A two-hour movie is made up of nearly 200,000 individual pictures that string together to form the moving images that entertain us in darkened theaters and in our living rooms. For decades, there was one artist so talented that he was able to capture the sense of wonder and adventure of some of Hollywood’s most iconic blockbusters with just one image.
His name was Drew Struzan. He’s the legend behind the movie posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, The Thing, Blade Runner, Harry Potter, The Shawshank Redemption, and several more movies that you’ve probably seen dozens of times each.
Struzan died on October 13, 2025, as announced on his official Instagram account. The announcement was accompanied by a self-portrait Struzan created of himself in his iconic photo-real style. He was 78 years old.
Remembering Drew Struzan: A Hollywood Icon
Struzen, who had been battling Alzheimer’s for years, used his immeasurable skills to condense the magic of some of the most magical films released between the 1970s and the 2000s down to a poster. That poster, in itself, could evoke the feeling of watching the film it’s based on, even if you’ve never seen it before.
In a 2014 Los Angeles Magazine feature on Struzan, Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying, “I had to almost live up to the art that we later were going to ask Drew to create for the poster.”
His style was bold, dramatic, and unmistakable. Any surface a Drew Struzan poster was on felt more cinematic because of it. A wall, and iPad screen, a VHS tape box. His art didn’t capture the film itself; it captured its indescribable sense of wonder.
Born in Oregon City, he hustled his way through ArtCenter College in Pasadena, paying tuition by selling art and commissions. He got his start doing album covers, most famously Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare.
In 1975, after a few B-movie posters, he was tapped to co-paint the 1978 Star Wars re-release poster. And thus, his legend was born. He became the go-to poster guy for Lucas, Spielberg, and Zemeckis, the three heads on the Mount Rushmore of 1980s Hollywood blockbusters.
Even if you couldn’t afford a movie ticket, you can at least stand outside the theater and stare at Struzan’s art.
Growing up, I adored the Indiana Jones films. We couldn’t afford the home cassettes or DVDs. But we somehow managed to get our hands on a Drew Struzen Raiders of the Lost Ark replica poster.
I couldn’t watch the movie as often as I wanted to, but with Struzen’s poster nearby, I didn’t have to. That was the power of Struzen’s work. He could make me feel the thrills and excitement of a rip-roaring, swashbuckling adventure film while staring at my bedroom wall.
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