THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora

The "Benjamin Button" Poster That Never Was



I was just over at SlashFilm and saw the image above.

Apparently, according to SlashFilm, for unexplained reasons, Paramount Pictures/David Fincher chose not to use this piece of promotional art (found in the studio’s Oscar advertising campaign) as part of the film’s theatrical marketing. Now, inquiring minds want to know why.

I actually like it... it's certainly much more striking than any of the other images they decided to use instead. But, maybe it's too cryptic, especially for those not familiar with the story, or that Taraji P. Henson plays a major role in it.

Recognizable faces sell tickets, so, of course we'd expect to find Brad Pitt's mug on every marketing item, as well as Cate Blanchett's. But this would have been an interesting sight on some gigantic billboard around mid-town Manhattan! No titles, no names, no taglines - just the image, and maybe the release date at the bottom somewhere.

via SLASHFILM
Hmmm

3 comments:

  1. Karen said...
     

    I can see why they didn't use this photo, the baby looks kind of creepy. And at it's core it seems to be more of a love story between Pitt and Blanchett's characters. At least that's what it seems like.

  2. Invisible Woman said...
     

    I like that poster...it's way more interesting than the movie...

    imho

  3. Anonymous said...
     

    Solshine, I disagree. I think that the movie is a Bildungroman (that is, it narrates the story of a character’s internal development as he or she undergoes a succession of encounters with the external world). In other words, it's a life story. And all aspects of his life are important not just the love affair between Pitt and Blanchett's characters but rather, all the love that Pitt's character experienced throughout his life including that he received from his family--the biological father that abandoned him and his adopted mother (Henson). Thus the poster could have been used and would have been effective.

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