Naming a film is not a task taken lightly, especially when many millions of production dollars are involved. See what some of your favorite films were almost called, and ask yourself if you would’ve hired a babysitter and paid for popcorn had cooler heads not prevailed.
1. Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman was based on a script written by J.F. Lawton called 3000 (the amount of money paid for a week’s worth of the hooker’s “company”). In the original story, Julia Roberts’ character was not only a prostitute, she was also a crack addict. When Disney bought the script, they hired new writers to lighten it up a bit, and they decided that 3000 sounded too science fiction-y, so a new title was chosen – one that luckily allowed the producers to use Roy Orbison’s signature tune to accompany the obligatory Julia Roberts-trying-on-clothes montage.
2. Back to the Future
During the filming of Back to the Future, Universal Studios honcho Sid Sheinberg fired off a memo to all involved in the production stating that no movie with the word “future” in the title had ever succeeded at the box office. He suggested that the name of this project be changed to Spaceman from Pluto. According to writer/producer Bob Gale, Steven Spielberg “earned his executive producer credit” by stepping in and sending back a note that thanked the studio head for his “joke memo.”
3. Tootsie
Would I Lie to You? went through at least a half-dozen re-writes by as many writers before it finally hit the big screen in 1982 as Tootsie. The new title was suggested by star Dustin Hoffman (it was the name of his mother’s dog).
4. Boys Don’t Cry
Boys Don’t Cry, for which Hilary Swank won an Academy Award, was originally called Take It Like a Man. The producers decided that The Cure’s song “Boys Don’t Cry” (along with its inclusion on the soundtrack) gave the project more of the “dark” atmosphere they were seeking.
5. Help!
The Beatles’ second feature film had been titled Help during the first few weeks of filming. When director Richard Lester was informed that that title had already been registered, the film became known as Eight Arms to Hold You. No one involved cared for that name, so luckily Lester found out that by adding an exclamation point to the word Help he could skirt around the copyright laws.
6. The Grapes of Wrath
The 1940 classic The Grapes of Wrath was given the working title of Route 66 as a safety measure. Director John Ford needed to film many scenes along the historic highway, but John Steinbeck’s novel was not particularly appreciated in Oklahoma. Ford presented his project to local authorities as a documentary about the Mother Road in order to avoid trouble.
7. Annie Hall
Anhedonia is the scientific term for the inability to experience pleasure. And up until the opening credits were finally filmed, it was the name Woody Allen had in mind for his 1977 “serious comedy” Annie Hall. United Artists finally talked him out of it, insisting that such an unmarketable title would doom the film at the box office.
8. Blazing Saddles
Script writer Andrew Bergman originally called his 1974 Western spoof (and the lead character) Tex X, as a sly nod to Muslim leader Malcolm X. But director Mel Brooks was never enamored with that title. One morning when Brooks was taking a shower, the words “blazing saddles” popped into his head. Considering the classic bean scene, the new title seemed apropos.
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Blazing Saddles was also almost named Black Bart. The old name can be glimpsed beneath the matte effect on the theater marquee during the climatic chase scene.
posted by Alex on 3-22-2009 at 1:08 pm
you should do an article on the stanford prison experiment!!!
posted by mee on 3-22-2009 at 2:59 pm
popurls.com // popular today
story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com
posted by popurls.com // popular today on 3-22-2009 at 9:00 pm
While You Were Sleeping was originally titled ‘Coma Guy’
posted by mark on 3-22-2009 at 9:07 pm
Wow, that is some pretty cool stuff dude!
RT
http://www.online-privacy.pro.tc
posted by John Davis on 3-22-2009 at 9:16 pm
Goodfellas as original titled Wise Guys
posted by KRAYZEE on 3-22-2009 at 10:42 pm
What about Snakes On A Plane almost being called Flight XYZ (Can’t even remember the number). That would have been a disaster!
posted by me on 3-22-2009 at 10:53 pm
Interesting. Hard to imagine Back to the Future being as big of a hit had it been titled Spaceman from Pluto.
posted by Rebecca on 3-23-2009 at 12:41 am
Return of the Jedi was almost called Revenge of the Jedi. Lucas decided that jedis were above the concept of revenge, hence the change. Some movie posters with the original name exist and are said to be worth some decent coin.
posted by Belunan on 3-23-2009 at 3:22 am
Quiet interestingly, ‘Blood-in, Blood-out’ was changed to ‘Bound by Honour’ 1 month After its release as producers thought that the name was too violent.
Cheers!
posted by Classic Movies on 3-23-2009 at 4:30 am
Return of the Jedi was almost named Revenge of the Jedi
posted by Kate on 3-23-2009 at 5:06 am
“Black Bart” was also the name of the TV pilot that was to be a series based around the black sheriff. Lou Gossett, Jr played the sheriff. If you buy the DVD of Blazing Saddles you can find some with the pilot included as a bonus. Needless to say it didn’t make it on the little screen.
posted by Kev in GA on 3-23-2009 at 8:30 am
Jurassic Park was nearly called “Jimmy and the Clone-asaurus”.
Speed was nearly called “The Bus that Couldn’t Slow Down”
:-)
Okay, so I stole those from The Simpsons. But there’s a real one that I know about. The film “The Madness Of King George” was originally called “The Madness Of King George The Third”, but test audiences complained that they hadn’t seen “the first two films”.
True story.
posted by Chris Lees on 3-23-2009 at 9:24 am
Number 6 really doesn’t fit this list. LOTS of movies have alternate titles during filming. Return of the Jedi was called “Blue Harvest”. It’s a pretty common way of hiding the film from fans/protesters, but it doesn’t meant the film was ever going to be released under that name.
posted by kris on 3-23-2009 at 10:23 am
The film that had the working title “Teen movie which the exec’s and critics will hate but the public will love”
was renamed at the last minute “American Pie”
posted by Gumpo on 3-23-2009 at 10:51 am
I believe “The Madness of King George the Third” was only changed for American audiences. British audiences managed to work it out somehow.
posted by Matt on 3-23-2009 at 10:56 am
Sid Sheinberg is the same douchebag that tried to edit Terry Gilliam’s classic film “Brazil” to give it a happy ending. Where do they get these people, and why do they pay them so much money?
posted by Jeff on 3-23-2009 at 11:21 am
I believe that during the filming of back to the future II, the film was called “paradox”
posted by Dre on 3-23-2009 at 12:06 pm
Goodfellas was originally titled Wise Guys because that was the name of the book in which it was based on. But it was quickly renamed Goodfellas because there had already been a TV show and movie named Wise Guys
posted by Andy on 3-23-2009 at 12:35 pm
In addition to the Blue Harvest code name, Return of the Jedi was originally titles Revenge of the Jedi. That name was changed relatively late in the game – theatres showed teaser trailers of Revenge of the Jedi, posters were produced, etc.
posted by Dave Donohue on 3-23-2009 at 3:59 pm
Wow, three different people mentioned that Return of the Jedi was almost called Revenge of the Jedi. Way to read comments because you post.
Actually, a guy I know had a copy of the Revenge of the Jedi poster left to him in a will. What did he do? He promptly took it out of the plastic tube and stuck it on his wall with tape.
posted by Luis on 3-25-2009 at 7:09 am
“Snakes on a Plane” was almost “Pacific Air Flight 121.
“Ghostbusters” was almost something entirely different, due to copyright issues.
“Brazil” was supposed to be “1984 1/2″, but was rejected by George Orwell’s estate.
“Casablanca” was originally based off of the play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s”.
posted by Mike R. on 3-25-2009 at 10:52 am
I read that “Tootsie” was actually Dustin Hoffman’s childhood nickname.
posted by Sara on 3-27-2009 at 11:55 am