When Pictures Ruin Our Expectations
Filed under: Movie Marketing, Images
Movie marketing is a dangerous business, especially in these here Internet days with fanboys and girls salivating for more more more and getting it in the blink of an eye. It's got to be hard to toe the line between whetting appetites and oversaturation, and we know that the studios don't always exceed. Every bit of information, every clip, and every image brings a production closer to the enough already boiling point.But sometimes that horror seems to come in at minute one. While a pre-trailer image is supposed to excite us, it can also be the kiss of death. Remember Hilary Swank's many Amelia images? They certainly weren't inspiring confidence in the film, especially when facing off against Amy Adams' incarnation. A first-glimpse can be amazing and awe-invoking, but it can so easily bring disappointment.
After many stills and peeks at Jake Gyllenhaal's Prince of Persia abs, Entertainment Weekly has posted the first official image of the actor as Prince Dastan, while Empire has landed the first two posters (check them out below, and in larger form over at Empire) for the film. I really like most of Jake's work, and even (somehow) enjoy The Day After Tomorrow, but looking at these images makes me think they're pictures of Halloween costumes. He's got the strength, no doubt, but the hair and the overall look ... I'm not itching to see more, but am hoping trailers and the film itself will prove me wrong.
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Looking at the bigger picture -- Do you find these first-release images help your excitement for a film, or do they, all too often, incite apprehension?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-20-2009 @ 8:18PM
dr M said...
These posters are fake, look at the billing blocks.
Reply
7-21-2009 @ 6:41AM
Vin said...
Posters are genuine.
Reply
7-21-2009 @ 7:49AM
filmsuki said...
These have to be fake (the text at least). Who the heck uses a modern san-serif font for a film about Persia? It looks more like an amateur GQ cover!
Reply
7-21-2009 @ 9:53AM
Erik Davis said...
Nope, they're real -- Disney just sent them around.
7-21-2009 @ 12:01PM
Tom said...
I'll give you three things that make me apprehensive:
1. Disney
2. Jerry Bruckheimer
3. The fact that a definitively white actor is playing a Persian.
Okay, maybe I don't know the story they're going for... but I've seen the cover art for the video games and even used to play the old 2D one... and that dude is Persian. It's like John Wayne trying to play Genghis Khan or... dare I say it? Blackface.
Reply
7-21-2009 @ 3:37PM
Shalekendar said...
It looks exactly like what you would expect from a Disney flick. There's probably even a happy ending that's nowhere near the game either...
Reply
7-22-2009 @ 12:06AM
Cray said...
Disney is sure trying hard in usurping Hollywood in bastardizing source material. In fact don't think Disney has ever done a film that respected the source material.
So I'm not the least bit surprised by this.
Reply
7-22-2009 @ 3:32PM
ElevatorHappyFun said...
He looks like a perfect fit, for a white guy. Nothing to complain about.
Reply