No country has a wider range of cinema poster sizes than the US. Hollywood is, of course, considered the birthplace of the modern film industry and for the past 100 years, the largest Film Studios (which commission the printing of cinema posters) continue to be based there. Demographics also play a part A larger population leads to more cinemas and more poster formats. In this article, we explore many US Cinema Poster Sizes. Once again the pictures are to scale to enable comparison.
US Lobby Card (14 x 11 inches)
While the UK had Front of House Cards (10 x 8 inches), the US had slightly larger lobby cards. These cards show scenes from the movies. The scene where James Bond meets Honey Rider in Dr. No can be seen on the lobby card in the top left of this photo. The use of lobby cards peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. Few promotional packs for new movies appear to include them now.
US Insert (14 x 36 inches)
An example of this portrait style poster can be seen on the left of the image in the middle row. These were printed on card stock, generally rolled after the 1960s but discontinued in the mid 80s.
US Window Card (14 x 22 inches)
The distinguishing feature of these posters is that the top 1/4 has been left blank to allow for showing times to be written onto the poster. These cards were generally displayed in shops which also allowed the cinema venue to be written into the blank sections.
US Half Sheet (28 x 22 inches)
These landscape posters were printed on cardstock and discontinued after the 80s. An example can be seen second from left in the top row.
US One Sheet (27 x 40 inches/ 27 x 41 inches)
The portrait-style US One-Sheet poster is by far the most common US cinema poster. An example can be seen 2nd from the left bottom row. Around the mid-80s the height of the poster changed from 41 to 40 inches. You can find many One Sheet posters on the Cinema Poster Gallery website.
US Three Sheet (41 x 81 inches)
The name is a giveaway. This portrait-style poster is 3 times the size of the usual US One Sheet poster. These were typically printed in 2 to 3 parts and were displayed on outdoor billboards. For this reason, the ones that survive were typically never used. An example can be seen 3rd from left in the image.
US Six Sheet (81 x 81 inches)
At over 2 metres in length and breath, this squared shape poster is for a persion with serious wall space. These were typically printed in 4 parts and some relatively recent (if you consider Roger Moore playing James Bond to be recent) examples appear to have been printed. The poster on the far right of the image is, of course, a Six Sheet poster.
Two other format can be seen in the second image below.
From left to right: A lobby card (top), insert (middle), window card (bottom), a half sheet poster (top), a one sheet poster (bottom),a three sheet poster and six sheet poster for the film Dr No. All posters are true to scale.
30 x 40 inch (30 x 40 inches)
Slightly wider than a One Sheet poster an example can be see on the bottom row in the second image. These were typically rolled and printed on cardstock which makes them prone to cracking.
US Subway Poster (45 and 60 inches)
US Subway posters emerged in the 60s and continue to be printed. An example can be seen in the ‘You Only Live Twice’ poster in the second image. The scale and landscape format make it a great option to add some wow factor to a larger space.
