The first movie poster was made in 1890 for a short French film called “Projections Artistiques.” Ever since then, movie posters have been used to give would-be viewers a hint of what to expect from a film and make them consider forking over some cash (or streaming clicks) for a new movie.
When done right, movie posters become almost as famous as the movie they represent. We’re suckers for a good movie poster. And these are the coolest and most iconic movie posters of all time. Any of them would look great hanging on a wall, too, so we included links to buy them if you feel like adorning some empty space with some incredible artwork.
30. Jurassic Park
Year: 1993
Production company: Amblin Entertainment
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: $1.03 billion
Bottom line: This poster hails from the cover of Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” novel, which was designed by Chip Kidd. He was a designer who was just starting his career. After several conceptions, Kidd happened upon a picture of a T-Rex skeleton from a museum.
Kidd just copied the skeleton and gave it a silhouette. It worked. For the movie poster, they put the art in a yellow and black circle and added a red background.
Buy it on Amazon: “Jurassic Park” movie poster, $12.99
29. Scarface
Year: 1983
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: $66 million
Bottom line: Tony Montana sees the world in black and white. It either benefits him or it doesn’t. This poster of the famous movie drug lord encapsulates his menacing persona.
It also provides some backstory for why we should be interested. Other than it starring Al Pacino.
Buy it on Amazon: “Scarface” movie poster, $10.49
28. Them!
Year: 1954
Production company: Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Worldwide box office: N/A
Bottom line: “Them!” is a campy movie about a giant ant invasion, which means most of the movie is ants superimposed over reels of people screaming and running.
It’s also notable as being the first movie to feature giant insects in a creature feature.
The poster for “Them!” is pure B-movie joy in a frame.
Buy it on Amazon: “Them!” movie poster, $10.45
27. Sunset Boulevard
Year: 1950
Production company: Paramount Pictures
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Worldwide box office: $2.5 million-$5 million
Bottom line: A struggling screenwriter moves into the home of an aging, demented Hollywood silent film star in order to get the actress’ career back off the ground. Madness and insanity follow in “Sunset Boulevard,” which is considered one of the greatest movies ever made.
The poster for this classic flick shows Gloria Swanson glowering at William Holden and Nancy OIson, with a knotted reel of black tape juxtaposed on a bright red background.
Buy it on Amazon: “Sunset Boulevard” movie poster, $19.99
26. Full Metal Jacket
Year: 1987
Production company: Natant, Harrier Films
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Worldwide box office: $120 million
Bottom line: “Full Metal Jacket” is Stanley Kubrick’s epic Vietnam war drama that gets deep into the nitty-grittiness of boot camp and psychological terror that the war has on its young recruits.
The poster, in contrast, is light and somewhat funny. There’s a parody between the “Born to Kill” slogan scrawled on the helmet and the peace sign, and the “In Vietnam/the Wind Doesn’t Blow/It Sucks” does the opposite to prepare the viewer for what they’re about to watch.
This poster was designed by Philip Castle.
Buy it Amazon: “Full Metal Jacket” movie poster, $8.50
25. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Year: 1969
Production company: Campanile Productions, Newman-Foreman Company
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Worldwide box office: $102.3 million
Bottom line: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” loosely — very loosely — retells the story of two of America’s most infamous Wild West outlaws.
This movie is one of the greatest westerns ever made and features a now-classic freeze-frame ending as the bullets fly, among other classic scenes.
Buy it on Amazon: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” movie poster, $13.28
24. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Year: 1958
Production company: Woolner Brothers Pictures
Distributor: Allied Artists
Worldwide box office: $500,000
Bottom line: “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” is one of those movies from the 1950s with a poster that’s more entertaining than the actual film. In fact, there are only five minutes worth of 50-foot-woman scenes in the entire movie.
Regardless of the film’s quality, the movie poster is one of the most iconic ones ever made.
Buy it on Amazon: “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” poster, $9.49
23. Big Trouble in Little China
Year: 1986
Production company: 20th Century Fox
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Worldwide box office: $11.1 million
Bottom line: “Big Trouble in Little China” is another movie from John Carpenter that bombed at release but became a cult classic. This poster was also drawn by Drew Struzan, although he had some references to work with this time.
The poster features Kurt Russell with a submachine gun, a mac truck and Kim Cattrall.
Buy it on Amazon: “Big Trouble in Little China” movie poster, $12.99
22. Silence of the Lambs
Year: 1991
Production company: Strong Heart Productions
Distributor: Orion Pictures
Worldwide box office: $272.7 million
Bottom line: This poster features Jodie Foster’s contrasted face, with her mouth covered up by a “death’s head” moth.
Look closer, and you’ll see that the skull on the moth is made up of seven naked women, which is a reproduction of Salvador Dali’s “In Voluptas Mors.”
Buy it on Amazon: “Silence of the Lambs” movie poster, $12.68
21. The Evil Dead
Year: 1981
Production company: Renaissance Pictures
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Worldwide box office: $2.95 million
Bottom line: Simple and uncomfortable, the poster for “The Evil Dead” is one of the most unforgettable horror movie posters ever made. Released in 1981, “The Evil Dead” was marketed more as a straight-up horror flick, as represented by this brutally effective poster.
The second flick’s poster was the skull face, and it wouldn’t be until “Army of Darkness” that the series embraced its campiness in its marketing materials.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Evil Dead” movie poster, $13.99
20. Halloween
Year: 1978
Production company: Compass International Pictures
Distributor: Compass International Pictures
Worldwide box office: $47 million
Bottom line: A pumpkin, a knife and a tagline? “The Night He Came Home!” It’s a simple poster design, but the jagged edges of the pumpkin that blend with the knife make it really striking.
This poster was designed by Bob Gleason, who also designed the “Halloween II” poster.
Buy it on Amazon: “Halloween” movie poster, $9.49
19. Dawn of the Dead
Year: 1978
Production company: Laurel Group
Distributor: United Film Distribution Company
Worldwide box office: $66 million
Bottom line: “When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth” is one of the best horror movie lines ever written. It’s said in “Dawn of the Dead,” the cult-classic zombie flick about four survivors who hole up in a shopping mall to try and wait out the apocalypse.
This poster is a simple graphic, and it was designed with the intent for it to not be graphic while also representing George Romero’s zombies.
Buy it on Amazon: “Dawn of the Dead” movie poster, $9.64
18. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Year: 1981
Production company: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Worldwide box office: $390 million
Bottom line: This classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark” poster was created by Richard Amsel. It features a whip-toting Indiana Jones cockily smirking at us with various faces of friends and foes circling him in the background.
It’s the perfect kind of poster and sums up the fun, adventurous tone of the film and the entire franchise.
Buy it on Amazon: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” movie poster, $12.88
17. Chinatown
Year: 1974
Production companies: Penthouse, Long Road Productions, Robert Evans Company
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Worldwide box office: $29.2 million
Bottom line: “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.”
The “Chinatown” poster features a profile of Jack Nicholson smoking a cigarette, with the smoke framing Faye Dunaway’s face. At the bottom, a splash of water curls out, signifying the corruption plot at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The Italian version (pictured) features a lengthened view of the Dunaway and Nicholson portrait while the American version has it shortened and framed in black. Jim Pearsall designed the poster.
Buy it on Amazon: “Chinatown” movie poster, $13.49
16. The Exorcist
Year: 1973
Production company: Hoya Productions
Distributor: Warner Bros
Worldwide box office: $441.3 million
Bottom line: This poster shows the time when Father Merrin steps foot on the MacNeil property and pauses to think about what might await him.
The illumination of the street lamp and the foreboding nature of the art were inspired by René Magritte’s “Empire of Light” paintings.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Exorcist” movie poster, $14.95
15. Pulp Fiction
Year: 1994
Production companies: A Band Apart, Jersey Films
Distributor: Miramax
Worldwide box office: $220 million
Bottom line: The poster for “Pulp Fiction” looks straight out of a 1950s crime magazine, and it’s glorious. The poster features a cigarette-smoking Uma Thurman with a gun, a pack of smokes and a book that’s titled “Pulp Fiction.”
It’s distressed to make it look like an old, weathered book, which adds to the charm.
Buy it Amazon: “Pulp Fiction” movie poster, $19.95
14. Alien
Year: 1979
Production company: 20th Century Fox
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Worldwide box office: $106.29 million
Bottom line: The late Philip Gips designed this iconic poster, which features a xenomorph egg and ominous green lighting against an all-black background. And then there’s the now-famous line, “In space, no one can hear you scream.”
This is one of those posters that perfectly encapsulates the horror and mystery surrounding James Cameron’s “Alien,” which terrified audiences worldwide in 1979.
Buy it on Amazon: “Alien” movie poster, $7.99
13. Creature from the Black Lagoon
Year: 1954
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: N/A
Bottom line: Classic monster-with-beautiful woman artwork takes center stage on the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” poster. Reynold Brown, a prolific 1950s and 1960s movie poster artist, created this beauty.
Along with this poster, marketing for “Creature from the Black Lagoon” also consisted of the Creature appearing on an episode of Abbott and Costello.
Buy it on Amazon: “Creature from the Black Lagoon” movie poster, $9.44
12. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Year: 1984
Production companies: New Line Cinema, Media Home Entertainment, Smart Egg Pictures
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Worldwide box office: $57 million
Bottom line: This hand-painted poster for “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is the work of Matthew Peak, who also designed the posters for the first five “Nightmare on Elm Street” films.
The beautiful piece depicts Freddy’s finger blades superimposed over Heather Langenkamp, who’s determined to stay awake. After all, if she doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.
Buy it on Amazon: “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movie poster, $11.95
11. The Invisible Man
Year: 1933
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: N/A
Bottom line: Karoly Grosz was the genius behind this iconic poster, as well as many other movies from the 1930s.
This one has H.G. Wells’ name featured prominently in bright red ink, with the movie title drawn in spooky, mad scientist-green font.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Invisible Man” movie poster, $7.48
10. The Empire Strikes Back
Year: 1980
Production company: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Worldwide box office: $550.9 million
Bottom line: This “Empire Strikes Back” poster is another incredible design by “Jaws” poster designer Roger Kastel.
It features Leia and Han gearing up for a kiss, while the watchful eyes (helmet?) of Vader looks on. The ice planet Hoth is alluded to in the white-and-blue brush strokes on the lower half of the painting.
Classic stuff.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Empire Strikes Back” movie poster, $11.37
9. Gone With the Wind
Year: 1939
Production companies: Selznick International Pictures, MGM
Distributor: MGM
Worldwide box office: $189.5 million (original release)
Bottom line: “Gone With the Wind” has a striking picture of Clarke Gable and Vivian Leigh surrounded above by iconic locations (like the “Gone with the Wind” house) below them.
When adjusted for inflation, “Gone With the Wind” is the highest-grossing movie ever made, so it’s fitting that its poster is memorable and beautiful.
Buy it on Amazon: “Gone With the Wind” poster, $9.99
8. The Lord of the Rings
Year: 1978
Production company: Fantasy Films
Distributor: United Artists
Worldwide box office: $32.5 million
Bottom line: While Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is leagues better than the 1978 animated film, the latter has the coolest poster.
The perspective on this poster is deliciously dramatic, with a sword-holding Gandalf thrusting a finger into the air, instructing Frodo and Sam to head to Mordor.
This poster was done by Tom Jung, who also did the poster art for “Gone with the Wind” and “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”
Buy it Amazon: 1978’s “Lord of the Rings” movie poster, $14.99
7. Jaws
Year: 1975
Production companies: Zanuck/Brown Company, Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: $472 million
Bottom line: Roger Kastel painted this masterpiece for “Jaws,” which no one believed was going to be a massive success.
Is it the most iconic movie poster ever made? Possibly. And can you even see this poster without thinking about the “Jaws” theme song?
Buy it on Amazon: “Jaws” movie poster, $13.99
Or buy a signed print from Kastel himself starting at $30.
6. Metropolis
Year: 1927
Production company: UFA
Distributor: Parufamet
Worldwide box office: N/A
Bottom line: “Metropolis” was a groundbreaking dystopian German film that pioneered science-fiction filmmaking.
The movie is still fascinating, and it has become even more interesting because you can see where the inspiration for so many now-common science fiction ideas came from.
The poster, created by Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, is one of the most iconic pieces of movie art ever made.
Buy it on Amazon: “Metropolis” movie poster, $15.49
5. King Kong
Year: 1933
Production company: RKO
Distributor: RKO
Worldwide box office: $5.3 million
Bottom line: King Kong has been climbing skyscrapers and bashing giant baddies since 1933, when the original picture released.
The 1933 “King Kong” also had one of the coolest movie posters ever made, depicting Kong holding Fay Wray in one hand and crushing a biplane with his other, all while standing on the Empire State Building.
Buy it on Amazon: 1933 “King Kong” movie poster, $14.08
4. The Thing
Year: 1982
Production company: The Turman-Foster Company
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: $19.63 million
Bottom line: While “The Thing” bombed when it released, the film has come to be regarded as one of the greatest science fiction/horror movies ever made.
You might not know it, but the illustration is of the artist himself, Drew Struzan. He received a call one morning from the studio asking for a movie poster for “The Thing,” but there was a catch: It needed to be in by tomorrow. Also, there weren’t any kind of reference materials. The studio just asked Struzan to think about 1951’s “The Thing from Another World.”
So Struzan dressed in a winter snow outfit and had his wife take a Polaroid of him for reference, and he painted the entire poster throughout the day and night.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Thing” movie poster, $12.88
3. Star Wars
Year: 1977
Production company: 20th Century Fox
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Worldwide box office: $307.26 million (original release)
Bottom line: The original “Star Wars” movie poster, known as “Style A,” was painted by artist Tom Yung.
It’s a very Frank Frazetta-style piece, and it doesn’t entirely fit the tone of the movie. Leia is wearing a cape and seems to be Luke’s love interest (the artist probably didn’t know they were brother and sister), and Luke is ripped like a bodybuilder.
But that’s what makes it all the more awesome.
Buy it on Amazon: The original “Star Wars” movie poster, $10
2. Vertigo
Year: 1958
Production company: Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Worldwide box office: $7.3 million
Bottom line: The “Vertigo” movie poster is one of the most famous movie posters of all time. The entire essence of the movie is distilled into one swirling graphic, with bold colors.
It’s a piece by Saul Bass, whom Dwell describes as the man who “helped define the visual culture of the 1950s.”
Buy it on Amazon: “Vertigo” movie poster, $17.52
1. The Mummy
Year: 1932
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Worldwide box office: N/A
Bottom line: This Kaoly Grosz poster for “The Mummy” is just incredible. Boris “The Uncanny” Karloff gets center billing here, and Zita Johann poses on an ancient Egyptian grave marker.
Fun fact: “The Mummy” poster is one of the most expensive movie poster of all time, with one of the rare 1932 lithographs selling for $435,500 in 1997. Another went up at auction at Sotheby’s in 2018 with a $1 million estimated price, but it’s unclear if it sold.
Buy it on Amazon: “The Mummy” movie poster, $8.99
