The wide variety of movie posters that were up for the challenge in 2022 are too numerous to mention here. Some of my personal favourites though include posters for Alice, Prey, EO and The Batman. However arguably the best poster of 2022 to help promote a movie belongs to director Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic Elvis.
Warner Bros. released three incredible looking posters for Elvis, featuring the largely unknown American actor Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll. Each poster was designed to show Elvis Presley at different stages of his legendary career through the 50s, 60s and 70s. Tying all three posters together is a brash gold baroque border with a bejewelled pattern that differs in each poster.
It is said director Baz Luhrmann put the now 31-year-old Butler through hell enduring a five-month long audition process to secure the coveted role of Elvis. (Butler beat out the likes of Ansel Elgort and Harry Styles for the role.) “I’m not sure I chose Austin,” Luhrmann explained. “I did in the end – I put him through the ringer, I tested him in every possible way. But I’m starting to feel like he kind of chose me or it chose us.”
But when the first posters (and trailers) for Luhrmann’s Elvis came out fans were divided over Butler’s so-called transformation into Elvis Presley. A lot of comments veered to the negative. Some fans didn’t believe he resembled (or sounded like) Elvis at all. Fortunately (I believe) the naysayers were wrong, Luhrmann’s team did an incredible job with Butler’s look, the voice, the stance, even the famous Elvis wiggle for the film. (Butler fully immersed himself in all things Elvis for such a long time that he still to this day sounds a bit like Elvis, a hangover of his vocal training).
It’s fair to say Butler’s look in the original posters (and his onscreen performance) is an interpretation rather than an impersonation of Elvis Presley. From the 1950’s blues rocker to his older ageing days as Las Vegas showman each poster tells a story. Of the three posters, my favourite is Butler as Elvis leaning into the 50s microphone. Like the scene it depicts in the film, this memorable poster teases a story which lies beyond the artwork. Worth a mention is the black leather clad Elvis poster. Butler looks too cool for his own good. Last but not least, I cannot think of Elvis without seeing him in his iconic white bell-bottomed jumpsuit. Butler strikes an impressive pose here making this particular poster instantly iconic.
Rearview Mirror 
While I have mixed feelings about the film, which made up some stuff, Austin Butler looked great! I was particularly impressed how they captured Elvis’ physical transformation in the late stage of his career.