# Reversed pictures and name in movie posters

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-pictures-and-name-in-movie-posters/245758>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [May 18, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-pictures-and-name-in-movie-posters/245758 "2004-05-18T13:38:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-pictures-and-name-in-movie-posters/245758/1 "2004-05-18T13:38:36Z")

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[The recent Straight Dope Classics column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_368.html). Reminded me of a related question I’ve been meaning to ask for a long time.

It appears to me that sometimes (defined as at least often enough for me to notice), the names of the actors and where they are on the picture do not correspond. Actor A’s name is to the left and B’s to the right but in the picture Actor A stands to the right of B.

This poster for [Chicago](http://www.movieposter.com/cgi-bin/mpw8/viewPIDn.pl?pid=MPW-4877) is one example. Renee Zellweger is listed to the left but she’s to the right in the picture and vice versa for Catherine Zeta-Jones.

This one for [Cold Mountain](http://www.movieposter.com/cgi-bin/mpw8/viewPIDn.pl?pid=MPW-9474) has them in the wrong order, but [this one](http://www.movieposter.com/cgi-bin/mpw8/viewPIDn.pl?pid=MPW-9817) is correct.

First of all, has anyone else noticed this? Does it annoy you too?

But, to get to the actual factual question, could this also be a factor in the negotiations on font size and where actors are listed?

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-pictures-and-name-in-movie-posters/245758/2 "2004-05-18T14:52:00Z")

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I’m sure it’s done on purpose. As with the Towering Inferno where they had one name above the other but shifted to the left, it’s difficult to give stars equal billing. By giving one emphasis in the text and the other in the image it helps even things out.