Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
A movie poster is more than just an announcement of an upcoming film. It has to awaken your interest, hook you in, and make you curious enough to go and see the movie. To put it simply, posters have the task of selling the film to you in just one image. But with time, they have grown beyond this goal as well.
Some of the best movie posters have inspired a whole aesthetic of decorating your home or place of business, especially coffee shops and bakeries. It’s always fun to enter someone’s house or a new cafe and try to count how many of the displayed movies you have seen. You can also tell a lot about the owner’s taste in cinema based on the posters they display. Vintage movie posters have even become valuable collectibles, with cinephiles all over the world trying to get rare posters into their possession.
But while great movie posters are a form of art of their own, things happen, and bad movie posters also come to exist. Why do they happen? Reasons may vary from somebody just being a bad designer to not really knowing what the movie is about. Why such movie posters get approved is a whole different story, but at least they provide us with a reason to laugh, especially if you have actually seen the movie.
In this article you will find quite a few examples of bad poster design. Which one looks the ugliest to you? Don’t forget to vote for it. Share this article with your friends, and show us in the comments other strange, unappealing, or downright bad movie posters you have seen.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Cujo
"The Ghanaian poster for Cujo is possibly amazing instead."
Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
The kid looks way more menacing than the crossed eyed basset hound.
StitchIsCuteAndFluffy 2 years ago
This is so crazy I am currently reading the book Cujo right now (no spoilers!)
RELATED:
#2
Star Wars
"Russian poster for Star Wars is crazy. Darth Vader is a cat."
Csaba Hegedűs 2 years ago
To its defense, those times it often happened that cinemas only had a vague description of the movie without any pictures, so they had to put their posters together however they could. There are a lot of examples from Hungary too when it was behind the Iron Curtain.
Panda Kicki 2 years ago
A bit like when the 007 movie "Dr No" turned into "We dont want a doctor" when title was translated into swedish.
#3
Top Dog
Flint_Vorselon replied:
"Please tell me the dog was the brains of the operation."
#4
The Penthouse
Prince-of-Ravens replied:
"Pretty sure every single thing in that poster comes from a stock photo site."
#5
Going Overboard
whendoesOpTicplay replied:
"Is it supposed to look like he's in the Sims?"
Eldritch_catt0 2 years ago
It looks like one of those horrible mobile ads, like the exaggerated unnatural poses and stuff...
#6
X-Men: First Class
SUBLIMINAL__MESSAGES replied:
"It should've just been the silhouettes, the faces are such a horrendous idea they should've never made it past the planning phase."
#7
Spanish Poster For Chef Movie
User No 1 replied:
"Jesus. I couldn't even recall Robert Downey Jr. being in Chef. Was he in it for like a single scene or something?"
Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
Pirated pictures from different movies and red carpeted events, photoshopped them as badly as possible on various chef stock photos, heads as unproportionally large as you can get away with. Also pretend Downey didn't just have a cameo part as Vergara's husband.
Serene Abusamaan 2 years ago
is that tony stark in the back, I had no idea he was a chef too...
#8
Grown UPS 2
FireTigerThrowdown replied:
"Wonderful posters. Hurr durr, grown men sure are infantile manchildren while women are joyless mother figures."
Valek Fermiga 2 years ago
Why, oh why did they make the first one, let alone a stupid second one, the poster is wrong because it advertises it....
That Goth Demon (zey/zem) 2 years ago
🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
#9
Finding Normal
"I don't even remember where I saw this, but it took me no time at all to realize it's the worst one I've ever seen."
Sam Juan 2 years ago
I'm guessing someone looked at the original cover, then said "It needs more cow"
Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
50 bucks they end up married and she finds out she's much happier as a mother than a career woman.
Ha ha nope. 2 years ago
Based on the poster I'd guess it's about a couple trying to escape a horrible photoshop wasteland so they can finally lead a normal life.
#10
My Ghost Dog
"I work in health care and some of the movies that we get are these christian movie house films to show to elderly or kids and you're just like "Dude this movie looks like it'll make them feel worse." So we always end up buying the latest movies and keeping them in rotation for people to watch."
#11
Left Behind
criminalsunrise replied:
"That looks like Nicholas Cage's face on John Travolta's body... hold on, that'd make a great film!"
Nice Beast Ludo 2 years ago
Weird as the movie itself... not as strange as the kirk Cameron trilogy though
Valek Fermiga 2 years ago
I'm embarrassed to say, I've seen this movie, more than once, always makes me think of that Simpson episode where Homer doesn't want to be " Left Below...."
#12
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Hono Klatuu 2 years ago
Terrible poster but I love this movie. Even if it's a bit cheesy, it's got whales, friendship and the 80s, what more could you want? I recommend even non-trekkies to watch this movie.
Admiralu 2 years ago
Spock gave him a nerve pinch when he wouldn't turn his music down on the bus
Load More Replies...
#13
Love Never Dies
becauseican95 replied:
"The poster's bad. The title's worse."
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
as a musician, hear me out (or just skip to the bottom): 1. her bow is too short, never mind the completely sacrilegious way she’s holding it (NEVER TOUCH THE BOW HAIR). 2. where on earth is her chinrest? It looks like a viola, it’s way to big to be a violin, but i’m assuming they were trying to have her play violin. 3. the photoshop is atrocious, and 4. those fine tuners are disgusting- she would never get a decent sound with those huge metal tuners on her tailpiece. RESEARCH, PEOPLE! please, i beg you- just ask any musician and we’d be so happy to help with any of this
Haru 2 years ago
The way she held the bow murdered me internally. So incredibly sacrilegious. Lingling does not approve.
Load More Replies...
idraax poission 2 years ago
When all of your budget goes into the song and dance sequences and you realize you still need to do the poster.
#14
The Other Woman
Sam Juan 2 years ago
This is a cover that speaks to the younger generation! We need to communicate with emojis more!! ➡️☺️🫤😭😯🤷🏾♂️😱👍🏾👌🏾🥳😘😊🤩
Klondike Penguin 2 years ago
Uh! Do you really need to put emojis in the actors’ names? Put in their names properly, damn it!
That Goth Demon (zey/zem) 2 years ago
No, that's one of those knuckle scratcher thingys
Load More Replies... #15
Blonde And Blonder
#16
Hit By Lightning
DQ11 replied:
"Still though it is almost worth mentioning twice.
3 very obvious separate pictures attempted to be pieced together + fake gun arm... just odd. Somebody got paid money for this... and then probably got another job after, and got paid for that too."
ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
also, why did they put the names in a different order than they are pictured? makes no sense at all.
RamiRudolph 2 years ago
I always find it annoying when the actor's names don't match the picture.
Klondike Penguin 2 years ago
I best remember Jon Cryer as Alan in Two And A Half Men. This looks like a movie that he’s not too proud of taking a role in.
Nice Beast Ludo 2 years ago
Why is the brains hanging out in bed with a chump and a sidekick??
#17
Shaggy The Dog
"They put his eyes on a dog and it's just creepy."
#18
Zyzzyx Road
jer706 replied:
"This movie grossed a total of literally $30 in the box office on a $1.2 million budget."
Fat Harry 2 years ago
It grossed $30 because they intentionally limited it to one showing per day at one single cinema in Texas. The production team wanted the US release to be after the foreign release, but in order to meet criteria set by the Screen Actors' Guild they had to do the US release first.
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
On a Sunday night in September, I remember not being able to sleep at all when I suddenly started having hallucinations and my dreams bled into real life and I saw all the characters in this movie in that hallucination. It was a very weird experience and it took me 3 weeks to recover from the sleeplessness and get over the hallucination
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
what the hell? you manifested them 💀
Load More Replies...
Joseph Gelfo 2 years ago
Imagine trying to get a ticket for this movie: "One ticket to Zizzi-, Zix-, Zaizy-, Zi-, f**k.
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
No XD It’s a real road in California. I’ve driven past it on my way to Las Vegas. It leads to a small town/settlement, also called Zzyzx, near Bakersfield.
Load More Replies...
Amanda Lynch 2 years ago
Hard to popularize a movie when you don't even know how to pronounce/work the title
#19
The Accidental Husband
isorx0932 replied:
"Please tell me this isn't real. Was this done in Microsoft paint?"
That Goth Demon (zey/zem) 2 years ago
Hopefully, yes. I really don't like the creepy AI lady 😬
#20
Cook Off
#21
Good Luck Chuck
"Everything about this poster is wrong."
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
Jessica Alba yes, Dane Cook 100% no, I can't even comprehend how he's considered to be funny.
Klondike Penguin 2 years ago
He’s a love-him-or-hate-him kind of actor-comedian. Me, I think he’s funny.
Load More Replies... 
mooshoflove 2 years ago
To be fair .I just woke up . But what's wrong with this poster?
Load More Replies... #22
Avengers: Age Of Ultron
User No 1 said:
"It's pretty much a running joke by now that Marvel team up movies have bad posters. Nothing to qualify as the worst by any measure, but just completely uninspired photoshop hack jobs. The solo movies tend to have decent ones, but the Avengers movies and Civil War had some bad ones."
A_Dog_Chasing_Cars replied:
"I'm especially amused by this Age of Ultron one.
'Boss, who do we put on the poster?'
'Everyone!'"
theincrediblebatcat 2 years ago
Now hold on, as a marvel fan, I don’t think that looks too bad -ps what do scarlet witch and daredevil have in common? They both lost their vision
surprised pikachu 2 years ago
There's a thing at Universal Studios where they will photoshop your face into a movie poster. They photoshopped my brother into this poster and it looked absolutely cursed
#23
Spider-Man 3
"Looks like it was made by a guy just learning Photoshop."
RamiRudolph 2 years ago
There's a 3 in the lower right corner. And it should be obvious that it's Spider-Man.
Load More Replies...
#24
The Bling Ring
"Font and letter spacing is shocking."
#25
Kangaroo Jack
Miss Tinker 2 years ago
Good God this movie was atrocious. As an Australian, I was actually embarrassed 😳
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I was thinking that! Only had the misfortune of seeing it at a school camp, so was easy enough to zone out.
Load More Replies...
#26
Contraband
"Mark Wahlberg looks like he is scratching his back and doing a terrible job of hiding the money strapped to his waist."
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
this is me but instead of money it is the chocolate i stole from the pantry
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago (edited)
To be fair, Marky Mark always looks like this on movie posters XD (I grew up in the 80s/90s when he was a hip-hop musician known as Marky Mark and thus he shall forever be Marky Mark to me.)
#27
Zookeeper
Ha ha nope. 2 years ago
"Ah, a rollercoaster. It is so refreshing to experience life's simpler pleasures. Isn't that right, my dear companion?"
#28
The Fall
Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
It's especially infuriating because the movie is so visually stunning.
#29
Chairman Of The Board
Scott J 2 years ago
AKA Chairman of the Bored AKA Box Office Poison. According to Norm McDonald.
#30
A Good Day To Die Hard
pitaenigma replied:
"I will not have that movie spoken ill of. It is the world's greatest nap movie. I have never sat through it without falling asleep ten minutes in, and waking up to a helicopter exploding is glorious. I fell asleep to it in movie theaters, I fell asleep to it when I pirated it, and I fell asleep to it when it was on TV. I never fall asleep to movies, but that film is fucking Nyquil to me. So don't talk ill about it. I'm an insomniac and this is the only cure."
#31
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Vintage B---- 2 years ago
i dont see a problem w this tbh the only thing that's bothering me is the fact that there's so much going on
#32
Heartbreakers
#33
Russell Madness
masterobiwan replied:
"Oh gosh. I saw a trailer for that the other day."
#34
Meet The Deedles
#35
One Missed Call
jaredsbanta 2 years ago
I remember scrolling the internet when I was younger and this movie had ad banners. I’d freak every time I saw it.
#36
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
theincrediblebatcat 2 years ago
The only part about this movie which could possibly be good is the fact that they put dogs/wolves in the poster
Morgan Lemmons 2 years ago
It looks like they told all the actors to pose as if they were running
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
*vine guy voice: why are you running? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?
#37
Takers
rocker2014 said:
"Worst photoshopped poster ever."
Blinkskij replied:
"I love Idris Elba, but I'm fairly sure he's not an actual light source."
VictorBlimpmuscle also replied:
"Paul Walker's head looks like it's photoshopped onto a black man's neck."
#38
Breakin' All The Rules
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
I feel like Jamie Foxx probably regrets accepting a part in this movie XD
#39
All About Steve
#40
Carpool
#41
Corky Romano
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago (edited)
Chris Kattan is an underrated actor. He’s excellent. I used to take acting classes from his dad, Kip King. Kip was very proud of his son
#42
Grudge Match
"There's one for a film called something like Grudge Match, with an incredibly poorly photoshopped De Niro and Stallone on it. That one is a big contender for me."
#43
The Trust
sunshinecid replied:
"Why are Elijah Wood's hands SO big?"
#44
Stolen
jumpbreak5 replied:
"Still blows my mind that this movie actually happened. It really does look like it was based on a photoshopped movie poster made by a redditor."
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
nick cage just has a face that always looks photoshopped
#45
Exodus: Gods And Kings
whendoesOpTicplay replied:
"I feel like it was a poor attempt at hiding that the "Egyptians" were being played by two white dudes."
Wysteria_Rose 2 years ago
That movie was so incredibly long. I remember towards the end I was thinking, "oh god, are we going to walk with them to the Promised Land next?!?!"
#46
Sniper: Special Ops
#47
Magic In The Moonlight
Beatrice Fairchild 2 years ago
Why does it look like someone is trying to throw a ball at her?
ЛеснойКороль(ForestKing)H/H 2 years ago
this looks like a poster i would have made in primary art class
#48
Date Movie
CalamityOne 2 years ago
I don't think I've heard of this one, but I would guess it's those spoof "comedies" that take a joke and proceed to bludgeon the audience with it for two hours
#49
Mamas's Boy
Redditor said:
"I can't believe that I saw the movie, it makes me despise Jon Heder."
Cyclops_ replied:
"I like Jon Heder. I feel like I must see this. I believe it'll be terrible, and not in the cool way. I feel like I vaguely remember it coming out, but then again I can't even imagine one shot."
theincrediblebatcat 2 years ago
The man looks like he’s just seen someone get murdered and I don’t even know if the girl on the right is a love interest or a badly casted mom
#50
Fifth Element
"Was talking to my brother and he threw this bomb at me, Fifth Element Movie Poster."
Klondike Penguin 2 years ago
Next movie that Bruce Willis stars in: The Seventh Vowel. In case none of you know, it’s a Robot Chicken clip.
#51
The Whole Ten Yards
#52
Heavy Petting
PedosoKJ replied:
"How hard would it have been to get the dog to lick her face?"
Hendo 2 years ago
ok, hang on, is this movie encouraging b********y? Why is the dog's paw on her b00b?
turtle is kewl 2 years ago
It’s not on her b00b its literally floating in midair
Load More Replies... #53
Shelter
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is a beautiful man, and this poster does him an injustice.
pinkytoes 2 years ago
I know. You'd have to work hard to make him unattractive. They apparently worked hard on this poster!
Load More Replies...
#54
I Am Wrath
dugpdcv said:
"Damn, the guy looks like Liam Hemsworth on the poster."
Afrasher replied:
"Looks like they photoshopped the top half of John Travolta's face onto the body of Arnie's Terminator."
#55
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage
Hoogs replied:
"Nic looks about 80 years old in that photo."
Admiralu 2 years ago
The Indianapolis was the ship that delivered the bomb in WWII. The ship was sunk on the way back and hundreds of men went in the water. Sharks killed most of them. That story was shared in the movie Jaws.
Load More Replies... #56
Bangkok Dangerous
"Whats his arm doing, looks like he's doing a bad magic trick & also FLAMES & stuff."
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
He had to make a lot of (bad) movies because he ended up $6 million in debt after the American real estate crash XD
Load More Replies... #57
Jack Reacher
Mama Penguin 2 years ago
I was sitting in front of two elderly gentlemen in a movie theater when the Jack Reacher preview came on. I overheard one of them saying, "Who the heck is afraid of Tom Cruise?"
#58
Daddy Day Care
PineappleSlices replied:
"Watch how many children I can fit up my a**."
#60
The Heat
I Am, In Fact, That Weirdo 2 years ago
yes I distinctly remember common line f********* sh******** bit*********** *bleep* *bleep* f*ckenstein *bleep* (lol they do swear a ton in that movie but it’s still great)
Load More Replies... Wysteria_Rose 2 years ago
I don't even think this is the REALLY bad poster. At some point, they released a poster for this movie where they did obvious photoshop touches on Melissa to slim up her face. It was very obvious and hardly looked like her.
#61
Gulliver’s Travels
Gémeaux jumeaux 2 years ago
Don't let these Lilliputians get you down, Jack. 🎶Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches...
#62
Street Kings
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
What on earth is Hugh Laurie doing in there? Couldn't get less "street" if they tried.
#63
The Blue Lagoon
OneHappyPuppy 2 years ago
I much preferred the parody part of the movie Top Secret that was inspired by this movie. Seriously, Top Secret is on "Airplane!" level funny to me
#64
The Last Song
#66
Rhinestone
#67
Brother Nature
not your average weirdo 2 years ago
This looks like a movie that I would walk in on my parents watching because my uncle recommended it to them and kept making references to
#68
The Wonder Boys
"This poster is totally laughable."
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
I don’t think it’s laughable at all. Plus Michael Douglas is an amazing actor.
#70
Million Dollar Arm
#71
Neverwas
theincrediblebatcat 2 years ago
There neverwas a chance of this idea being turned into a good movie
I Am, In Fact, That Weirdo 2 years ago
yep. and it’s definitely Hurt. not the other one.
Load More Replies... #72
Cloud Atlas
#73
Robin Hood
#74
Ready Player One
witchling 2 years ago
This was a good movie. And the poster is an accurate representation of movie events.
#75
Juliet, Naked
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
I've never seen this movie but it's got Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne and Chris O'dowd so I'm definitely gonna watch it. Lol
#76
Tomb Raider
#77
Little Italy
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Love this movie for how terrible it is. My most favourite bad movie
#78
Victory
#79
Changeling
Miss Tinker 2 years ago
A great movie about an incredible true story: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Collins The real Christine Collins looked nothing like Angelina Jolie but the movie would not have been made with out her, hence the poster focussing on her!
#80
Chapter 27
#82
There Will Be Blood
"It's also the current IMDb cover pic for the film, while the previous one was one of the best film posters I've ever seen."
not your average weirdo 2 years ago
“What is the absolute worst font and layout I can use for this poster”
I Am, In Fact, That Weirdo 2 years ago
oh no. i’m scared. spare me. have mercy, please. help. you seem so menacing. i totally believe there will be blood. it will totally be mine. that’s why I’m so scared. clearly.
#83
Watchmen
#85
Thor: The Dark World
theincrediblebatcat 2 years ago
I’m a marvel fan so I’m a little biased but the only thing I see wrong with it is Jane Foster’s (woman in the middle) expression
Add New Image
What do you think ?
JK 2 years ago
I love how many of these are Nic Cage films - dude really is just out there taking any script that's waved in front of him. Love the guy, and some of his movies are awesome, but god he has made some absolute turds in his time!
OneHappyPuppy 2 years ago
It's a running joke I believe, like Sean Bean dying in every movie he's ever been in (not entirely true but you get it...)
Load More Replies... JK 2 years ago
I love how many of these are Nic Cage films - dude really is just out there taking any script that's waved in front of him. Love the guy, and some of his movies are awesome, but god he has made some absolute turds in his time!
OneHappyPuppy 2 years ago
It's a running joke I believe, like Sean Bean dying in every movie he's ever been in (not entirely true but you get it...)
Load More Replies... 
Related on Bored Panda
