9 + 9 + 9 = Too Much

So, just to make everything clear. This year will see the release of 9 an animated film directed by Shane Acker which has this very cool Russian poster:

Scary, funny and compelling in all the right ways isn’t it? Reminds me a little of Coraline, and I mean that in a good way.

Also coming out this year is District 9, a movie about aliens who feels like their rights aren’t being respected. I think. That movie has the following serious poster…

…and it also has a very clever campaign that includes the poster below and these. Honestly, the campaign just might be a little too clever.

But that is not all! This year will also see the release of the Rob Marshall musical Nine. Which loses, because it has no poster yet. (Ok, I know, I know, plenty of time).

And none of those has anything at all to do with The Nines.

So now you know.

(Via IMPAWards, FirstShowing and Kurt Halfyard)

I'm Sorry, but I'm Contractually Obligated to Show Them All

SAW V, from France. The french are apparently traditionalists and thought the other poster was just too different.

And since we are talking about different (and about SAW) here is a poster for REPO! The Gentic Opera. Much more interesting, with a clear style that you can also see in other materials for the movie. Although the poster is perhaps too dark for its own good.

This is a bizarre mishmash of a film, a sci-fi/horror/musical directed by that guy from SAW II and with the all important participation of Paris Hilton. Considering all that I was actually hoping for something even more out there, but I guess the preferred to err on the side of caution and tried to make it look at least a bit serious and scary.

(Via Filmsactu and IMPAwards)

I’m Sorry, but I’m Contractually Obligated to Show Them All

SAW V, from France. The french are apparently traditionalists and thought the other poster was just too different.

And since we are talking about different (and about SAW) here is a poster for REPO! The Gentic Opera. Much more interesting, with a clear style that you can also see in other materials for the movie. Although the poster is perhaps too dark for its own good.

This is a bizarre mishmash of a film, a sci-fi/horror/musical directed by that guy from SAW II and with the all important participation of Paris Hilton. Considering all that I was actually hoping for something even more out there, but I guess the preferred to err on the side of caution and tried to make it look at least a bit serious and scary.

(Via Filmsactu and IMPAwards)

Mamma Mia! Posters: Domestic x German

(click for larger versions)

The German poster for Mamma Mia! ups the testosterone level by about a thousand percent. Not only do we get to see the three possible fathers of the character played by Amanda Seyfried, we also get random young groovy dude (Dominic Cooper, I think).

And yes, in this one we get to see Meryl Streep in her full overalls glory. And that is… something. Still not sure if it’s something good or not yet.

The first domestic poster was very focused on the mother/daughter thing and gave little space to the rest of the story. It was very sweet but also very narrow and it seemed mostly concerned with making this attractive to women.

The German poster tries to have a much broader appeal by letting the larger story in and by showcasing all the talented actors involved in the film. It also has a more humorous feel to it. And that is all good, by I find myself missing the simplicity and clear focus of the earlier poster. This one tries to pack a little too much in and we end up with an image that is not confusing, but also is not very harmonious.

It’s not awful either, but I think it loses some of the effectiveness of the original, which wasn’t that great to begin with. And it does seem a lot less confident on the ability of the source material, the musical itself and ABBA, to make the movie an easy sell.

(Via IMPAwards)

Mamma Mia Movie Poster

The first thing I noticed when I saw this poster was the scenery. The beautiful blue ocean on the back, the architecture, the flowers. The scenery was also one of the things that most caught my attention when watching the trailer. I guess I just expected a musical using ABBA’s songs to take place somewhere different. Perhaps somewhere cold.

Going beyond the setting we have Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried looking happy as can be. Amanda seems to be wearing a wedding dress, but I probably wouldn’t have noticed that if I didn’t already know the movie involved a wedding. As a matter of fact the poster doesn’t really strive to tell you what the film’s story is. Not only is it not clear that there is a wedding, the whole storyline about Sophie (the character that Amanda plays) inviting the three men she thinks could be her dad is completely absent. Instead the poster combines the scenery and the characters’ expressions, clothes and postures in order to get across a very upbeat and breezy tone.

And that is probably not a bad choice. The story is a little too complicated to really put well in a poster, and trying to do it might have subtracted from the movie’s appeal instead of getting people more interested. In the end the most important part of the poster is the title. The musical and ABBA are huge properties and there are already plenty of people out there interested in seeing this. The poster just tries to remind people that yes, this is being turned into a movie and to reinforce that this is going to be a fun time at the theater. And I think it does that well, even if it is playing it safe.

(Via IMPAwards)

7 New Sweeney Todd Posters

7 character posters for two characters. Seems like a bit of an overkill, doesn’t it? And the tone of all the posters is very similar, so the different versions for each character don’t seem to add much.

Which is not to say that I don’t like the posters. In fact, I love them. I love the very dark mood, the style of the clothes and the environment, the little bloody details like the fingers in the pie, and the look in Depp’s eyes, sometimes mischievous, sometimes just murderous. The posters also scream “Tim Burton movie!”, and that is mighty fine by me.

Sweeney Todd strikes me as a hard sell. A musical about a serial killer? Those two genres don’t generally go together. They do have the now very hot Johnny Depp, which helps, but still.

I think the posters do a very good job of selling the quirky horror movie aspect of the film. Obviously, there isn’t much they can do about the singing. Is Tim Burton (and his style) now mainstream enough for this type of movie to reach a broader audience? I don’t know, but I sure hope so.

(Via Empire)

Second Sweeney Todd Movie Poster

This second poster for Sweeney Todd feels much more like a teaser poster than the first one. It shows much less of the main character, who only appears as a silhouette, and the setting is a street somewhere, which seems much less specific than the apartment in which the first poster was set. And the beware sign is a classic teaser poster element. It’s a little weird that this poster would be released after the first one.

What I also find interesting about this poster is that, although it does seem to convey a dark mood, it is much easier to think that this might be a classic Tim Burton horror/comedy based on it. The Beware sign, for example, seems a little too on the nose for a more straight horror film. The first poster seemed to convey a much more serious and unambiguous dark tone, which was perhaps a little odd.

Anyway, I don’t think this poster adds much. But I’m still excited about the film and I will take anything a can get right now.

(Via IMPAwards)

From Moulin Rouge to Hairspray – Posters from Recent Musicals

Moulin Rouge was released in 2001 and it managed to do two impressive things: it made a decent amount of money and it was nominated for a best picture Oscar. Those two things were made a lot more amazing because the movie happened to be a musical, a genre many people thought was as good as dead. Ever since then we have had a couple of high profile musicals coming out every year, the latest being Hairspray, which opened this weekend.

In celebration of that opening, here is a look at some of the posters for recent musicals, ordered chronologically.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

The one that restarted it all. The poster uses a bold red and has the characters caught in the middle of a very passionate kiss. The imagery is striking, much like the movie.

Hairspray Final Poster

This final poster for Hairspray travels some of the same paths that the earlier posters travelled. Colorful! Fun! Fifties! Music! Star filled ensemble! And it does a good job of packing all that in. But with a musical, more than with any other kind of film, the trailer is the one that is going to have to do the majority of the selling. The poster does I nice job of reminding us of the film, but it won’t really make anybody interested on the film by itself.

(source)

Ten New Hairspray Character Posters

Tommy DiChiara over at Cinematical has just posted ten brand new character posters from Hairspray, and they all look very much like the one above. Sure, the character changes, a little bit of the text changes and each one of the posters has a different, albeit equally loud, background color. But the overall effect is one of sameness, especially because the title takes so much space.

Still, I like the overall playful, colourful style they are going for. Will the film be equally playful and colourful? And more importantly, will it be fun? We’ll see.