Raiders of the Lost Ark Movie Poster and Daybill versions released in Australia

With the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark in Australia in the early 80's, it was inevitable that multiple printings of Daybill movie posters for the promotion of  the movie would be needed. M.A.P.S printers in Sydney were the printers for three known printings for this title. But at a glance, most collectors won't see a difference.

The three printing versions of original release Australian Daybills, that we are aware of, show very few differences, but are:

1. 1st Image: This Daybill poster measures 13.25" x 28" and the credits state 'Distributed by Cinema International Corporation'.
2. 2nd Image: This Daybill poster measures 13.5" x 28" and the credits state 'Distributed by United International Pictures'
3. 3rd Image: This Daybill poster measures 13.5" x 26.75" and the credits state 'Distributed by United International Pictures'

In 1981, United International Pictures (UIP) took over from Cinema International Corporation (CIC), and with the movie being released in Australia on 14th August 1981, it stands to reason that the Daybills with CIC in the credits must be first printing just before the distributor name change. Posters in Image 2 and Image 3 are very similar but state the distributor as United International Pictures (UIP) and would therefore have been printed after the name change. Comparing Image 2 and Image 3, they are different printings and show a slight variation to font size and weight to the 'DISTRIBUTED BY...' tags. But at this time we do not have enough information to confirm which version was the second or third printing.

The paper stock on the CIC printing is more matte and of a higher weight than the other two printings.

So, it is safe to say that the printing with 'Distributed by Cinema International Corporation' is the First Printing for this popular title, and is the rarer and more desirable.

What about the Australian One Sheets?

That's an interesting question. Of all the original release Australian One Sheets we have seen for Raiders of the Lost Ark, we have not identified any notable differences. They all have 'Distributed by Cinema International Corporation'. This could be for a few reasons: the original print run for one sheets was enough to satisfy the demand from movie theatres and drive-ins, or the printers used the same artwork without any change for a later printing (unlikely). We may not ever know the answer to this question. But if anyone has any additional information please feel free to drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you.

Click here to see our Indiana Jones movie posters.

To find out more about Raiders of the Lost Ark and its posters you can visit IMDB here.