I'm too busy weeping for Val Kilmer to really consider this.

Posted by: Todd at December 2, 2010 12:24 PM

Aw man...poor Val Kilmer. Hire a chef dude; fast food is bad for you.

Posted by: superasente at December 2, 2010 12:29 PM

I'm thinkin' the Val Kilmer Tragedy needs its own post. Or a support group. Somthing.

Posted by: klingonfree at December 2, 2010 12:30 PM

Is it just me, or does the Adjustment Bureau poster have the Watchers from Fringe on them? Does that mean Pacey (RIP) is going to be in it? Because I think the zombie thing might be getting a little played out...

Posted by: llp at December 2, 2010 12:55 PM

The Adjustment Bureau because Emily Blunt STOLE my imaginary boyfriend and then married him. So I fart in her general direction. But the How Do You Know Poster with Leatherface Nicholson on it is pretty shitty as well.

Posted by: Pinky McLadybits at December 2, 2010 1:51 PM

Close call between 1 and 5, but by a nose it's ...

No. 5, DOA.

Posted by: , at December 2, 2010 2:28 PM

The men are too squinty in the first one, plus it totally lacks imagination. Gun is the worst, not only because of Bloated Kilmer, but the title. Hey, there's lots of shooting in this movie, let's call it Gun. I can't be the only one sick, sick, sick to death of all the gunfire in movies, it's cheap and lazy and goddamn boring.

Stupid titles piss me off. Why not call Schindler's List Jews? Or Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Whip? Or Lords of the Rings Swords and Horses and Shit? Lazy hack writers.

Posted by: DeadBessie at December 2, 2010 3:01 PM

Agreed with everyone on Gun...horrible design, and what happened, Batman?!

That said, I really like the Rabbit Hole one. Too bad I have zero interest in seeing it.

Posted by: KP at December 2, 2010 4:00 PM

Anyone else annoyed by the fact that 50's guns aren't even the same? If you're going to do the "crossed guns in hands" stance, it should at least have some symmetry. GUN FTL.

Posted by: grizzle at December 2, 2010 4:16 PM

I think Owen Wilson is somehow slowly morphing into Ellen DeGeneres. Then he'll have to cage fight her for dominance because THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE HIGHLANDER!

Also, it sadly looks like current Val Kilmer ate hot Madmartigan from Willow or something. He looks vaguely like himself only swollen. Like steriod-y swollen. Like Jerry Lewis-when-he-looked-like-a-Macy's-Day-Parade-balloon swollen. It's just a travesty. Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!

*excuses self to go scoop eyeballs out with a melon baller and set them on fire*

Posted by: Vonnegut Slut at December 2, 2010 4:16 PM

As a person who does this shit for money, I'm in awe of Rabbit Hole poster. I felt the fellow designer's little heart beating somewhere within and that's something I seldom see. Then there's the sheer brilliance in execution: I bet y'all "read" the image from right to left and that means the artist played a sweet subtle game with your mind which is used to decode imagery from center to sides or left to right. If you have troubles sleeping tonight, it just might be the effect of the visual shock your subconscious experienced. And then, finally, there's a payoff on the far left where we don't get a new Kidman but the continuation of the crying image on its right. Beautiful symbolism, and displayed so delicately, almost invisibly. Sweet. Whoever designed this, deserves a big Christmas bonus. And whoever bitches about this poster, there's a Cee-Lo song playing somewhere for you. Go find it.

Posted by: schmerpes at December 2, 2010 6:12 PM

If the Bourne Identity taught us anything, it's that nothing is movie poster gold more than Matt Damon freeze-framed in a light jog.

Posted by: Leftylad at December 2, 2010 6:55 PM

I want to see Gun just because that poster is so damm bad.

The Adjustment Bureau one bugs me though cause Blunt and Damon look so badly cut and pasted into it.

Posted by: Ben at December 2, 2010 7:21 PM

The Adjustment Bureau looks too much like Dark City for my tastes. I love the poster for True Grit that looks like an old western Wanted poster.

Posted by: Vick at December 2, 2010 8:13 PM

I miss so much the movie posters that Drew Struzan used to make... they were awesome! The ones posted here... not so much.

Posted by: André at December 3, 2010 6:31 AM