I have yet to see the 1971 Straw Dogs (it’s on my Before I Turn 30 list), but I love that poster. The image of Dustin Hoffman in the broken glasses tells me everything I need to know about the film, a thriller about a man pushed to the edge of reason when they move to a small village where the locals prove anything but hospitable.
James Marsden fills in for Hoffman in the upcoming remake, and now dons the broken glasses for a remake of the iconic poster. There are a few twists: Screen Gems found a way to get Alexander Skarsgård’s beautiful Swedish face in the picture and added the slogan “Everyone has a breaking point.” The image can’t be as powerful four decades later, but this is smarter than your average poster. Kate Bosworth also stars in Straw Dogs, opening on September 16. See the new poster and its inspiration after the jump.
Click here for all our Straw Dogs coverage. Official synopsis:
David and Amy Sumner (James Marsden and Kate Bosworth), a Hollywood screenwriter and his actress wife, return to her small hometown in the deep South to prepare the family home for sale after her father’s death. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, including Amy’s ex-boyfriend Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard), leading to a violent confrontation.
Thanks to director Rod Lurie for tweeting the link to the poster.
For your comparison, the original poster:
And because it’s vaguely relevant, the Tyler Perry take:
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it doesn’t make sense. is Alexander Skarsgard’s face a reflection, or what? the piece of glass is broken and hangs below the rims, so it can’t be a reflection then …
its just a poster, dude.
Agreed. Not only does it not make sense, but this remake of the original poster is going to be, I think, indicative of the remake of the original movie: cheap, lazy and over the top. No offense to Brendan, I think this poster design is far from smart.
I mean, someone was paid to ‘update’ this poster? Well I guess they did a reflection… for some reason, and type out a brilliant tagline.
And “A.”: it’s just a comment about a poster, dude.
this remake can’t possibly be as unsettling as the original version was. it’s like remaking last house on the left.
http://www.youscreeniscreen.com
You’ve never seen the original “Straw Dogs”? Oh, how I envy you…I will refrain from ruining the ending for you, but Hoffman is like the MacGyver of inflicting pain. Total badass.
Awful.
The original’s poster is awesome.
The remake’s poster looks like its creator has has just discovered photoshop.
The fact Kate Bosworth is in this turns me off already. Miss Lollipop Head can’t act at all and everything she appears in, is destined to fail. Add this to the CV, Kate?
Agreed.
And what movie site editor hasn’t seen the original?? And is under 30?!
And can you stop telling me to “hit the jump” when I’m already on the article page? No need to repeat that blurb from the linking page.
oh, and gcan we just say “here” and make it a hyperlink? “After the jump” is getting tired… and redundant.
Great site, though! Winning!
@brendan “The image of Dustin Hoffman in the broken glasses tells me everything I need to know about the film”
Who the fuck do you think you are? How can you possibly judge a movie based on a poster, albeit a classic one? This is a movie site and you’ve never seen the original and you’re reporting on a fucking re-make? Between yours and Matt’s fluff reporting, I’m never returning to this site.
“I have yet to see the 1971 Straw Dogs (it’s on my Before I Turn 30 list), but I love that poster. The image of Dustin Hoffman in the broken glasses tells me everything I need to know about the film,”
Moron. Write about something you know about. It’s people like you who give internet journalists a bad name.