A major figure behind the visual identity of Indiana Jones has passed away. Drew Struzan's illustrations shaped how multiple generations picture blockbuster adventures.
Filmmakers shared heartfelt tributes almost immediately, all echoing the idea that the artist made films feel epic before the lights even dimmed. Reports also noted he had faced health issues in recent years.
Steven Spielberg said of Struzan in tribute, per The Independent: “The memory of those movies and the age we were when we saw them always comes flashing back just by glancing at his iconic photorealistic imagery.”
Guillermo del Toro expressed his grief, writing on Bluesky: “The world lost a genial man, a genius communicator and supreme artist. I lost a friend - beloved Drew.”
Paying tribute, DC president and Batman artist Jim Lee wrote, per The Hollywood Reporter: “A giant among giants. His work captured the humanity, power and emotion of his subjects in ways not seen since. Thank you for bringing to life all the tentpole moments of my childhood and beyond.”
Family confirms loss
The news was shared on the Struzan's official Instagram: “It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October 13th.
“I feel it is important that you all know how many times he expressed to me the joy he felt knowing how much you appreciated his art.”
Struzan died at the age of 78, with major outlets including THR reporting that he had faced Alzheimer’s disease in recent years.
A career that shaped cinematic memory
Over five decades, he created more than 150 posters that became inseparable from the films they promoted, including the Indiana Jones franchise, the Star Wars saga, the Back to the Future trilogy, and Hocus Pocus. Born in Oregon in 1947, he moved to California to study at ArtCenter College of Design, then broke in with album covers for artists such as the Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath.
Struzan's breakthrough came in 1978 when he was invited to paint the human characters for the Star Wars re-release poster, which led to posters for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, The Thing, The Goonies, The Shawshank Redemption, and many others.
Though he largely retired in 2008 after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he returned for select projects and was the subject of the 2013 documentary Drew: The Man Behind the Poster.
“I felt that art was more than just telling the story,” he said in a 2021 interview with SlashFilm. “In fact, telling the story in a poster is wrong for a movie. I wasn’t looking to tell a story. I’m looking to give a person a feeling about something they could hope for.”
When asked to name his favorite poster, he always gave the same answer: “If I had a favorite, then I would have already done the best I can do. I’d lose my spark of creativity. My favorite is always the very next one.”