The Man Who Fell to Earth movie posters

Contributed by Andrew Harrison on Jan 10th, 2026. Artwork published in

Original British theatrical posters for Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. The poster uses two fonts against a Vic Fair artwork: Busk for the title and David Bowie billing – before the font was further popularized by heavy metal band Iron Maiden – and Capone for the credits.

Florian Hardwig says:
Jan 10th, 2026 4:38 pm

Thank you, Andrew.

The designers of several international posters wanted to follow the typographic lead of the original. However, Busk was virtually unavailable to them: it was an exclusive typeface by Alphabet Photosetting in London.

The makers of the German posters were lucky: all required letters could be copied from the British poster. The counterform of the O got blunted bottom corners in the process.

Der Mann der vom Himmel fiel, German A1 poster (23.5″×33″), Constantin Film. Secondary text is set in Futura. Image: Heritage Auctions

Der Mann der vom Himmel fiel, German poster (11.75″×18.5″), Constantin Film. Image: Heritage Auctions

The French took more creative license: the overall appearance is the same, but on closer look, hardly any of the letterforms is a match. This is lettering that emulates Busk.

L’homme qui venait d’ailleurs, Full-Bleed French Grande poster (46″×62″), P.M. Productions. Secondary text is set in Helvetica. Image: Heritage Auctions

The designers of the Turkish poster likewise created their own interpretation of Busk and its brutalist diagonals.

Dünyaya Düşen Adam, Turkish One Sheet poster (27″×39″), Ozenfilm. Secondary text is set in Akzidenz-Grotesk Condensed Extrabold. Image: Heritage Auctions
Andrew Harrison says:
Jan 11th, 2026 9:55 pm

You’re welcome, Florian! And I appreciate the additional posters and info!