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From the What If? Files! Unused poster compositions from legendary artist Drew Struzan! Jack Burton! BTTF! Waterworld! & More!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I've long been contemplating a regular series that examines the "almost happened"s of the film industry. From projects (I've collected well over 300 unproduced scripts, everybody from Brian De Palma to Hitchcock) to something as simple as rejected poster designs.
In an auction recently I bought some poster comps for some very, very well known '80s movies. I'm fascinated by things like this, so when I was asked to premiere some images from the new book THE ART OF DREW STRUZAN I jumped at the chance.
I was sent this book, which comes out September 14th, and intended to flip through it, but then I looked up and 2 1/2 hours had passed and I read it cover to cover... all of Struzan's notes, the history behind some of his most iconic posters (including Star Wars, The Thing, his Indiana Jones posters, etc) and a look at posters he was hired to create and then went unused by the dumb-asses in marketing.
It's a fascinating book because we see a scatter-shot of all his different versions of some very iconic posters and early compositions of now iconic images.
Like this Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade one-sheet:
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
You know the poster, but that's the original comp that was approved by The Beard and Paramount before becoming this:
In the book there are a ton of other concepts that are pretty rad.
Some of the concepts were realized in color, like this Back to the Future one:
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
The one sheet they ended up with was brilliant, but I just love seeing the process, the different ideas thrown out. There's one fantastic Back to the Future poster in the book that would have been a killer teaser poster, showing three sets of legs and feet. One's a girl, 1950s dress and heels, another's a guy, 1950s slacks and shoes and in the middle is Marty's jeans and sneakers, with Marty beginning to disappear. Fantastic image!
I mentioned earlier that sometimes Struzan was hired and his work never used. That happened on Waterworld... check out his awesome Fire and Water image that he finalized for the poster and tell me the movie might have made a little more money when it was released!
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Great, right?
I'll end this run of Struzan images with one of his poster ideas for Big Trouble In Little China. I love the final version of this poster. In fact, I have an original one-sheet framed at the house. I think that final design was the best, but check out this amazing concept piece. You can see pieces from this piece that ended up in the final:
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Thanks to Titan Books and Mr. Struzan for letting me run these images. Be sure to check out the book next week!
If you like the idea of uncovering stuff like this on a regular basis, let me know in the talkbacks or via email. Like I said, the idea is to grab stuff not commonly out there, not always from a published book like Mr. Struzan's. I have some stuff that's never seen the light of day.
Also, if you dug this look at Mr. Struzan's work, be sure to pay attention next week. I have a 1:1 interview with the man coming up and I guarantee I'll turn into a blubbering fanboy that likes of which we haven't seen since Chris Farley's interviews. The dude's a legend!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
© Copyright Drew Struzan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
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Loved his Dark Tower poster in the mist
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Always quality
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Don't think that made sense. Lonliness is gettin' to me..
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send me a copy aicn...I'll be your best friend.
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I remember seeing these style of posters when I was kid. And they were tantalizing. Promising adventure and wonderment.
The humble movie poster has really lost some of the magic these days.
He should be the hired gun for every movie ever released for the rest of forever. -
Good stuff! Then you can compile all of it throughout the year and put it in the yearly xmas buy list.
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http://farm3. static.flickr.com/2042/2375 155554_d750fb 9d17_o.jpg
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http://www.bla st-o-rama.com/wp-content/upl oads/2009/05/gm08071 51539337529.jpg
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They dont care bout posters anymore.
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I have literally spent countless hours staring, enraptured at his work. Also, I would kill my mom, my dad, my first born and my dog for that Waterworld image framed in glass
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...one that was the victim of a feud at Universal, that went industry wide. The critics bashed the film out of fear of Lou Wasserman--who was pissed at Michael Ovitz...for what he assumed was a business betrayal involving Japanese investors in Universal. Well, Waterworld got caught in that fight, and Kevin Costner, like the movie, was caught in the crossfire. It is a shame, because the critics attacked the film so much, there was created a false perception that it is...a bad film, and worse, one that didn't make any money at the box office--however, it actually made a profit, and as I said, was/is--a good film.
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To cleanse your pallet.
http://tinyurl.com/32p6lto -
Sep 08, 2010 6:58:40 AM CDT
The Waterworld poster is awesome
by planty_mcplant_plants_his_plant_at_aicn
Fire, water and Coster rising like a Poseidon-like figure. Can't believe they didn't use it.
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Sep 08, 2010 7:00:54 AM CDT
Also the villain from Last Crusade...
by planty_mcplant_plants_his_plant_at_aicn
It just occurred to me he has an uncanny resemblance to Steven Lang in Avatar. Are the two actors related?
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are both essentially the same poster. I love Struzan's work, but he repeats a lot of his ideas. Harry Potter and the Star Wars prequels, for example. His Blade Runner posters, however, capture the film for me in ways that other mediums never will.
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and that is one goofy looking Back to the Future poster. I'm glad they went with the other one.
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Gotta get this book. Aka "When movies were truly awesome".
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Good movie. Haters gonna hate. Awesome poster!
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they didn't work for me :(
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Sep 08, 2010 7:41:10 AM CDT
Quint, I would LOVE a series of the 'almost happened's'...
by moonlightdrive
including posters or just an unused poster series on it's own (but would prob work best as a series that isn't just exclusively posters). Please start it asap as I am very excited to read/hear about what could have been. Thank you :D
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looks like Jack Burton is squatting to take a shit.
Struzan is a god. -
Maybe I can talk someone into buying me this book. I would LOVE to see more features like this one! a What If column sounds very sweet.
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remove the spaces from the links
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Sep 08, 2010 7:55:15 AM CDT
Remember when they actually designed posters?
by harryknowlesnonexistentinceptionreview
And they featured real art? Now some dipstick in marketing just badly Photoshops a couple of pictures together and slaps some type on top of it.
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yeaaahhh, doc....
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Either way, I needs it.
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I'll definitely be putting this at or near the top of my list.
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and proves to be one of the few remaining reasons while I still tune into AICN. We all know Harry is a little kooky but he's still better then Mori (aka Drew McWeeny). Has anyone been reading Hit Fix? I read one of his 'articles' yesterday and literally 90% of it was about his kids. That's great and all but sheesh, I don't care about your kids. Write about movies. That's why I'm reading.
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more please. for my buck one can never see enough of this kind of thing.
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This guy was more prolific and varied than Drew Struzan:
http://adammcdaniel.com/RichardAmsel2b.htm
That's just a small sample of his work, yet check out all the other categories of posters he did. I'm not discrediting Drew Struzan's work - far from it - but Richard Amsel was the big influence on him, and created some of the greatest movie posters. -
Is it possible to get ahold of that beautiful poster?
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behind the scenes goings on regarding Waterworld, it sounds damn interesting. Like you I have always found it a bit underrated, and that it (and Costner) got a bum rap. However I dont know much about what all happened with its production and the studio politics of the time.....
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he did is fucking awsome. What a bunch of morons for not useing that...That poster is flat out iconic imho....
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that bttf concept is freakin' hilarious and by hilarious I mean awful. See kids, even the masters have off days.
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..one to look at and read, and one to rip out and plaster my walls
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Yeah, the Amsel influence was pretty obvious. but I think for a lot of us here, Struzan was more of "our time" growing up.
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What the fuck is he standing on?
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His ego.
Although in Costner's defense I think he's calmed down a bit over the years. -
It's a fail and a half they didn't use it. Gorgeous.
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I hate to shit on *everything*, but who wants to read a blubbering fanboy interview?
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count me as enthusiastically in favor of a column featuring unproduced films/versions of films.
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It's not so much the advent of photoshop, but just the fact that movie advertising has gone "viral" in a way that makes the concept of learning about a forthcoming movie solely via a poster on the wall of your local movie theater several months in advance rather quaint. As a child of the 80's, Struzan's work was incredible to me, and always made every movie look like the most thrilling adventure ever (even shit like Hook). Nowadays, you get two generic star headshots with a ton of digital botox smoothing out any hint of a wrinkle or frown line (look at the headshot of Harrison Ford on the Crossing Over DVD cover....he looks about 35) and the film's title in some boring, generic font. Fuck!
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RIP Glenn Shadix.
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Need one, want one. Hell, I'm going to buy one.
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Way better than the comp one where she wears the hat.
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He did those crazy action movie posters in the 60s like THE DIRTY DOZEN.
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In little Vagina!! I want a poster for that.
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Quint, I've got a question for you: do you know anything about the urban legend of Lucas and Spielberg writing a character for Elvis Presley, so that he could make a comeback in the 1970s? I've heard that they considered him for Indiana Jones, but I have no proof.
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Framed in my upstairs hallway. Awesome...
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Otho died.
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The Chinese dragon's head in the upper left is way too big and has no relevance to the movie, while the characters are all tiny...and Wang looks like he's shitting his pants.
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Marty looks like he's tripping on ecstasy and dancing at a gay rave.
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Really enjoyed this stuff, Quint. I hopped on over to Struzan's official site, and he's got some really great stuff over there(like a clear shot of his Dark Tower poster from "The Mist," and an AWESOME "batteries not included*" poster). I'm all in favor of a proposed column about unproduced Hollywood works... those things fascinate me as well. I'd also love to read anything about failed casting proposals and drastic script changes to films that actually did make it to the screen.
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The guy that did all the really cool James Bond art.
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I have always loved Drew Struzan's work. I never knew who he was or how big his contribution was to the movie industry until seeing the special feature on "The Mist" DVD. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.
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In an old BTTF Trilogy book I have there is this awesome BTTF proto poster of MARTY climbing out of a massive cracked stop watch. tis awesome and prob laid the foundations for Drew's THREE O'CLOCK HIGH poster.
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Love doesn't begin to describe how I feel about Drew's work. He is one of the few artists out there that can capture the heart of a film in a single one sheet. I'll go as far as to say he is the John Williams of his craft.
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There's an old hardcover book about the making of all three BTTFs and it has a lot of unused poster art in it.
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Sep 08, 2010 2:22:45 PM CDT
I would pay half a G for a finished version of that Big Trouble
by anything but tangerines
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see my earlier posts. the links point to the artwork you speak of.
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Sep 08, 2010 2:41:30 PM CDT
I want that Waterworld one on a t-shirt. Thats just fucking magi
by neck_lucas
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I was just reading this and wondering, "Has RPLocke seen that BTTF poster before?". Thank god he saw this and posted that he's seen it before. Man, that really makes my day!
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Sep 08, 2010 3:18:33 PM CDT
Marty really does look like he's dancing at a gay rave
by jehovahs_witness
While looking at the BTTF poster....go, "Nnnsst...nnsst...nnsst...nnsst...nnsst..."
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Someone in my family is gonna get this for me. This is the kind of thing you gotta unwrap before touching.
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Thank god I work at a bookstore. I'll be picking up this bad boy at a discount!
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version, and the BTLC poster looks like Kurt Russell has either shit a truck, or is about to shit on a truck.
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NOT SO FAST, ROUND BOY.
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like it it a coffe table book, or a giant sized poster book. I Just wanna know because I might be tempted to buy a second copy and remove some of the poster images and frame them, but if they are tiny then theres really no point
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i hope there are a lot of sketches with just line work in the book. it amazes me he can do such good likenesses over and over. the bttf one is an interesting take. sure some talkbackers may say it's gay, that was the 80s for you.
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get it?
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Coincidentally, I was just thinking the other day how brilliant that poster is, yet it's such a simple concept. They even used it as a prop in "The Mist," if I remember correctly. Also, funny how the only difference between his "Last Crusade" mock-up and the final version is the presence of Elsa Schneider's long blonde hair. You just know some studio exec shithead freaked out and insisted she be portrayed in a more feminine, look-there's-a-beautiful-woman-in-this-movie manner.
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Lew (Lou) Wasserman was considered the Godfather of Hollywood. He ran Universal Studios, and was considered to be a king-maker in Hollywood. No business happened, unless he said it happened. Lew considered Michael Ovitz to be like a son to him, even though he had his own sons working in the industry. Michael Ovitz was briefly given the throne over at Universal. While there, he made a deal with the Japanese to invest in Universal. Lew Wasserman felt that Michael was pulling a fast one, and that this was done behind his back. There appeared to be some fear that the Japanese investment might open the door to the Yakuza, a crime syndicate in Japan. Lew Wasserman wouldn't even let Steve Wynn take-over Universal, in regard to his attempt to buy a majority owning stake in Universal, sensing that Italian mafia would use Wynn's efforts, as a seed into Hollywood. He told Wynn that he could only buy about 12 percent of the company, to which Wynn declined. The latter is a story that Wynn told Charlie Rose on his PBS show. So, given that, you can see how sensitive Wasserman was over the would-be Japanese deal--again, the fear of Yakuza involvement. The Italian and Jewish Mafias, respectively, are very aggressive over what they consider to be their territory in the entertainment industry. They don't allow, cross-pollenization in that regard, or, at least, not a lot of it, although there are smaller factions who have established some beachheads in the other's business territories; any large take-overs, or migrations of business activity, is flowned upon, and that includes, Japanese interdictions. Sony/Columbia is largely the only exception.Anyway, Ovitz was spearheading Water World, or at least, his regime, so when all hell broke loose with Wasserman, and Ovitz, over the Japanese deal, Ovitz had to go, and anything he had championed at Universal, was damned along with him--a common industry practice when a regime is tossed-out of a studio, they typically, those who take their place, allow their predecessor's film projects to die, no matter how good, or great, those projects are. Look what happened to Joss Whedon with Serenity and Goners. The female exec backing those projects was pushed-out of Universal, and the company let those projects crash and burn.In regard to TV, they, the folks in the executive suites, simply steal credit for any successful TV shows that were previously placed into production, and or, development by a previous regime. As per the latter, something similar happened to the then President of ABC Entertainment Programming who created Lost and green-lit Desperate House Wives. I have forgotten his name, but for clarification, he was Howard Stern's old rep. Those who replaced him, in executive positions at ABC/Disney, took the credit for his work. Lost was his idea, not JJ Abrams, who was brought in as a hired gun to execute that idea--which was essentially, a scripted version of the CBS reality show, "Survivor".
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Sep 09, 2010 3:04:06 AM CDT
PS: They Were Not Going To Let Ovitz Leave Universal With A Hit
by media messiah
...one with which he could further his career, hence, the industry practice, to throw the work of an exiting exec...under the bus, as they leave. They don't do that in TV, because the development process of TV series is so very long, and a network is depending on programing 24/7. Well, with film, if you dump a handful of films, or intentionally under-fund their promotions, marketing, and distribution, you can easily replace them--with other film projects, even if you have to buy up films from independent film producers, or foreign production companies.
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That would have been swell to see the top Hollywood tough guys such as Silvester Stallone, his first erotic-porn movie, and posters from his movie all over his yard...
And delivered to him, a postman with an Arnold accent: "It is time, Mr. Stallone!"
http://movienews.pipeno.com/ -
I loved Waterworld when it came out and I still like it today. The hollywood press had a hard on for this before it was even released and tried to paint it as a crappy flick. I totally dig this flick and yet to meet somebody who didnt like it, though Im sure there is a douchbag on the TB who will disagree, but let me state beforehand: It WILL be a douchbag, so anything they say will have to be filtered through a veil of douchiness.
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Thank heavens they lost the hat. I owned that poster, and lordy, I loved that corner of it.
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Well, it suffered from a weak third act -- I never thought the baddies were all that interesting. Some (to me, at least) glaring plot holes also bothered me: if you can filter potable water out of your own urine, why doesn't it work on sea water? If you breathe through gills, the oxygen goes straight to your bloodstream and you cannot provide a damsel in distress with oxygen from your lungs. Nitpicks, I admit, but yeah.
When Waterworld is at its best, it is really good, though. -
teaching all of his techniques. You can search youtube for the trailer.
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That "math" post is in all the comments now.
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one guanwo + his mouth / my ass and balls = fuck you faggot.
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Sep 11, 2010 12:32:46 AM CDT
KingOfMilwaukee - The best thing about Waterworld
by the_genteel_gentile
was James Newton Howard's incredible music score. But that poster is indeed awesome.
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ting info, much appreciated. I always felt that Waterworld could have been a true classic, however as Kurgen pointed out, the script has big third act problems, and the villains were far too Saturday cartoon like. If they had taken more time to fix that, and considering Howard's fantastic score, a damn cool central concept, the incredible production design, and the amazing Atoll attack at the begining Waterworld could have been something truly special...
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but I never could find colored pencils that would go over airbrushing and acrylic well.
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thanks to Bill Sienkiewicz
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Being about 10 years too late. It's basically a rehash of Robin Hood and MadMax Thunderdome. It's got some interesting moments and nothing is really all that bad, but ... well, audiences were pretty sick of that stuff when the movie came outLook what other movies came out in 1995: Seven, Usual Suspects, Toy Story, Braveheart, Casino, 12 monkeys, Apollo 13. each one of them way way superior movies.
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I'm late to this party, but I just want to say that these days most movies posters are one of two things, ugly photoshopped pictures of floating heads or if it's an action movie, they just slap some blue and orange over a boring image and call it a day
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