Best Movie Posters of 2013 (so far) - Top 10

June is creeping closer and the summer blockbuster season is now in full flow. Therefore, it seems appropriate to take a look back at some of the great (and not so great) films we've seen this year and highlight my picks for the best movie posters of 2013... so far.

All of the films in this list have had a theatrical release in the last 5 months and all boast truly fantastic posters!

See if you agree with my Top 10:  

Priest

Priest arrived in US cinemas on 13th May 2011 and opened to a three-day gross of $14.95 million on it's way to an appalling $29.1 million, which was less than half of its reported $60 million budget. The film didn't fare much better internationally, grossing just $49.1 million, which meant that the movie vanished with barely a whimper.

The film received a terrible critical response and judging by this poster, it's not difficult to understand why.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Alternative Marketing Campaign

A few days ago I wrote an article critically analysing the latest poster (see right) for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The theatrical marketing campaign for this big-budget Christmas blockbuster has so far been underwhelming. More so when considering that this is supposed to be one of the most anticipated movies of the year, not an arthouse movie.

Catching Fire is the sequel to the popular 2012 movie The Hunger Games and based on the second book in Suzanne Collins' book trilogy of the same name. It is, beyond anything else, an event movie made for mainstream audiences but the current marketing strategy consists of well designed posters that are ultimately very bland.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - New Poster Released

Lionsgate have released a new poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (see right), and although it's very visually pleasing, I have mixed feelings about it.

The poster depicts the series' heroine, Katniss Everdeen, gazing out on a cliff's edge while clutching her trademark bow by her side. The imagery is reminiscent of a vintage painting though it will struggle to attract your attention unless you know to look for it.

Commentary: A Reaction to the shift in Tentpole Movie Marketing in Hollywood

Last week, Variety published a brief article about the state of film marketing in Hollywood. The fascinating piece explored the thought-provoking notion that concept is now bigger than star-power, which indicates a major shift in the necessity of A-List stars fronting big-budget blockbusters.

"The idea is to sell a film initially based on a concept", says Par domestic marketing and distrib prexy Megan Colligan.

Main theatrical poster for Oblivion

Ten years ago it would have been unfathomable for Tom Cruise not to feature in almost the entire marketing campaign for his latest blockbuster; however, times have changed.

Coming off the back of his biggest success to-date (Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol), Cruise's next major release was Oblivion, a big budget sci-fi film from the director of Tron:Legacy. There was immense pressure on Cruise to deliver another major hit and reassert his dominance as an unrivalled global box-office star. However, this was somewhat contradicted by his presence within the marketing campaign being strangely understated.

Silver Samurai poster debuts

Character poster for the Silver Samurai

Fox have debuted a Silver Samurai character poster in preparation for the forthcoming sequel The Wolverine. Last month, I wrote an article  that analysed the film's marketing campaign and questioned the decision to focus entirely on the titular character (played by Hugh Jackman).

Well, it seems that the marketing team have finally started to bring some much-needed focus towards the sequel's other pivotal characters.

The very stylish image (seen right) is an ink-design interpretation of Wolverine's iconic adversary, and one of the film's primary antagonists, though you'd be forgiven for not realising it.

New Man of Steel poster released

A new theatrical poster for Man of Steel has been released as Warner Bros. begin their final major marketing push before the reboot's high profile 14th June 2013 opening.

This one is fairly generic, depicting Superman flying at a speed beyond all comprehension, but sadly not much else.

The most intriguing aspect of this poster is the motion contrast between Superman and the city below. The blurring and sun-glare compliment the bright colour-scheme and really emphasise the immense power of the Man of Steel. However, the image is simply too visually jarring to be effective.

Dredd 3D

In September 2012 Dredd 3D hit cinemas hoping to work some reboot magic on a stagnant movie franchise. The first attempt at an adaptation, Judge Dredd, was released in 1995 and starred Sylvester Stallone, it was a box-office disaster and swiftly faded into obscurity. When the reboot was announced, it was generally met with scepticism due to the unwanted association with its predecessor and consequently, expectations were modest at best.

The resulting movie, Dredd 3D, was (in my opinion) one of the best and most underrated films of the year! It knew exactly what it needed to be and delivered, it was great fun with effective violence and minimal gore. It was a comic-book adaptation with heart and yet it will go down as one of the biggest box-office disappointments of the year! 

But why?

Daybreakers

In 2010 the little-known vampire film, Daybreakers, hit screens across the globe... and swiftly vanished with barely a whimper.

The film starred Ethan Hawke (Training Day), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) but sadly failed to establish a firm footing at the box-office and closed with slightly over $50 million worldwide.

While the gross wasn't a disaster, it was very far from impressive for a film that could (and perhaps should) have been a big hit. It was actually a very stylish and enjoyable film, so why was it ignored by the legions of vampire movie fans out there?