Film posters have various important purposes which make them a vital tool for the success of a film. The main purpose of a film poster is to advertise and inform the audience of an upcoming film; through important information such as release date, actors and suitability with reference to age.
However, some movie marketeers have maybe gone one step too far. With the intention of grabbing the attention of the mass market, they have piled in as much information as possible and as a result, big clues and spoilers have been put right in front of the public eye for everyone to see. Maybe not the best idea?
So, we thought we would name and shame these poster blunders in this article where we show you 15 movie posters that blew their own ending. Fan favourites such as 'King Kong', 'Planet of the Apes', 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Rocky IV' are all guilty of giving away huge parts of the movie through the use of one image. What a shame.
In case you hadn't guessed by now, be warned,this article contains spoilers!
1 'Terminator Genisys'
Oh, look. Who is that beneath Arnie's giant face? It's John Connor (Jason Clarke). He's on fire. He looks like the Terminator. Surely not. He couldn't secretly be a Terminator, could he?
In 'Terminator Genisys' Connor is considered humanity's last hope to save mankind in a seemingly endless war with machines. So it's a huge surprise when you realise Connor turns into the villain, and not just any villain, but a new model of the Terminator called the T-3000.
Year: 2015
Director: Alan Taylor
2 'Free Willy'
One giant whale, a young orphan (Jason James Richter) who loves him, and their struggle to be together. A question we have all asked at least once in our life, will Willy be freed? Well, the answer is right in front of you. What a surprise.
The poster for 'Free Willy' saves you any of the palpitations you may have suffered over the possibility that Willy was not going to make it. Compromising the film's drama entirely, and making it a painful trek towards the inevitable, the poster decided to use the film's one iconic image, thus spoiling the finale. See, there he is, completely free in the sea.
Year: 1993
Director: Simon Wincer
3 'Lone Survivor'
4 soldiers on a mission. One survivor. Who do you think survived? Well, considering the famous face Mark Wahlberg is covering the whole poster it would be a pretty safe guess to say that he was the 'Lone Survivor'.
Set during the war in Afghanistan, the film dramatsises a United States Navy SEALs mission, during which a four-man team was tasked to track down and kill a Taliban leader. Although it is based on a true story, people who wanted that element of surprise before watching the film may have been disappointed when they saw this poster.
Year: 2013
Director: Peter Berg
4 'The Wicker Man'
Guess what happens to the big wicker man at the end of the film? Yes, exactly. Fire. Fire. And, more fire.
This 1973 film starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cliento and Christopher Lee tells the story of Sergeant Howie who travels to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl who the villagers claim never existed.
Year: 1973
Director: Robin Hardy
5 'Thelma and Louise'
One of the posters for 'Thelma and Louise', or as seen in Latin America, 'An Unexpected Ending', does a good job of making the ending not so unexpected at all. The poster shows the car speeding off the side of The Grand Canyon and the couple on their way to their presumed deaths. Lovely.
This Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film was well received by critics, as it received 6 Academy Award nominations and winning one for Best Original Screenplay. The protagonists Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were also nominated for Best Actress.
Year: 1991
Director: Ridley Scott
6 'When Harry Met Sally'
Harry, meet Sally. Sally, meet Harry. Then what? Well, look at the poster and it shows them both snuggled up in bed after you know what! So yes, it does happen, and yes that is the last 20 minutes of the film in one picture.
Starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan,'When Harry Met Sally' has become the quintessential contemporary feel-good relationship movie that somehow still rings true.
Script writer and producer, Nora Ephron, received a British Academy Film Award, an Oscar nomination, and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for her screenplay.
Year: 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
7 'Warrior'
'Warrior' is a film about two brothers, Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) and Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) who practice martial arts together, and finally come to blows in the final of a Sparta tournament.
Firstly, the poster tells us who won the fight. Secondly, the 'Warrior' marketing team were even kind enough to let us know they are friends by the end of it all. All's well, that ends well!
Year: 2011
Director: Gavin O'Connor
8 'Prometheus'
This poster shows a pretty important (very important!) ship being totally destroyed. Just a small part of Prometheus, honestly. Not a big part at all really.
Yes, you guessed it, that is the Prometheus crashing into the Space Jockey spacecraft. We now know Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace are on neither craft when it happens, as the poster shows them scurrying away to safety.
Nevertheless, this poster spoiler didn't affect the films box office performance, as it managed to rake in over $400 million.
Year: 2012
Director: Ridley Scott
9 'The Impossible'
A family of 4 were separated at the beginning of this excellent drama about the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Would they see each other again? The poster has the answer. Where is the suspense now?
Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts play the protagonists in 'The Impossible' this non-fictional drama of a Spanish family who survived the boxing day tsunami in 2004. Watts was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
Year: 2012
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona/i]
10 'King Kong'
He may start off on Skull Island, but according to the poster King Kong gets bored and decides to go plane swatting on the top of a skyscraper with a damsel in distress in his paw. Perhaps that'll be the film's climax then!
This is the original [i/]http://www.movienco.co.uk/films/king-kong-1933/[i]King Kong filmed in 1933, since then the film has been remade twice. Firstly in 1976 and then again in 2005. Meanwhile, a reboot named King Kong: Skull Island is set for release in 2017.
Year: 1933
Directors: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
11 'Rocky IV'
You have 3 guesses as to who wins in 'Rocky IV'? Well, one guess. If you thought the champ might lose, you've got another thing coming. But still, using the final scene as poster material is a little weak.
The poster shows Mr Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) basking in his glory with the American flag, after beating the Russian newcomer, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in a long and intense match. Congratulations, Rocky.
Year: 1986
Director: Sylvester Stallone
12 'Ender's Game'
The title says it's a game. Then the tagline on the poster throws that out the window by telling everyone that it certainly isn't a game. Fantastic.
'Ender's Game' revolves around a young boy, Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), taking part in a war simulation against an alien invader, but would it really take you long to figure out that the "simulation" was actually real, and that he was in fact leading a real army against a real space invader? Probably not. Look at the poster and that tells you everything.
Year: 2013
Director: Gavin Hood
13 'Quarantine'
The marketing department in charge of 'Quarantine' have been kind enough to provide us with a picture of the final scene and one of the biggest shocks of the film. Well, it was meant to be a shock anyway.
While 'Quarantine' wasn't the first horror movie to spoil the fate of a main character or use a climactic scene in it's trailer (for example the 'Paranormal Activity' trailer), given that Angela Vidal's (Jennifer Carpenter) screaming face is also plastered on Quarantine's posters, it's still a pretty crass marketing move even by Hollywood's standards.
Year: 2008
Director: John Erick Dowdle
14 'Planet of the Apes'
Astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crashes on an alien planet ruled by apes. The films climax reveals the planet is actually Earth, which Taylor discovers the hard way by finding New York's crumbling Statue of Liberty.
One of the biggest twist in movie history is revealed in its movie poster. Almost every poster, DVD cover of 'Planet of the Apes' and pretty much everything else associated with the 1968 classic features a shot of a defeated Taylor kneeling next to the fallen symbol of America.
Year: 1968
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
15 '10 Cloverfield Lane'
In a bid to make the film look appealing, the international marketing campaigners for '10 Cloverfield Lane' apparently don't care about keeping the mystery intact and somewhat mislead the audience as far as the film's story is concerned.
Audiences could end up being very disappointed when they find out nearly the entire film takes place with three people in a bunker instead of an array of huge alien attacks, just like the poster suggests.
The US and UK posters have refrained from using the same image, however, it could be questioned that is it sometimes necessary to be more explicit, at least on a purely commercial level? Especially given the importance of the international box office?
Year: 2016
Director: Dan Trachtenberg