What are Teaser and Advance Movie Posters?
When looking through our Catalogue of original vintage and contemporary movie posters, you will come across posters described as ‘advance’ or ‘teaser’ movie posters.
In this blog post we take a look at what those terms mean…
Both advance and teaser posters are issued before a film is released in cinemas / theatres. They often contain different artwork from the posters issued at release.
Teaser Posters
Typically, for high budget films, the earliest posters will be released way in advance of the movie. These posters are designed to whet the appetite and whip up frenzy for the film. These are the 'Teaser' posters.
Typically, a teaser poster will be quite sparse and contain very little information about the film.
In the case of the teaser poster for 'Toy Story 4' shown below, the poster doesn't even name the film. Woody is considered such an iconic character that the studio banked on audiences recognising him, and the Toy Story brand.
Teaser posters may indicate the date of release, such as 'DECEMBER 2016" on the teaser below for 'La La Land', or may just state a variation of "COMING SOON", as in four of the teaser posters shown below.
A teaser poster will rarely include movie credits.
Advance Posters
Advance posters are released in the run-up to the release of a movie, often with different, more complex artwork than any associated teasers.
As in the examples of advance posters shown below, they will typically include full credits for the film, and specific release dates for the movie.
Things Don't Always Go To Plan…
Famously, it doesn’t always go to plan, and, when that happens, it creates real collector’s items for fans.
Below you can see a 100% genuine teaser movie poster for the third film in the original Star Wars Trilogy. It’s name? “Revenge of the Jedi”.
This was the original name of the film. Very shortly before release, George Lucas decided that ‘revenge’ was not a true Jedi trait, and the name of the film was quickly changed to “Return of the Jedi”.
The posters were recalled, but, not all of them made it back to the studio. Some made it in to the hands of collectors.
So, there you are. You now know your teaser from your advance movie poster, and, you know to look out for mistakes, as that creates rare items that get collectors drawling.
If you'd like to see more original movie posters, including many teasers and advance posters, why not take a look at our Catalogue of guaranteed original vintage and contemporary movie posters?
We hope you find something you love.
Adam and the Art of the Movies team.
