Sometimes poster art isn’t used because it’s outright awful, sometimes poster art isn’t used despite actually being really stellar insofar as art goes because studios have certain advertising concerns, and sometimes poster art isn’t used simply because it just isn’t quite good enough. And I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons even beyond those three as to why a particular piece of commissioned promotional material may not end up gracing your local cinema. Add then there’s the fact that some of the best and most exciting promotional art is crafted purely for fun, and is never intended to be used for actual marketing purpsoes.
I would say that that the three unused posters that follow for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES fall into the category of “solid enough but far from great,” though the first one is fun in its minimalist way. But these are far from the only pieces of unused or rarely seen art floating around the web, and you can find a whole bunch of them collected right here! I’ve included a few of the more interesting pieces below, to give you an idea of what you might discover by clicking that link.
So what do you think of the posters for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES? Do you agree that they should have been passed over? Were you satisfied with the advertising campaign chosen instead?
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What’s Not Allowed