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Famous Movie Poster Rejects You've Never Seen Part 7
Here's the latest from our never-published private collection of movie poster rejects: parts one thru six linked below.
This batch includes unused concept art for horror hits Halloween III, Wolfen, and Peter Straub's Ghost Story, second rate sci-fi flick Short Circuit, the first entry of the fantasy franchise Neverending Story, and a 3D version of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, as well as original proof prints for rock spoof Get Crazy, the adaptation of Richard Wright's novel Native Son, the Kate Capshaw vehicle Windy City, and the Beast (aka Beast of War).
Above design for Dial M For Murder 3D ended up on below video/DVD box (let's just pretend that shudder-inducing Joey Travolta poster and movie doesn't exist, shall we?)
Above Short Circuit design went unused on U.S. posters, though I did find an import variant that picked up the artwork (below).
Above concept art for Ghost Story kind of maps out the basic look of the final print below, while the two Windy City variants don't much resemble the actual poster (below).
I rather like above concept art for Halloween III, much more than the final poster below. The original plan for part 3 seems to have been a different movie than what they ended up making.
Above concept posters for Wolfen look pretty vague, as if they weren't really sure yet what the movie was about, though the title font and "There is no defense" tagline survived thru final print below.
Pity the above Neverending Story designs went unused, in favor of the half-a-luckdragon image below, though I can see why they wanted the actual characters to appear.
Get Crazy (with Malcolm McDowell and Bobby Sherman?!) and Native Son, above and below, both seem to have gone from concept to completion intact.
However, I can't find any Beast (of War) posters that match above concept design. Poster below seems to be the most common.
That's it for this installment. Check back in a couple of days for Part 8!
PREVIOUS ENTRIES IN THIS SERIES:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/13/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 1: Batman, Witches of Eastwick, Supergirl
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/16/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 2: The Fly, Vamp, Fright Night, Howard the Duck, Stallone: Over the Top, Ladyhawk
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/21/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 3: Horror film Near Dark, horsey drama Phar Lap, the Robert DeNiro/Albert Brooks sleeper Midnight Run (still under its working title Running Scared when these two posters were mocked up), 3D cartoon Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, Airplane-style comedy Bad Medicine (with Steve Gutenberg and Julie Hagerty), and war story Hamburger Hill.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/30/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 4: Collegiate comedy Campus Man, horror hits Wes Craven's Deadly Friend and Blood Diner, and rock and roll horror flop Trick or Treat, as well as Texas Godfather, Vanishing Act, China Girl, 8 Million Ways to Die, sci-fi biker flick City Limits, and war romance Purple Hearts.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/dec/03/part-5-famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-see/
Part 5: Voyage of the Rock Aliens with Pia Zadora, the Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon/Pee Wee Herman surf comedy Back to the Beach, psycho-ex thriller Fatal Attraction, alleged comedy Planes Trains & Automobiles, James Woods in Cop, the Tom Cruise hit All the Right Moves, drive-in horror hit Deadly Blessing, the re-release of Roger Corman's original Little Shop of Horrors, import sex comedy Perfect Timing, historical drama Hanoi Hilton, Stallone sequel Rocky V (under its original title Final Bell), and Nothing But Trouble, back when it was still known as Welcome to Valkenvania.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/dec/08/part-6-famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-see/
Part 6: Horror comedy Return of the Living Dead, Force III, Meatballs III, plainclothes cop thriller Off Limits (Willem Dafoe, Gregory Hines), sci-fi McDonald’s commercial Mac & Me, the Diane Lane potboiler Lady Beware, UK comedy Mr. Love, Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle, Walter Bannert’s German-language Austrian film the Inheritors, the Dudley Moore/Eddie Murphy flop Best Defense, Richard Donner’s Inside Moves, William Peter Blatty’s Ninth Configuration, adventure flick Tai-Pan, German musical the Frog Prince with Helen Hunt, and the Rosary Murders.
RELATED ARTICLES ON THE READER WEBSITE:
"Field Of Screens" -- Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including interviews with operators and attendees, dozens of rare and unpublished photos, vintage local theater ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/01/drive-in-theaters-in-san-diego-complete-illustrate/
"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa’s Last Stand" -- Cover story 6-21-07: In the late 70s/early 80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters. This detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc., including interviews with operators, vintage local movie ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/jul/23/before-it-was-the-gaslamp-now-with-50-more-content/
"Pussycat Theaters: When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Company head Vince Miranda owned and lived part time at the Hotel San Diego, operating several other local theaters downtown and in Oceanside, Escondido, etc. Told by those who actually ran the theaters, with a complete theater-by-theater encyclopedia covering every Pussycat that ever screened in CA -- http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/jun/29/pussycat-theaters-a-comprehensive-history-of-a-cal/
Famous Movie Poster Rejects You've Never Seen Part 7
Here's the latest from our never-published private collection of movie poster rejects: parts one thru six linked below.
This batch includes unused concept art for horror hits Halloween III, Wolfen, and Peter Straub's Ghost Story, second rate sci-fi flick Short Circuit, the first entry of the fantasy franchise Neverending Story, and a 3D version of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, as well as original proof prints for rock spoof Get Crazy, the adaptation of Richard Wright's novel Native Son, the Kate Capshaw vehicle Windy City, and the Beast (aka Beast of War).
Above design for Dial M For Murder 3D ended up on below video/DVD box (let's just pretend that shudder-inducing Joey Travolta poster and movie doesn't exist, shall we?)
Above Short Circuit design went unused on U.S. posters, though I did find an import variant that picked up the artwork (below).
Above concept art for Ghost Story kind of maps out the basic look of the final print below, while the two Windy City variants don't much resemble the actual poster (below).
I rather like above concept art for Halloween III, much more than the final poster below. The original plan for part 3 seems to have been a different movie than what they ended up making.
Above concept posters for Wolfen look pretty vague, as if they weren't really sure yet what the movie was about, though the title font and "There is no defense" tagline survived thru final print below.
Pity the above Neverending Story designs went unused, in favor of the half-a-luckdragon image below, though I can see why they wanted the actual characters to appear.
Get Crazy (with Malcolm McDowell and Bobby Sherman?!) and Native Son, above and below, both seem to have gone from concept to completion intact.
However, I can't find any Beast (of War) posters that match above concept design. Poster below seems to be the most common.
That's it for this installment. Check back in a couple of days for Part 8!
PREVIOUS ENTRIES IN THIS SERIES:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/13/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 1: Batman, Witches of Eastwick, Supergirl
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/16/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 2: The Fly, Vamp, Fright Night, Howard the Duck, Stallone: Over the Top, Ladyhawk
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/21/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 3: Horror film Near Dark, horsey drama Phar Lap, the Robert DeNiro/Albert Brooks sleeper Midnight Run (still under its working title Running Scared when these two posters were mocked up), 3D cartoon Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, Airplane-style comedy Bad Medicine (with Steve Gutenberg and Julie Hagerty), and war story Hamburger Hill.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/nov/30/famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-seen-exclu/
Part 4: Collegiate comedy Campus Man, horror hits Wes Craven's Deadly Friend and Blood Diner, and rock and roll horror flop Trick or Treat, as well as Texas Godfather, Vanishing Act, China Girl, 8 Million Ways to Die, sci-fi biker flick City Limits, and war romance Purple Hearts.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/dec/03/part-5-famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-see/
Part 5: Voyage of the Rock Aliens with Pia Zadora, the Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon/Pee Wee Herman surf comedy Back to the Beach, psycho-ex thriller Fatal Attraction, alleged comedy Planes Trains & Automobiles, James Woods in Cop, the Tom Cruise hit All the Right Moves, drive-in horror hit Deadly Blessing, the re-release of Roger Corman's original Little Shop of Horrors, import sex comedy Perfect Timing, historical drama Hanoi Hilton, Stallone sequel Rocky V (under its original title Final Bell), and Nothing But Trouble, back when it was still known as Welcome to Valkenvania.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/dec/08/part-6-famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-see/
Part 6: Horror comedy Return of the Living Dead, Force III, Meatballs III, plainclothes cop thriller Off Limits (Willem Dafoe, Gregory Hines), sci-fi McDonald’s commercial Mac & Me, the Diane Lane potboiler Lady Beware, UK comedy Mr. Love, Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle, Walter Bannert’s German-language Austrian film the Inheritors, the Dudley Moore/Eddie Murphy flop Best Defense, Richard Donner’s Inside Moves, William Peter Blatty’s Ninth Configuration, adventure flick Tai-Pan, German musical the Frog Prince with Helen Hunt, and the Rosary Murders.
RELATED ARTICLES ON THE READER WEBSITE:
"Field Of Screens" -- Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including interviews with operators and attendees, dozens of rare and unpublished photos, vintage local theater ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/01/drive-in-theaters-in-san-diego-complete-illustrate/
"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa’s Last Stand" -- Cover story 6-21-07: In the late 70s/early 80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters. This detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc., including interviews with operators, vintage local movie ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/jul/23/before-it-was-the-gaslamp-now-with-50-more-content/
"Pussycat Theaters: When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Company head Vince Miranda owned and lived part time at the Hotel San Diego, operating several other local theaters downtown and in Oceanside, Escondido, etc. Told by those who actually ran the theaters, with a complete theater-by-theater encyclopedia covering every Pussycat that ever screened in CA -- http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/jun/29/pussycat-theaters-a-comprehensive-history-of-a-cal/