First Poster for Oliver Stone’s SAVAGES

The first poster for Oliver Stone’s adaptation of Don Winslow’s crime novel Savages has gone online.  The pic stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  I was already intrigued by the impressive cast Stone assembled, then Universal moved the film to a prime summer release date after apparently being wowed by a test screening.  This poster hints at an epic and entertaining crime saga, and I’m eager to see Stone have some fun.  I haven’t been wowed by the director’s recent output but when he’s on, he’s on, and I’m hoping Savages is a summer crowd-pleaser.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman and John Travolta. Savages opens on July 6th.

Poster courtesy of IMPA.

Here’s the official synopsis for Savages:

Three-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone returns to the screen with the ferocious thriller Savages, featuring the all-star ensemble cast of Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demian Bichir.  The film is based on Don Winslow’s best-selling crime novel that was named one of The New York Times’ Top 10 Books of 2010.

Laguna Beach entrepreneurs Ben (Johnson), a peaceful and charitable Buddhist, and his closest friend Chon (Kitsch), a former Navy SEAL and ex-mercenary, run a lucrative, homegrown industry—raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  They also share a one-of-a-kind love with the extraordinary beauty Ophelia (Lively).  Life is idyllic in their Southern California town…until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them.

When the merciless head of the BC, Elena (Hayek), and her brutal enforcer, Lado (Del Toro), underestimate the unbreakable bond among these three friends, Ben and Chon—with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (Travolta)—wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel.  And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.