So far, 1.5 million people have liked Leonardo DiCaprio's Instagram post showing the first official movie poster for his upcoming Charles Manson film, Once Upon a Time In... Hollywood. What's less clear is how many of those "likes" are ironic. Because, let's face it, the poster for the Quentin Tarantino film, which features both DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, is pretty terrible.
The internet is currently tearing it apart. The font! The blantant use of Photoshop! The overly-tanned and smooth hands! The poster is cheesy, and not what these two superstars deserve.
Take a look:
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So...yeah. Let's start at the bottom: the font! It is extremely on the nose — as in, it's a weird not-quite-accurate replication of the iconic Hollywood sign. It's bad, is what I'm saying.
Now, moving up to the Photoshopped bodies of my two husbands — I mean, the two lead actors of the film. Pitt and DiCaprio are both extremely too tan, and extremely too smooth. And why do their pants look like that?
From there, let's break down the background. It looks like someone just learned about the VSCO photo editing app. The sunset's color scheme totally clashes with Pitt's Hawaiian shirt. Also, what are they leaning on? The edge of the poster? Why didn't they just have them leaning on the car? Oh right, because the car is blatantly Photoshopped onto the background. Phew, a full course mess is served.
whoever made the once upon a time in hollywood poster is a master scam artist and i must pay my respects to her. reveal yourself queen
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) March 18, 2019
graphic design is my passion pic.twitter.com/xrzVeaKDsf
— karen han (@karenyhan) March 18, 2019
How nice of Madame Tussaud’s to lend out their Brad Pitt wax figure for this poster pic.twitter.com/W1E57dJWci
— Will Kellogg (@Will_Kellogg) March 18, 2019
Mystery solved! pic.twitter.com/MdVCC8d7v4
— Boner Vivant (@Doug_Tilley) March 18, 2019
Considering this is Tarantino, I'm open to the possibility that he could be trolling us just a little bit. In fact, I'm hoping that's the case. A movie about an aging Hollywood actor (DiCaprio) and stunt man (Pitt), set against the backdrop of the murder of Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robbie) by the Manson Family, was never going to feel totally fresh and new. Audiences have an inherent familiarity with the subject matter. So why not lean in a little and make the poster as cheesy as possible to reset expectations? Give me a bad movie poster, and a good movie any day.
Out sometime in July, the film also stars Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Lena Dunham, Damien Lewis, James Marsden, and the late Luke Perry, in his final role.