Hey folks, Harry here... Earlier this week, the following poster showed up on JoBlo.Com as being the early teaser poster fan art for 20th Century Fox's DAREDEVIL. My instant reaction was a smirk. Ah, clever. But as Tyler Durden once said, "How's that working out for ya?"
After 15 seconds of staring at the poster I thought, "Justice Is Blind"? Isn't that the tagline from Rutger Hauer's blind samurai flick, BLIND FURY. And then there is just nothing that calls to mind... SUPERHERO here to the average viewer. There is no HARD ON here. Nothing to get people in lobbies saying, FUCKING A! Instead they look, think... What?... Oh, Ben Affleck. Hmmm, Ok. And move along. They don't think about SPIDER-MAN, unless they already know to compare. Personally, I hope when Fox goes to make their real poster, I'd go with a shot of a bloody DAREDEVIL draped upon a crucifix atop a church steeple in New York at night. (A scene from the opening of the film btw) With the tagline, "SOME HEROES BLEED. SOME DIE." Instantly you have told the audience that this is like SPIDER-MAN, but more hardcore. Instantly you've conveyed the risks and tone of the film that Mark Stephen Johnson is making. And the audience can see that it is a SUPERHERO MOVIE!!! Now take Columbia's poster for GHOST RIDER that was up at Cannes this year...
Ok, right off the bat... ya have a SUPERHERO poster. Instantly the ol film going penis in geeks everywhere is at full attention, especially when they get up close to this poster...
Now, this image screams for my money at the box-office. Of course SONY understands SUPERHERO movies and how to sell them right now, because they have the fastest money making movie of all time, and they actually know how they sold it.
Now take the above WEREWOLF BY NIGHT and the below DEATHLOK posters. Both of these are straight to video, total non-excitement looks. Sure, they don't even have scripts yet, but they do have characters with distinctive original looks... Neither of which is exhibited here. The DEATHLOK poster actually is cheesy. The WEREWOLF BY NIGHT looks dull. We can only hope that as these projects move forward, that not only do the films have quality scripts, filmmakers and talent, but that the marketing campaigns have the imagination capturing ability that SPIDER-MAN's did. Thanks goes to our Cannes Spy SPYder for these pics!!!
