This week we’ve seen the debuts of new posters for The Dark Knight Rises, opening next summer:
and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, opening Christmastime:
They’re striking works of advertising art, there’s no doubt. But do they serve a purpose any longer? When was the last time you saw a movie poster on the side of a phone kiosk or even at a multiplex for a movie that you hadn’t previously known about? Hell, with movies like these two — the sorts of movies where the release of a poster is geek news — hadn’t you already decided whether or not to see a movie before you saw the poster? I mean, a new Batman movie? I’m there. Another outing with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes? You couldn’t keep me away.
So: Is there any point to movie posters anymore?
How much do posters influence your decision to see a movie (or not)?
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