Sometimes Hollywood moves at such a pace that it’s difficult to even keep up with the title of a film. Over the years there have been a variety of instances where the name of a movie actually has to be changed for a whole host of different reasons.
Whether it’s to help the marketing internationally, to make it sound more appealing or just because a producer felt it was the right thing to do, here are 10 movie titles that were changed just before release, or perhaps even during the marketing of a film.
BIRDS OF PREY AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN
The most recent example of this comes off the back of a lower-than-expected financial performance. With Harley Quinn as the central character behind the marketing of this movie, audiences were struggling to understand who the Birds of Prey actually are.
It was therefore strange to have such a complex title for the film, and to actually have the name of the team at the front of this title. The film is now being promoted as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey to try to appeal to a larger audience.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE
This is the title that many countries actually received for the first film in the series about the boy wizard that goes to Hogwarts. However in a couple of countries, including the United States, Philosopher’s Stone was changed to Sorcerer’s Stone, in order to match the title of the novel.
The film is now referred to by either name in the United States, although all the material, including DVDs, still say Sorcerer’s Stone.
SCREAM
A horror movie hit, the Ghostface mask alone is pretty iconic. However, the movie wasn’t always going to be named after the howling face that the mask depicts. The original title for the film was very simple: The Scary Movie.
Fans of parodies will know that this title has now actually been taken by a series of mock horror films, which make many references to this classic. The Scream producers felt that the new title enlisted much more fear, and the decision certainly paid off.
THE AVENGERS
Earth’s mightiest heroes might be pretty famous in the United States, but there’s another set of Avengers in the UK. Indeed, the title was already used for a hit TV show about a group of spies, one that had inevitably lodged itself in British culture.
In order to counteract this within older audiences and have them associate the Avenger name with Marvel Studios instead, they added on the word Assemble to the end of the title. It’s a fun change, and one that actually adds to the marketing.
EDGE OF TOMORROW
The Tom Cruise hit still goes by quite a few names. It’s confusing how many times that this film has been renamed. At some point in its marketing, it was referred to as Live, Die, Repeat. This has now become a tag line of sorts in some countries.
The most famous title was used in a number of places as well, but a couple of the marketing materials have the full title as Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow.
ZOOTOPIA
Every now and then. a movie title is changed internationally without any clear reason why. This was the case for one of Disney’s biggest animated films. Across the world it was known as Zootopia, suggesting this was a land of animal bliss.
However, in the UK and a selection of other places, the title was changed to Zootropolis, which elicits more city-based imagery. While either title sounds great, it’s an odd choice and one that wouldn’t really impact the marketing of the film.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
The famous Avenger was really the first hero to kick off the larger cinematic universe as his movie ends with Nick Fury bringing him into the much larger team. This is why the film got the First Avenger title, but there’s another reason for that.
The symbol of Captain America is a controversial one across the world, especially in countries such as Russia. In order for it to perform better, Marvel Studios took the America part out of the marketing and simply called the film The First Avenger without Cap getting a mention.
HANCOCK
The Will Smith superhero film hasn’t exactly been well received, but it also has its fair share of fans. The title itself might remind some people of an old comedian, but it’s still a lot better than what the film almost launched with.
The movie was originally going to be called Tonight, He Comes which is just about as generic and nondescript as you can get. There’s not really anything interesting to this title, nor does it say anything about the film. At least the final title names the main character.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN TELLS NO TALES
The Disney franchise based on swashbucklers and pirates has become one of the most well known film series in the world. It’s why the titles of the films shouldn’t matter anymore as everyone will recognize those first four words.
Despite this, Disney decided to rename Dead Men Tell No Tales in some countries, changing the final part of the title to Salazar’s Revenge. This really didn’t make sense for the film as the title actually comes up when the character says that a dead man tells no tales. It was an odd decision.
AMERICAN PIE
The raunchy teen comedy has had a few names before it settled on the famous American dessert that inspires one of the most iconic parts of the film. There were two main names that the studio was running with.
One was East Great Falls High which of course named a high school. However, the much stranger title was Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Your Reader Will Love But The Executive Will Hate. It’s easy to see why it was changed.
