Under The Skin Almost Starred Brad Pitt And Scores Some New Posters

By Rudie Obias | Updated 5 years ago

The nine years that have passed between movies for Jonathan Glazer is certainly a long time. The British director’s last film was the genre-bending drama Birth in 2004. Last year, Glazer made the return to the big screen with the eerie art film Under The Skin. Starring Scarlett Johansson, the strange sci-fi story is about to hit theaters in a limited release.

While it took Glazer almost a decade to adapt Dutch author Michel Faber’s novel of the same name, the new movie could’ve been finished sooner if the financing could’ve been raised in time. In an interview with The Guardian, Glazer described the original concept for the movie, which was to feature two aliens secretly disguised as a Scottish farmer and his wife. Brad Pitt actually signed on to play the farmer, but the movie couldn’t find enough money to make it a reality. He later dropped off the project and the script was re-tooled with a minimalist approach and Johansson’s character Isserley as the film’s center.

But why so long between movies? According to Glazer, life just simply got in the way. In an interview with The Playlist, he opened up about his family life and how making movies had to take a backseat to raising children. Glazer explained:

I’d like to say there were other projects I’ve made or have fallen through but they haven’t. I’ve been working very hard on getting this together…I had a third child, that going on, but this project has really held me for those years and it’s been a very long process of finding out what it was, finding the right language for it. The writing has taken an enormous amount of time. Then of course, there’s issues of money.

Meanwhile, A24 Films released a handful of new posters for Under The Skin. Much like the story, these posters are quite minimal as well. It seems that the posters are merely still images (albeit immaculate still images) from Under The Skin. While Johansson is in almost every frame, it’s fitting that all of the marketing is surrounding her and her body. The posters are haunting and strange, but also perfectly fitting the tone of the movie. I really wish more promotion were this original and beautiful. While Under The Skin isn’t your typical action/adventure sci-fi flick, it really seems that the movie is pushing the boundaries of the genre and our understanding of the human experience.

The story follows an alien who comes to Earth to pick up careless hitchhikers in Northern Scotland. Sexy and seductive, she lures in weary travelers then drugs, fattens, and mutilates them, turning them into meat for an evil corporation on her home planet. Human flesh is a delicacy for her race. Yummy!

Under The Skin hits theaters on April 4, 2014. It’s also the the same release date for Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters, which also stars Johansson. Don’t go to your local theater and say “one for the movie with Scarlett Johansson.” You might get something you weren’t expecting.

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