Movie Poster: 'Cowboys & Aliens'

Over the next couple weeks you're going to be seeing quite a bit of reports focusing on Jon Favreau's next film, Cowboys & Aliens. The first salvo comes today as the film's first teaser poster has arrived. There will be a trailer on Wednesday afternoon, but in the meantime let this image prime you for the film's genre mash-up.

So what we've got here is a shadowy image of Daniel Craig as the film's hero, armed with the rifle and alien tech wrist-thingy that Mr. Favreau brought from the set of Iron Man. In fact, this whole poster is very reminiscent of early teaser images for the Iron Man films. That works for me. Looking forward to the trailer for Cowboys & Aliens as what I've seen from the film so far (with some unfinished effects) was a lot more impressive than I would have expected.

Cowboys & Aliens is written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and directed by Jon Favreau. It stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer. The film will release on July 29, 2011.

Here's an extensive synopsis via Yahoo, which also debuted the poster.

1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It's a town that lives in fear.

But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.

Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he¿s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella, he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents – townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors – all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.