The Man Who Fell to Earth movie posters
Contributed by Andrew Harrison
on Jan 10th, 2026. Artwork published in
.
Original British theatrical posters for Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. The poster uses two fonts against a Vic Fair artwork: Busk for the title and David Bowie billing – before the font was further popularized by heavy metal band Iron Maiden – and Capone for the credits.
British Quad (30″×40″) poster
British Three Sheet (39.5″×79″) poster
2 Comments on “The Man Who Fell to Earth movie posters”
Thank you, Andrew.
The designers of several international posters wanted to follow the typographic lead of the original. However, Busk was virtually unavailable to them: it was an exclusive typeface by Alphabet Photosetting in London.
The makers of the German posters were lucky: all required letters could be copied from the British poster. The counterform of the O got blunted bottom corners in the process.
The French took more creative license: the overall appearance is the same, but on closer look, hardly any of the letterforms is a match. This is lettering that emulates Busk.
The designers of the Turkish poster likewise created their own interpretation of Busk and its brutalist diagonals.
You’re welcome, Florian! And I appreciate the additional posters and info!