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The new Avatar poster is wrong. The thinking behind it is about telling the uninitiated that this James Cameron film is about exotic blue-skinned people with white pinpoint tattoos. But it also suggests that the film is entirely animated, which of course it isn't. Or at least, not in the way most people understand the term "animated." Much/most of Avatar is in 3D animation of a much higher quality than anything seen before, and this poster sells this aspect short. It looks primitive and unimaginative, like a "test" poster. Take it down, Tony Sella , and make something better. Please.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 3, 2009 at 3:20 PM

comment #1

Alboone says ...

Wells you are bugging. This poster looks awesome. Its simple yet otherworldly. If anything they should change the font of the title, looks a bit hokey. But that's just nitpicking. It should have a more impact style or something a bit more sophisticated like the original ALIENS font. But hey I'm psyched for this. A 3 hour Sci-fi 3D epic...I AM THERE!!!!

Posted by Alboone at August 3, 2009 3:45 PM

comment #2

dinovelvet says ...

I think the worst part is "From the director of Titanic". Is that the best association to make with Avatar? I'd have gone with "From the director of Aliens, Terminator 2, and Titanic"

Posted by dinovelvet at August 3, 2009 3:46 PM

comment #3

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Just a teaser poster, isn't it? Sheesh.

Other than that, what dino said.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at August 3, 2009 3:54 PM

comment #4

chad_pole says ...

Why does Angelina Jolie have to be on every poster for every movie?

Posted by chad_pole at August 3, 2009 4:08 PM

comment #5

Ghost072 says ...

It would awesome if they went with "From the director of Piranha II: The Spawning." Which reminds me of the story Cameron tells of breaking into the studio in the middle of the night to re-edit the film because the sleazy financiers had re-cut it with a ton of softcore porn or something. Don't know if it's true, but it's a great story nonetheless.

Posted by Ghost072 at August 3, 2009 4:10 PM

comment #6

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

They should really start ramping up the hype machine on this one. Seems a bit daft to be releasing teaser posters only now, when they're doing the whole 20-minute IMAX preview in a few weeks. Why pretend to keep it secret anymore if you're going to show an entire chunk of the film to audiences anyway? They should do one of those giant posters with all sorts of badass shit going on. I've yet to speak to a "normal" person (i.e. not one of us internet obsessed movie fans) who even has a clue that this movie exists, let alone what it's about/who's in it/who made it, etc.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 3, 2009 4:11 PM

comment #7

p.Vice says ...

I didn't know Zalman King had a new movie coming out.

Posted by p.Vice at August 3, 2009 4:11 PM

comment #8

LexG says ...

I'm with Wells. TERRIBLE poster.

Unpleasant, weird, creepy, off-putting... dorky.

Really, really bad.

Posted by LexG at August 3, 2009 4:18 PM

comment #9

MilkMan says ...

Nice, p.Vice. The story of a sexually repressed housewife/panther who meets a dangerous photographer/zebra and begins an erotic journey to the otherside of sensuality. Hopefully there'll be a scene where the Zebra (voiced by Antonio Sabato Jr.) gets the Panther (voiced by former Playmate of the year Sara Jean Underwood) off in the shower with the help of the safe end of a Gilette Electrc Fusion Razor.

Posted by MilkMan at August 3, 2009 4:20 PM

comment #10

Steven Kar says ...

I thought it was a fake, no?

Posted by Steven Kar at August 3, 2009 4:32 PM

comment #11

maxfm says ...

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I'm with Wells on this.

Alboone is correct about the font: 1990-ish crap. But if this is supposed to be the big game-changing sci-fi theatrical jawdropper, the one-sheet has to lay it on the line.

Fox/Cameron needs to get with the folks with the mindthink of those who designed the campaigns of Where the Wild Things Are or that awesome new trailer for A Serious Man and FUCK things up.

If this is the poster of the EVENT movie of the decade, count me out.

Posted by maxfm at August 3, 2009 4:36 PM

comment #12

Steven Kar says ...

Wells, what's up with the "much/most"? You use way too many slashes, it's distracting/redundant.

And glad to see p.Vice and his cynicism/sarcasm are back.

Posted by Steven Kar at August 3, 2009 4:36 PM

comment #13

LexG says ...

It reminds me of one of the mass paperback covers used for King's THE STAND back in the early 80s:

http://www.horrorreanimated.com/wp-content/uploads/king_the-stand2.jpg

Posted by LexG at August 3, 2009 4:50 PM

comment #14

Ghost072 says ...

That is a fake poster, btw. I saw this one and several others on an Avatar fan site a few weeks ago. This one was one of the better ones, but it is no more authentic than the fake Avatar trailer that was making the rounds a few months ago.

Posted by Ghost072 at August 3, 2009 5:38 PM

comment #15

Ghost072 says ...

Here's a link to another fake teaser poster, this one first came in out some time in 2007: http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie_posters.php?id=14089

Posted by Ghost072 at August 3, 2009 5:41 PM

comment #16

mrm says ...

Lex: It would almost remind me of the cover of that Steven King novel if it didn't already remind me of EVERY OTHER ONE-SHEET released in the last decade.

This is garbage.

The font looks like it was ripped right out of a 9000-free-fonts zip pack and then stylized in photoshop until in resembled a bastardized version of the type found on the original E.T. one sheet.

Most egregious of all is the anonymous Titanic title-check. Either say James Cameron, say Aliens or Terminator or even Abyss, or say nothing at all.

This looks like the poster to some third rate Blue Sky animated feature. Wake up, Fox.

Posted by mrm at August 3, 2009 5:52 PM

comment #17

televisiontears says ...

Ghost is right. It's a fake. A well-done fake, but a fake nonetheless.

Posted by televisiontears at August 3, 2009 5:57 PM

comment #18

Bilge says ...

Jeff, you've forgotten that James Cameron films almost always have terrible, generic, bland posters. I mean, remember TRUE LIES? T2? Even TITANIC's poster looked pretty lame.

The only truly good JC poster I can think of is THE ABYSS. ALIENS was also OK.

(I love all of these movies, btw, so it's no knock on their quality. But JC is definitely all about the blunt, hard sell when it comes to marketing.)

Posted by Bilge at August 3, 2009 6:09 PM

comment #19

ZayTonday says ...

Shitty font is shitty. It's as bad as the Serenity font.

Posted by ZayTonday at August 3, 2009 6:35 PM

comment #20

DeeZee says ...

Gonna have to agree with you, Jeff. It looks like the cover to a second-tier video game to me. And really, now? Photoshop for a Cameron movie? Is Rothman that lazy?

Ghost: Why would softcore porn hurt a movie like Piranha II?

Posted by DeeZee at August 3, 2009 7:06 PM

comment #21

Sabina E says ...

I keep thinking Nightcrawler...

Posted by Sabina E at August 3, 2009 7:22 PM

comment #22

Steven Kar says ...

I did the same thing on the Spiely/Harvey post, I'm gonna do the same here; I'm just being a geek (who has too much free time), so for those who care about B.O., here goes:

JC's 6 movies adjusted to inflation have grossed a total of $1,886 billion domestically, which means that his average domestic gross per movie is $314 million. Pretty impressive.

I figure a $314 million gross for Avatar would be more than respectable.

Posted by Steven Kar at August 3, 2009 7:44 PM

comment #23

Todd says ...

Jeff I agree with you.
They should have tried harder to come up with something unique like this movie will be.
And chad_pole I Agree with you too. Yet another Angie face pic. LOL

Posted by Todd at August 3, 2009 8:35 PM

comment #24

Telemachos says ...

I don't think it's fake. The layout is basically exactly the same as the Comic-Con posters (in fact, the only difference is that this poster is for Zoe Saldana's character, not Sam Worthington's avatar).

The font looks an awful lot like Papyrus, and yeah -- since it comes bundled on every Mac (and every PC, for all I know), it's really, really overused. You see it all the time on Rennaissance Faire stuff and New Age restaurant menus and stuff. Ugh.

Posted by Telemachos at August 3, 2009 8:38 PM

comment #25

Steven Kar says ...

I think it's a fake inspired by the poster that was used for Comic-Con.

Posted by Steven Kar at August 3, 2009 8:55 PM

comment #26

corey3rd says ...

looks like a bad vegas show

Posted by corey3rd at August 3, 2009 9:26 PM

comment #27

Wrecktem says ...

Whether it's a fake or not (it probably isn't) there's no denying that:

1) That's the actual font used for the title art.
2) That's an actual image used for key art.

So make of it what you will.

Posted by Wrecktem at August 3, 2009 9:29 PM

comment #28

larry braverman says ...

This is not an animated film.

No one thinks it's animated in any sense of the word except for you.

And if this is a real teaser poster it's perfectly adequate. But maybe that was your point.

Posted by larry braverman at August 3, 2009 11:08 PM

comment #29

Joe Popcorn says ...

Why have they been so backwards in coming forward about AVATAR? When Jimmy Cameron makes a Thundercats movie, the world needs to know about it!

Posted by Joe Popcorn at August 3, 2009 11:31 PM

comment #30

Markj74 says ...

Jesus H Christ people, its a TEASER poster. There will be loads of them before the release of the film, probably one for Sam, one for Sigourney etc. All this kneejerk reaction to something like this is ridiculous. Besides, the trailer is out in 2 weeks which should shut 99% of the moaners up.

Posted by Markj74 at August 4, 2009 12:49 AM

comment #31

Markj74 says ...

Why don't Spielberg and Cameron hire Jeffrey Wells so he can point out to them where they are going wrong?

Posted by Markj74 at August 4, 2009 12:50 AM

comment #32

Movie Watcher says ...

LexG, you are right. I forgot about that cover. The hardcover picture is a little better.
Did Cameron approve of the poster? Or did he tell the guys doing it to come up with something?

Posted by Movie Watcher at August 4, 2009 1:15 AM

comment #33

COCO says ...

This is not what I want to see...gay blue...yellow
eyes....too human....female?.......first out of the box....more to follow......not ''deep space'' enough.

Posted by COCO at August 4, 2009 4:41 AM

comment #34

Admiral82 says ...

"X-Men 4: Beast Has an Offspring"

Posted by Admiral82 at August 4, 2009 6:10 AM

comment #35

Admiral82 says ...

I don't know if it's a fake...

Just for shits and grins I typed:

www.avatarmovie.com

Pretty sure this poster is legit.

Posted by Admiral82 at August 4, 2009 6:12 AM

comment #36

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Fake issues aside, does anyone really think that the masses of fanboys, geeks and other assorted cinema freaks out there aren't hyper aware of this movie?

Hence, you start early hitting the other quadrants (female and older) reminding them of what Cameron last made them line up for 30 odd weeks over.

Besides, it will be easier to get the nuclear launch codes than avoid the all-out blitz that will hit us as the release date approaches. With all those IMAX dates, DARK KNIGHT might lose it's crown.

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at August 4, 2009 8:19 AM

comment #37

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

This dude looks a bit silly: http://chud.com/articles/articles/20347/1/MEET-THE-NA039VI-AVATAR-ALIENS-REVEALED/Page1.html

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 4, 2009 11:57 AM

comment #38

DeeZee says ...

Deathtongue: I doubt most girls still care for or like Titanic.

Posted by DeeZee at August 4, 2009 6:17 PM

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