The movie titles that almost were
09-06-13, 07:31 PM
#1
DVD Talk Legend
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The movie titles that almost were
Some titles became accepted ("Red Dragon"/Manhunter,"Book of the Dead"/The Evil Dead), some titles sounded cooler (Revenge of the Jedi,Bill & Ted Go To Hell), and some became despised by the filmmakers via studio/distributor intervention ("Day of the Woman"/I Spit On Your Grave)
What are some other movie titles that had some famous switcheroos done?
And is it really true that Tobe Hooper originally wanted Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be called "Head Cheese"?!?
What are some other movie titles that had some famous switcheroos done?
And is it really true that Tobe Hooper originally wanted Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be called "Head Cheese"?!?
09-06-13, 07:34 PM
#2
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The movie titles that almost were
I remember seeing a trailer in the theater for "The Flood" which was later released as Hard Rain.
And let's not forget the mass confusion that existed before "The Butler" was changed to Lee Daniel's The Butler. We were pretty darn close to chaos in the streets!
And let's not forget the mass confusion that existed before "The Butler" was changed to Lee Daniel's The Butler. We were pretty darn close to chaos in the streets!
09-06-13, 07:41 PM
#3
DVD Talk Legend
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
Speaking of trailers, the trailer for this was Blood in, Blood Out. It was then released in theaters as Bound by Honor. Then the video release piled them together: Bound by Honor:Blood in, Blood Out. AND NOW, it's just at it's current IMDB title.
09-06-13, 07:55 PM
#4
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The movie titles that almost were
Pretty Woman was originally known as 3000, back when it was less a love story and more a gritty story about a whore who needed money to go to Disneyland.
Scream was originally going to be called Scary Movie. That title was obviously recycled.
GoodFellas was originally going to be called Wiseguy, but was changed due to CBS airing a show of the same name at the time.
Scream was originally going to be called Scary Movie. That title was obviously recycled.
GoodFellas was originally going to be called Wiseguy, but was changed due to CBS airing a show of the same name at the time.
09-06-13, 08:43 PM
#5
Re: The movie titles that almost were
Werner Herzog's "The Enigma of Kasper Hauser" was originally titled "Every Man For Himself and God Against Us All".
09-06-13, 09:27 PM
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The movie titles that almost were
I remember Bill Murray lobbied hard to call Ghostbusters 2 "The Last of the Ghostbusters" instead. I remember he told STARLOG magazine "We'll burn in hell if we call this thing Ghostbusters 2", but the studio won out.
Star Trek: First Contact was originally going to be called Star Trek: Resurrection, but then they found out that the Alien Resurrection movie was coming out.
Bill Shatner wanted Star Trek V: The Final Frontier to be called Star Trek V: An Act of Love, but the studio wisely nixed that one.
Rocky V was originally titled Rocky: The Final Bell
Hancock was originally Tonight, He Comes
E.T. was originally called A Boy's Life
Alien was originally called Star Beast
Star Trek: First Contact was originally going to be called Star Trek: Resurrection, but then they found out that the Alien Resurrection movie was coming out.
Bill Shatner wanted Star Trek V: The Final Frontier to be called Star Trek V: An Act of Love, but the studio wisely nixed that one.
Rocky V was originally titled Rocky: The Final Bell
Hancock was originally Tonight, He Comes
E.T. was originally called A Boy's Life
Alien was originally called Star Beast
Last edited by Shannon Nutt; 09-06-13 at 09:38 PM.
09-06-13, 10:02 PM
#7
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The movie titles that almost were
A Boys Life was not E.T.'s original title, it was the fake title used for filming.
That'd be like saying the original name of Return Of The Jedi was Blue Harvest.
E.T. was at one point called E.T. and Me, which is pretty funny considering Mac And Me was a total E.T. ripoff.
Athough in looking this up I did find that Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was originally titled Watch The Skies. I had thought it was a fake title, but apparently it was actually considered.
That'd be like saying the original name of Return Of The Jedi was Blue Harvest.
E.T. was at one point called E.T. and Me, which is pretty funny considering Mac And Me was a total E.T. ripoff.
Athough in looking this up I did find that Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was originally titled Watch The Skies. I had thought it was a fake title, but apparently it was actually considered.
09-06-13, 10:08 PM
#8
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
He lobbied hard for The Butler, Directed by Lee Daniels of Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. But it caused the brains of one test audience to literally explode.
09-06-13, 10:36 PM
#9
Suspended
Re: The movie titles that almost were
Ghostbusters was originally called Ghost Smashers
As Good As It Gets was originally called Rock Bottom
Scream was originally called Scary Movie
Coming to America was called The Prince of New York
The Rundown was called Helldorado
Those are the ones I know.
As Good As It Gets was originally called Rock Bottom
Scream was originally called Scary Movie
Coming to America was called The Prince of New York
The Rundown was called Helldorado
Those are the ones I know.
09-06-13, 11:06 PM
#10
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: The movie titles that almost were
The 13th Warrior's original title was Eaters of the Dead- guess they figured people going in with that title would be disappointed as it's not a horror movie.
There was a movie in 1992 that nobody saw called Year of the Comet, whose trailers promoted it as A Very Good Year.
Then there was One Hot Summer the same year, with the trailer running with Batman Returns but was still not released until it showed up on video as That Night.
1999's The Haunting was originally called The Haunting of Hill House. (I have trailers for all of these with their original titles.)
1989's An Innocent Man was planned for release as Hard Rain, then of course later The Flood took that title.
There was a movie in 1992 that nobody saw called Year of the Comet, whose trailers promoted it as A Very Good Year.
Then there was One Hot Summer the same year, with the trailer running with Batman Returns but was still not released until it showed up on video as That Night.
1999's The Haunting was originally called The Haunting of Hill House. (I have trailers for all of these with their original titles.)
1989's An Innocent Man was planned for release as Hard Rain, then of course later The Flood took that title.
09-06-13, 11:23 PM
#11
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
awesomeYeah I remember a behind-the-scenes look at it on E-Tonight or Access Hollywood with it going by that title. And then when Peter Berg was a guest on Dinner For Five, he said that the title then switched to "Welcome to the Jungle". I still perfer either of those to what was used.
I'm also sure Ridley's Robin Hood would have been less scathed if it was allowed to keep it's original title, Nottingham.
09-07-13, 12:28 AM
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
Back to the Future was almost titled "Space Man From Pluto", but Spielberg helped Zemeckis and Gale fight the Universal execs over that.
09-07-13, 06:09 AM
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09-07-13, 11:29 AM
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
A Boys Life was not E.T.'s original title, it was the fake title used for filming.
That'd be like saying the original name of Return Of The Jedi was Blue Harvest.
E.T. was at one point called E.T. and Me, which is pretty funny considering Mac And Me was a total E.T. ripoff.
Athough in looking this up I did find that Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was originally titled Watch The Skies. I had thought it was a fake title, but apparently it was actually considered.
That'd be like saying the original name of Return Of The Jedi was Blue Harvest.
E.T. was at one point called E.T. and Me, which is pretty funny considering Mac And Me was a total E.T. ripoff.
Athough in looking this up I did find that Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was originally titled Watch The Skies. I had thought it was a fake title, but apparently it was actually considered.
09-07-13, 05:33 PM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The movie titles that almost were
A couple more:
I'm sure most of us remember COP OUT was originally titled A COUPLE OF DICKS.
TOMORROW NEVER DIES was originally TOMORROW NEVER LIES, until a typo was made in a memo about the film and the producers decided it was a better title.
I'm sure most of us remember COP OUT was originally titled A COUPLE OF DICKS.
TOMORROW NEVER DIES was originally TOMORROW NEVER LIES, until a typo was made in a memo about the film and the producers decided it was a better title.
09-07-13, 09:08 PM
#22
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
Apparently the original title for The Hills Have Eyes was Blood Relations. Would've been much better and really cool.
In interviews, I've heard PTA call it Sydney, that's clearly the title he prefers.
I've always assumed that those title changes were imposed by the studios, Blatty didn't want to called Legion The Exorcist III, since it, you know, had no exorcisms in it, but the studio overruled him and eventually added all of the stuff and destroyed his footage.
Would've been a much better title.
Does that screenplay kick around online anywhere?
[QUOTE=Shannon Nutt;11823759]Star Trek: First Contact was originally going to be called Star Trek: Resurrection, but then they found out that the Alien Resurrection movie was coming out.
I'm kind of surprised they didn't call the sixth film that.
That's the title of the original screenplay, which is apparently significantly different than the final film. I should read it someday.
In interviews, I've heard PTA call it Sydney, that's clearly the title he prefers.
[QUOTE=Shannon Nutt;11823759]Star Trek: First Contact was originally going to be called Star Trek: Resurrection, but then they found out that the Alien Resurrection movie was coming out.
Rocky V was originally titled Rocky: The Final Bell
Hancock was originally Tonight, He Comes
09-08-13, 02:13 AM
#23
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
09-08-13, 02:36 AM
#24
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Re: The movie titles that almost were
