Ok, few things:sfxdan wrote:I'd echo what Fitz has said. Chirashis are great looking posters, easier to frame and generally very affordable.
Generally speaking us one sheets tend to be portrait. Uk quads are horizontal. You don't really get any cross over in terms of format layout. The only one i can think of is kill bill. Where they made a uk one sheet teaser. Which was for the uk premier
Most modern day us and U.K. poster fit a standard layout dependant on the films genre. If you like posters for their artwork rather than the film title. Check out some polish, czech and Japanese poster. They tend to be much more colourful and striking design
Chirashis are affordable because they are literally flyers/handbills, nothing more. They are very common and were/are printed in very high volumes compared to the legit posters from Japan (B1, B2, B3, tatekan, etc.). The chirashis are most common, then B2s,then B1s. Many films only had the B2, but if a B1 exists for a given title, that is the one collectors really strive for.
Yes, the main US poster format, the one sheet, is a vertical format and the UK quad is horizontal. However, there ARE crossovers in terms of layout. The US has the subway poster (usually 43x62 horizontal), and there are many UK one sheets (also used internationally outside the UK) that are vertical. One random example is the international Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which has fantastic art:
Original Thunderball US subway:
Lastly, genre has nothing to do with format...