The Northman has suffered an unfortunate blunder before it has even hit cinemas. Photo / Twitter@Isaac Butler
The Northman has suffered an unfortunate blunder before it has even hit cinemas. Photo / Twitter@Isaac Butler
Acclaimed director Robert Eggers' star-studded new Viking epic has suffered an unfortunate blunder before it has even hit cinemas.
The Northman, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman, hits screens later this month, with a series of dark, Game of Thrones-esque posters erected in New York City subway stations yesterday.
But commuters were left scratching their heads over the slick-looking advertisements, given they were missing one important detail: the film's title.
Aside from neglecting to mention the name of the film, the posters featured a blood-soaked, ripped and scowling Alexander Skarsgard and an ominous "Conquer Your Fate" tagline, along with a total of three references to director Robert Eggers.
According to reporters at Vulture – who took to the subway stations to quiz people on what they thought the untitled film was about – the posters were taken down after a few hours when the gaffe was pointed out on Twitter.
“So you got that poster ready for The Northman?” “Yeah, chief! We already printed it and put it in subways all over New York!” “You made sure the title was on it, right?” “Uhhhhhhhh….” pic.twitter.com/stFRzeR2Sw
Soon enough, commuters all over New York were spotting the botched posters themselves, with Twitter users chiming in with their own suggested titles.
"Flintstones 2: Bad Day in Bedrock," one said.
"Are you so sure there wasn't a last minute title change to CONQUER YOUR FATE?," questioned another.
Others speculated that it was a marketing strategy to get people talking about the film.
"This 100 per cent is marketing strategy," one person wrote.
Robert Eggers, Anya Taylor-Joy, Alexander Skarsgard and Sjon pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film The Northman in London on April 5. Photo / AP
"They knew so many people would see it, laugh at the big mistake they discovered, tweet it, and bring attention to the show that no one would have heard of without this 'mistake'.
"… Or they sent off POSTERfinalFINAL_addTITLE.jpg by accident," they added.
"Someone in the design department forgot they set the title to overprint …. (Graphic designer humor)," offered another, recalling a similar experience they'd encountered.
"(Also my former employer, a major publishing house, once put a cover all the way through the routing process – dozens of people – and printed it without the author's name. It happens)"
The Northman is Eggers' third feature film after cult horror hits The Lighthouse and The Witch.
It features a stacked cast including Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke and Icelandic singer Bjork in her first major film appearance since 2000's Dancer In The Dark.
Set in 10th century Iceland, Skarsgard plays Viking warrior on a quest for vengeance after his father, King Horvendill, played by Hawke, is beheaded.
It sounds a little bit more violent than a Flintstones sequel.
