Movie posters are supposed to intrigue you and make you want to watch the movie, but not all of them do that. Instead of giving you a preview of what the movie is about sometimes they spoil the ending before you even get the chance to see it. Obviously the people who design the posters never wanted that to happen, but they weren’t careful enough and they accidentally designed them in a way that reveals what happens in the movies.
You can’t always tell when you first look at the posters, but if you look close enough, you can sometimes see how the movie ends. From Planet Of The Apes and The Shawshank Redemption to Carrie and Grease, here are 10 movie posters that completely spoiled the ending.
10 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption is one of the movies that are based on the Stephen King books and became a huge hit over time. If you’ve read the book, then you already know what happens, but you don’t even need to read the book or watch the movie to know the ending. According to Screen Rant, “The film's protagonist, Andy Dufresne, is in prison, but the poster shows him happy and free. That hints at the fact that Andy will escape the prison sooner or later, which is exactly what happened in the movie.”
9 'Terminator Genisys' (2015)
This poster completely ended the Terminator franchise—it gave away the biggest moment in the movie and people didn’t even need to watch it to know what happens. According to Screen Rant, “It didn't help the film at all that its poster spoiled one of the major plot twists; John Connor, the presumed savior of all humanity, would turn out to be a robot. So, when the scene arrived in the film, the fans already knew something like this might expect, and they weren't surprised in the slightest by John's transformation, perhaps just by the fact how it didn't seem to make much sense.”
8 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018)
The original poster for this movie didn’t spoil anything, but the one in Japanese did. Anyone who speaks Japanese will know exactly how the movie ends since this poster translates to "Avengers annihilated” in English. “As all fans of the MCU know, Avengers were indeed annihilated by Thanos in the film's finale as they failed to stop him and half of all life in the universe perished. Some posters don't spoil the film's ending, which often turns out to be most relevant for potential sequels but this one managed it,” according to Screen Rant. We’re not sure why they had to spoil it for all of the people who speak Japanese.
7 'Ender's Game' (2013)
Ender’s Game is another movie that’s based on a book. Although some things might be different in the movie, fans can read the book to know what happens in the story. You don’t even need to read the book with this one either. The poster spoils the ending where Ender stops the hostile aliens and destroys their ships. According to Screen Rant, “But, even those who didn't read the book came to the same realization thanks to this poster that shows Ender about to destroy his enemies with weapons. It looks like this shot wouldn't miss, so everybody can imagine what will happen next once Ender fires.”
6 'Planet Of The Apes' (1968)
Planet Of The Apes came out decades ago and it’s definitely become a classic. Most people have probably watched the whole movie by now, but for anyone who hasn’t seen it, they can just look at the poster to see the ending. “It shocked the audience with the ending in which the main hero discovers he's on destroyed Earth even though he believed he was on another planet populated by intelligent apes. He found this out by discovering the collapsed Statue of Liberty. It was the film's finale, and it was chilling,” according to Screen Rant. Although the film had a surprising ending, if you take a close look at the poster, you can see the hero discovering he’s still on Earth.
5 'Carrie' (1976)
Carrie is another Stephen King classic where fans didn’t need to read the book to know what happens in the movie. It doesn’t give away all of the ending, but it spoils most of it. “In this case, the poster showcases the now-iconic scene in which Carrie turns from a happy high school girl to an avenging person with special powers. It happens after her classmates play an ugly prank on her and she ends up covered in pig blood. It's one of the most intense scenes of the film, so it feels like a lost potential to include it on the poster,” according to Screen Rant. The poster for the new version of the movie does the same thing and shows the iconic moment where Carrie is covered in blood.
4 'Grease' (1978)
Grease is a classic musical that’s lasted through the generations since people still listen to the music from it today. The ending isn’t obvious in the movie poster, but if you take a good look at it, you can see that it shows how Sandy changed at the end. According to Screen Rant, “However, the important theme in the film is Sandy's transformation from an innocent, naive girl to a confident young woman. It also reflects the change in her appearance. But because the poster showed Sandy with her new look, the audience knew this change was coming and that Sandy would become a whole new person by the film's end.”
3 'The Impossible' (2012)
The Impossible is an emotional movie that’s based on an inspiring true story. The people who designed the poster made a huge mistake though. They showed the happy ending of the family being together again. According to Screen Rant, “The Impossible told the story of a family that was vacationing in Thailand in 2004 when the fateful tsunami hit and it tore them apart. The whole movie is focused on their effort to find each other again. Even if the viewers suspect they will succeed, they can't know for certain. Unless they look at this poster, that is, since it clearly hints at the fact the family will be reunited in the end.”
2 'Pompeii' (2014)
Pompeii wasn’t much of a hit when it came out. It might have been because so many people know the history of Pompeii or because the poster gave away what happens to the characters at the end. According to Screen Rant, “If this poster didn't reveal that they not only would get together, but that they also wouldn't escape the disaster, it may have received a more favorable audience turnout. That said, the film was fairly predictable even without the official poster giving crucial plot elements away.”
1 'Cabin In The Woods' (2012)
The original poster of the Cabin In The Woods is only a picture of the cabin in the movie, but the Japanese poster is a lot different and completely spoils the movie. According to Screen Rant, “Directed by Joss Whedon, the film takes well-known horror tropes, mixes them with dark humor, and turns them upside down. Once again, the Japanese poster reveals more than wise. The people who saw the film will know the poster showcases what happens once the main heroes discover the truth about what they're facing, which happens in the last third of the film and is one of its major plot twists!” It doesn’t make sense why they designed the Japanese poster so differently than the American one. If they had just put a cabin in the poster with the words in Japanese, the movie spoiler could’ve been avoided.