The Italian marketing team for Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave seems to have the wrong idea when it comes to what the film is about. Contrary to what some may think, the movie details the time a free black man named Solomon Northup was kidnapped and sold into bondage in the antebellum South. It is not, as these Italian posters might lead you to believe, a buddy film highlighting the antics and struggles of Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender.

Production and distribution company Lionsgate, whose Summit subsidiary is handling 12 Years a Slave overseas, said in a statement that it is attempting to recall these "unauthorised" posters, pictures of which were published yesterday on the blog Carefree Black Girl:

The 12 Years a Slave theatrical posters featuring Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender that were recently released in Italy were unauthorised and were not approved by any of the producers or licensors of the film. Summit Entertainment, acting as exclusive sales agent for the licensors, is investigating and taking immediate action to stop the distribution of any unauthorised posters and to have those posters currently in the marketplace recalled.

For contrast, here is 12 Years a Slave's American poster, which instead focuses on Chiwetel Ejiofor, the black actor who stars in nearly every shot of the film (Brad Pitt is in the movie for about five minutes):

[Image via Twitter user @desusnice]