“Black Sunday” (ブラック・サンデー), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1977, B2 Size (51 x 73cm) Q158
This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed for the Japanese release of Black Sunday (ブラック・サンデー), John Frankenheimer’s tense political suspense thriller based on the novel by Thomas Harris. Directed by John Frankenheimer, the film stars Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver, and Steven Keats.
Film background
Released in 1977, Black Sunday is one of the defining American political thrillers of the decade. The film follows a plot to attack the Super Bowl using a hijacked blimp, with Israeli intelligence agent Kabakov, played by Robert Shaw, racing to prevent a mass-casualty terrorist strike. Blending political paranoia, procedural suspense, and large-scale action, it remains a major example of 1970s thriller filmmaking.
The film’s premise, drawn from Thomas Harris’s bestselling novel, gives the story a chillingly plausible atmosphere: international terrorism, American mass spectacle, and intelligence operations colliding inside a single high-stakes event.
Poster design
A superb Japanese theatrical design, using a stark black, white, red, blue, and yellow palette to create an immediate sense of danger and urgency. The huge red Japanese title ブラック・サンデー dominates the top of the poster, while the central image is built around high-contrast portraits of Robert Shaw and Marthe Keller, the latter shown aiming a rifle.
The design is classic late-1970s Japanese thriller advertising: bold typography, dramatic close-ups, and a dense collage of danger motifs. The iconic blimp appears above a stadium crowd, while smaller colour stills show key scenes of violence, pursuit, and panic. The abstract white dots across the black ground suggest stadium lights, crowds, or approaching disaster, giving the poster an unusual graphic rhythm.
The upper copy reads 「話題のスーパー・アクション!!」 — “The much-talked-about super action!” The vertical blue and yellow copy at right emphasises the film’s bestselling source material and its globe-spanning terror route, moving from Beirut and Los Angeles to Washington, Long Beach, the Mojave Desert, and finally Miami.
The lower-right corner carries the CIC distribution mark, identifying it as part of the Cinema International Corporation release network used for major Paramount / Universal titles in Japan during the 1970s.
Rarity and significance
Original Japanese posters for 1970s political thrillers are increasingly collectible, particularly examples with strong graphic design and major cult reputation. This B2 is especially appealing for its intense monochrome character treatment, bold red title typography, and its connection to one of the great suspense-action films of the period.
For collectors of John Frankenheimer, Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Thomas Harris, and 1970s thriller cinema, this is a powerful and highly displayable Japanese original.
Condition
Very Good / Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.
It is over 49 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
