While his previous efforts “Up In The Air” and “Juno” were boosted by early appearances on the fall film festival circuit, this year, Jason Reitman is choosing to keep things under wraps until much later in the season and there are a couple reasons for that. Firstly, sustaining early hype can be a challenge and while many pegged “Up In The Air” as a Best Picture winner after it wooed crowds at TIFF, that talk had deflated by time the end of the year had rolled around. Secondly, compared to ‘Air’ or “Juno,” Reitman’s “Young Adult” is a much darker, more prickly affair, for proof of which you need to look no further than new poster debuted at THR which shows an illustrated Charlize Theron passed out with a 40oz bottle in hand.
Once again reteaming with “Juno” writer Diablo Cody, Reitman’s features Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt (with J.K. Simmons narrating), and follows the story of a divorced 30-something young-adult fiction writer (Theron; and hence the book cover one-sheet) who returns to her Minnesota home to chase after her now-married-with-kids ex-boyfriend (Wilson). Oswalt plays a semi-crippled old high school acquaintance who is the drinking buddy and pitying enabler of Theron’s character. Advance word is that this one is certainly not the embraceable fare of Reitman’s past efforts, with a tone that may be a bit uncomfortable for some. But either way, this slow build marketing campaign is off to a great and very creative start — this poster is simply one of the best we’ve seen so far this year. Nicely done.
“Young Adult” hits theaters on December 9th. Check out the full artwork below.
