“Once a Thief”, Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1991, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA320

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster for the first release of Once a Thief (1991), the glossy Hong Kong action-romance caper directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, and Cherie Chung—a film that distils the era’s “heroic bloodshed” cool into something lighter, flirtier, and irresistibly stylish. Equal parts heist movie, love triangle, and gunplay spectacle, it’s a quintessential early-90s Hong Kong crowd-pleaser—made with the same operatic energy that turned Woo and Chow into global icons.

Poster design
A fantastic example of early-90s Japanese marketing for Hong Kong cinema: bold English headline typography (“YUN-FAT COMES BACK!”) across the top, a high-contrast, newspaper-grain portrait of Chow dominating the sheet, and three circular cast portraits anchoring the left side like a magazine spread. The Japanese title 狼たちの絆 (“Bonds of Wolves”) is rendered in dramatic brush-style lettering, while the vertical copy on the right adds a moody, romantic edge—overall, a clean, graphic design with huge wall presence in the B2 format.

Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.

It is over 35 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.