Good start!

I think you should pull back a little before going to the back. I would remove all effects (effects this heavy on an entire cover can make it look less retail? It feels a little photoshop-happy. I would slowly start adding effects back in until it feels like too much.
I also think that the BG in your second post had good contrast levels (minus the black vignette and heavy texture) . It would be nice to have the heads a little smaller and in the sky (lower the horizon closer to the bottom and maybe have a full-body image of the 3 leads? Your head layout is very interesting and like a classic poster but it has some edge tension with John Turturro on the left
Keep it up!