Slumdog millionaire came within a whisker of never actually making it to the cinemas. This was due to the economic downturn which forced the distributors out of buisness. The film risked being closed down and was meant to go straight to dvd release. It was during a crisis in spring 2008 that Warner Bros decided to hedge its relatively small bet (around $5 million) on Slumdog by handing over 50 per cent of the US distribution rights to Fox Searchlight which also has its own synergies with part of News Corporation, parent company ofThe Times.

At the same time, Warner Bros decided to shut down its Warner Independent Pictures division, which had co-produced Slumdog along with Pathé, Celador Films, and Film4, to focus on more mass-appeal movies such as The Dark Knight. Of all the movies on Warner Independent Pictures’ 2008 slate, it is thought that Slumdog was the only one that had its distribution rights sold to a third party.

When first shown to warner bros back in London it was said to be like showing it to a "brick wall" explains Peter Carlton, senior commissioning executive at film 4. However they were told afterwards they were thinking of sticking it out on DVD.

But Mr Carlton said that Slumdog’s eventual distribution deal with Fox Searchlight remained heavily biased in favour of the studio. He accused big American studios like Fox and Warner Bros of “damaging British film” by imposing distribution deals that gave little or nothing back to independent film financiers.

“They make sure they’re the first in line for the profits. And the second and third in line as well. It’s damaging to the whole British film industry.”

Slumdog however when released had a fair share of crtiscism with Indians arguing that the film was just another syereotypical deception of their country. An article from the LA times brands the film to show the Indian culture as "corruption and impoverished-if-resilient natives." 

Slumdog Millionaire: Film Poster

The poster is a teaser poster which doesn't have much detail, there is a basic title with a basic review. The poster in itself does not actually highlight any importance towards the movie as a whole. However the question asked in the poster links to maybe what the film is going to be about. The main aspect of the poster is the title.

The bold colours used for the title could be represented as colours of the sun, used  to give title flamboyancy, it is written in a broken down sort of way. This may represent a theme of breakdown that may later become apparent in the film. The question asked on the poster is used on a lavender background which is not the normal colour we would associate with love normally that would be red however the lavender colour used brings a sense of subtly and the fact that the question asked is not normal.

The colours used for the poster are very flamboyant and shows the distress and eratic mindset the characters of the film may encounter during the movie. I noticed that the colours used for the poster are the colours of the rainbow which can represent the different moods and feelings felt by the characters at different times of the film.

The USP in the poster are the stark colours used which draws immediate attention. Straight away it creates a mixture of feelings and emotions. The question asked is rhetorical which immediately makes us think and begin to empathise with the characters we wonder "what does it take to find a lost love?"

The words used in the title are juxtoposed. This creates a sense of confusion and mystery as to what the film is about. We are intruiged now, we want to know.