The poster on the left is domestic and the one on the right is international. For what it's worth, the domestic poster is a better piece of art. It is moodier, with more natural looking photo-shopping for the two leads. However, the international poster is interesting for two reasons. First of all, the international poster actually has alien imagery on the poster while the domestic one does not. Is this mere artistic choice, a choice to not reveal certain visual elements a month prior to release, or is Universal concerned that casual moviegoers will be turned off by explicit outer-space imagery in their western poster art? Second of all, most obviously, the international poster actually features (and bills) Olivia Wilde, while the domestic one leaves her off. So the question is, was the domestic omission a matter of trying to sell a more arch-typical 'two men against the world' western iconography, or is Universal somehow under the impression that putting Wilde on the poster (armed and ready no less) will turn off certain traditionalist segments of the audience? You make the call, but there you have it. Cowboys and Aliens opens on July 29th. Expect the phrase 'in glorious 2D' to be thrown around quite a bit in junkets.
Scott Mendelson
Or could it be that Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford's contracts stipulate that they be the sole actors on the domestic poster? Or the implosion of "Green Lantern" and it's otherworld alien images scare the marketing pros of Cowboys and Aliens? Or could it be that C&A is secretly pitching for the Oscars knowing that more westerns than alien science fiction movies have been nominated and won awards?
ReplyDelete:)
Matt
From a design standpoint, the international version definitely has better typography.
ReplyDeleteWhat's even more interesting is that the international version actually has a cool tagline – First Contact. Last Stand.
The domestic just says "From the Director of Iron Man." Apparently, they're banking on Jon Favreau to sell the film to us in the U.S. What a dud marketing idea. To me, that says this thing will bomb.
The domestic poster does appear to have a generic western 'two men against the world' look, but I’d say that was done intentionally to appeal to a border audience in the domestic market by saying that the movie is a WESTERN with aliens as oppose to another summer scifi flick. The only visual aspects in the domestic poster that imply sci-fi are the ray gun and the blue backlight. Removing these two elements and changing the name to a generic western one like "Carson City" would make a decent western poster.
ReplyDeleteComparing the 2 posters, the exclusion of Cowboy hats and the over emphasizes on the word Aliens in the international version implies the movie is more of an action/scifi movie with cowboys than it is a western. This may appeal more on the international market where western aren’t part of a shared historical heritage or national identity like in the US. The international poster while cool does seem rather generic. You could change the red rock mountain background and the weapons/clothing of the actors and place them anywhere in human history where their race allows and the poster would still work. Pirates, Lumberjacks, Ninjas, Conquistadors, whatever vs Aliens would be fine. I think I just made this into a franchise.
-MJS
From a design standpoint, the international version definitely has better typography.
ReplyDeleteWhat's even more interesting is that the international version actually has a cool tagline – First Contact. Last Stand.
The domestic just says "From the Director of Iron Man." Apparently, they're banking on Jon Favreau to sell the film to us in the U.S. What a dud marketing idea. To me, that says this thing will bomb.
Or could it be that Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford's contracts stipulate that they be the sole actors on the domestic poster? Or the implosion of "Green Lantern" and it's otherworld alien images scare the marketing pros of Cowboys and Aliens? Or could it be that C&A is secretly pitching for the Oscars knowing that more westerns than alien science fiction movies have been nominated and won awards?
ReplyDelete:)
Matt