10 Movie Posters That Led To Massive Lawsuits
From false advertising, to copyright infringement; some movie posters seem made for controversy.
When it comes to designing a poster for an upcoming feature film, it's important to remember a few rather important details:
First up, make sure the collection of images used in said film advertisement accurately depict the sort of overall experience audiences will have when watching your picture. Secondly, try and make said poster as eye-catching and memorable as possible in order to get more attention on your impending movie. And lastly, try not to piss anyone off in the process of pulling off the first two feats.
Sadly, despite it arguably being the most important thing to keep in mind, that last point has been skipped over on more than one occasion over the years as movie studios bizarrely opt to release a poster that attracts more controversy than it does asses on cinema seats.
Whether it was due to dropping an image that promotes indecency, controversially altering an original release, or even seemingly stealing a concept from another source, each of these posters landed various directors and studios in the doghouse in the wake of being unleashed on the general public.
10. PK - Aamir Khan Sued Over "Promoting Obscenity In Society"
Sitting pretty as the fifth highest-grossing film in India, beating Avengers: Endgame in the Top 10, it's hard to imagine that the Aamir Khan-starring PK was once the subject of a lawsuit due to one of the posters used to promote the celebrated feature.
Centred around a humanoid alien (Khan) trying to get to grips with planet Earth and everything that it is to be human, including questioning superstitions and religion, one of the advertisements circulated for the feature at the time depicted a nude Khan covering himself with a stereo system.
A law student then claimed that this specific image would "promote obscenity in public", leading to an eventual lawsuit that would later be dismissed by the Supreme Court.
This clearly had little effect on the release of PK in the end, as the feature went on to become the fifth highest grossing Indian film worldwide. It also won five Producers Guild Awards and two Screen Awards.