We don't normally like to criticise. But something seems to have gone wrong with this poster for Brad Pitt's upcoming zombie flick.
Okay, this poster is not a total disaster and yes, we've seen worse. But when a movie has an estimated budget of £175 million, surely they could do a little better than this?
One of 2013 biggest 3D movies, World War Z is a zombie horror loosely based on the 2006 novel by Max Brooks. This poster shows Brad Pitt's character, UN employee Gerry Lane, with his family, rather obviously Photoshopped into a scene of unremitting terror and chaos.
Yet the shot doesn't really fit the situation. The family look like they're in the middle of a long, exhausting hike rather than fleeing in a blind panic. The daughter and wife look more resigned than fearful. And Brad looks unnaturally calm considering he and his family all seem to be walking through a street of fire. In short, it's a bit of a mess.
Designer's dilemma
We're not one to point the finger: the designer in question was probably given no other visual assets by the studio, and denied either the time or permission to pursue a different approach, such as one based on typography or illustration. But however this poster came about, it looks more like a piece of amateur fan art than a professional movie poster, and it's not giving us a great deal of confidence in the movie itself.
Above all, we're wondering why it was approved for release at all, when other posters for the movie are already in circulation and are much, much better:
