Thursday List – Top 10 Films that Changed Their Name Before Release
In this weeks Thursday List, we honour Captain America and look at out Top 10 Films that changed their name before or after release.
I remember reading a few months back that Paramount and Marvel were going to shorten the name ‘Captain America : The First Avenger’ to just ‘The First Avenger’ in a select few countries. In an attempt to help free it from any tarnish carrying America in the title may hold in these countries.
Well on the weekend of Marvels next big film it seems that only 3 countries have actually taken up the offer of losing America in the name, those are Russia, Ukraine and South Korea.
To honour the ol Cap’n and his very generous name changing offer I have listed together for you my Top 10 Films who changed their names….
10 – While you were Sleeping (Coma Guy)
This is a film about a girl who pretends to be a guy who is stuck in a comas fiancé. Why? Because she has a crush on him obviously!! She does eventually fall in love with his charming brother though.
The title was changed from Coma Guy because it sounded too much like a SuperHero movie (apparently)
9 – 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead)
13th Warrior was deemed to be the weirdest thing around at the time and the film makers were so worried that they would not be able to get anyone to see it so they changed the name from Eaters of The Dead. But unfortunately even this change could not save this. Have you seen it?
8 – The Boat that Rocked (Pirate Radio)
The Boat That Rocked changed its name to Pirate Radio when it was released in USA. Apparently the Americans would not have understood the subtle play on words from the original title. The producers decided to go for a more little pun!!
7 – Hancock (Tonight he Comes)
Originally a much darker story Hancock’s original title referred to the anti hero’s explosive ejaculation. But in order to appeal to the masses this scene was removed along with most of the swearing drinking and drug abuse. And most of the fun too….
6 – American Pie (Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10m Dollars That Your Reader Will Love And Your Executive Will Hate)
OK OK It was only ever a working title that was used on the front of the script to get the Producers attention. But lets face it the ploy worked. It went through another change to ‘East Great Falls High’ before its final change to American Pie.
5 – Renaissance Man (By The Book)
This is the funniest and weirdest story of the lot. Renaissance Man is a Danny De Vito comedy about a teacher that wins the hearts of an US Army regiment by teaching them Shakespeare. It was a total flop at the box office. So Not to be out done the Film Makers re-named and re branded the entire film to ‘By The Book’ and re-released it again in the cinemas. Unfortunately the film still bombed at the box office. LOL
4 – Scream (Scary Movie)
The original title although very descriptive of the film was deemed too comedic and didn’t really set the tone, so it was changed to Scream. I find it amusing that Scary Movie was picked up by the Wayan Brothers’ spoof movies of the original.
3 – Tangled (Rapunzel)
Disney decided that although they have always had great success with standard fairy tale titles (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty) that they wanted to make this film more appealing to boys too. And boys would be more inclined to see a film if it was called Tangled. Confused? Me too. But, it was a great film!!
2 – Goodfellas (Wiseguy)
Good Fellas was based upon a book called ‘WiseGuy’ so it was natural that it would have the same name. That was until it was discovered that there was a comedy TV show with the same name. Something else had to be thought up quick, and Goodfellas was born!
1 – Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep)
The long and cumbersome title of the original source material for this film was seen as NON commercial. Blade Runner actually went through a complete buffet of names before settling on one that was the name of the police units in the film.
Have you any additions to this list? Have I missed any good ones? Do you agree with me on my choices? Comment below.
Scott Lawlor
I knew a couple of them. Funny thing is that in the Netherlands the name actually wasn’t changed for Tangled, it was called Rapunzel.
HAHA Really? I did not know that at all!!
(blushes at his awful research)
You can’t know it all
This is true, would be nice to know a wee bit more though!
I learned something here! I had no idea at least eight of these had alternate titles. Excellent article, Custie, keep it up!
Thank you Colin. You are way too kind to little old Custard!!
I am very happy to teach you something oh master!!
COMMA GUY and DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRONIC SHEEP really are ridiculous titles
I loved 13TH WARRIOR and TANGLED.
I also support CAPTAIN AMERICA loosing that part of the title in the countries which have suffered greatly from American aggression throughout their history. It’s interesting that although we were bombed by Americans who killed thousands of our people and kids, the title won’t be changed here in Serbia. We generally don’t have negative feelings like that.
Two of the upcoming films also changed their names, and I liked the original names better – Andrew Niccol’s I’M.MORTAL is now IN TIME (horrible) and Tarsem’s DAWN OF WAR is now IMMORTALS (to avoid the confusion with the video game)
Serbia seems a really nice place to visit!!
I saw that Immortals changed titles, I can understand though.
Thanks for the comments my friend!
interesting list! especially “coma guy” and “scary movie”!
Thanks BlueJ.
I am glad that you enjoyed it!
Interesting stuff, I had heard a few of these before, notably the Goodfellas/Wiseguy one.
Also, I’ve seen The Thirteenth Warrior, it’s not bad actually, although it’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine…
HAHA We all need a guilty pleasure Jack.
I think I prefer Goodfellas to Wiseguy. But I guess that is just because it has been in my brain for a long time now
Hi, Custard and company:
Very good, concise list.
Could also add some moldy oldies:
Robert Stone’s epic Left Coast Post~Vietnam novel, ‘Dog Soldier’ was made into a film that the suits in Hollywood disowned while in mid~distribution. Until some whiz kid decided to re-title the film after Credence Clear Water Revival’s soundtrack tune, ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain’. Even with the title change, the film did poorly at the box office, but has been given a new life with DVD.
Same story for the 80′s L.A. Neo~Noir, ‘Cutter’s Way’, which that religiously follows the novel titled ‘Cutter & Bone’. Which Hollywood decided was to creepy or confusing.
Under any title, Danny De Vito’s disastrous ‘Renaissance Man’ still sucked out loud. Ditto for ‘Hancock’. Will Smith may think he’s an actor, but a Super Hero, he ain’t.
Hi Mr Deth,
You probably are the most knowledgable gentleman I know. I always enjoy your comments. I generally learn something very cool. Thank you for being here!!
Yes Hancock and Renaissance Man are very shocking films!
Cool list Custard.
I read Eaters of the Dead novel and was looking forward to see the film version, but they decided to change the name. I didn’t care for the name change but the movie itself was crap, I think it’s one of those novels that just doesn’t work on the screen. If you never read the book, give it a try. The whole book was told from the point of view of the main character.
As for Blade Runner and Hancock, I understand why they changed those names.
Cool Ted. I may just give it a go, as I have not read it!! Having kids a job and a blog to run is hard enough let alone reading, watching film and tv…LOL
Can you imagine what Blade runner would have been like with the other title!!
Why do you know so much? Haha, this was a cool idea for a list. The Boat that Rocked is a far better name than Pirate Radio, which I believe it is still called in a few places.
Me? I really do not know very much at all. I am totally winging it!! HAHA
Thanks for the comment Stevee it is always nice to see you over here!!
In my opinion, it was a sin to change Blade Runner into Blade Runner. The original title is so much better, and in a strange way more relevant. I actually don’t think any of these titles should’ve been changed. The originals were all so much better. Great list, Custard.
Really? It would have been a very long poster for American Pie and Blade runner!!
Thanks for the nice comment Tyler, I know your a busy man!! Have a great weekend
I was going to suggest Scary Movie for Scream and there it was at number 4! Great list Scott.
Thanks Dan, it is always nice to have praise on a tope 10 from you the MASTER of them!!
Haha…I have to keep an eye on your top 10s…for inspiration!
And I have to check your site to make sure that you haven’t done it already!!
Interesting list. I love While You Were Sleeping…fortunately they didn’t call it Coma Guy…too lame. As for 13th warrior, I like the original better, just like the book and sounds scarrier.
Hehehe I didn’t know scream was supposed to be Scary Movie, lucky they changed it. The Boat That Rocked has better title than Pirate Radio and I love that movie, freakin hilarious.
The newest that keeps changing name is Now to I’m Mortal to In Time … Whichever name they choose, I only care that Cillian will be in it
I can understand the difficulty in finding the right title, when I wrote short story I keep thinking back which title will suit the story better. I enjoy this post C
Hi Novia, thank so much for the lovely comment. I guess if a film has Cillian in it you are there no matter then name!! HAHAH Brilliant.
Thanks for popping in
Wait… they were afraid that people would think “Coma Guy” was a superhero? Actually, I think I would’ve liked that movie a ton more if it actually had been a movie about a superhero named Coma Guy. I’m picturing some guy in a coma, being thrown at villains by the authorities. Probably by slingshot. All while snoozing away.
That Hancock title… wow. No wonder they changed it. Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t have offended me in the least. But the whole tone of the movie would’ve changed into something completely different in a bizarre way.
HAHAHA Coma guy, sold like that sounds awesome. A human slingshot…HAHAH I am chuckling too hard
Wow, who needs Wikipedia when you’ve got Front Room Cinema for all your move trivia
I only knew about Tangled from your list, but man, Coma Guy??! Seriously?? No wonder they had to change that.
As for Captain America, I think it’s silly for them to leave that out, I mean, just from the freakin’ uniform you know what country it’s from!! I heard that only a few countries opted to use The First Avenger, the rest were fine with the whole title.
HAHA You are too kind Ruth, you really are. I am just a curator of great information. I am learning too!!
Crazy about Captain America, but it just shows the delicate state the world and humanity is in!!
Nice list. I have seen The Thirteenth Warrior and it was passable entertainment, though nothing too memorable.
My favorite name change is the 1991 Robbie Coltrane comedy The Pope Must Die, which was changed to “The Pope Must Diet”, even though it had nothing to do with him losing weight, to avoid controversy. I never actually saw the movie, but the name change sounds ridiculous.
Oh My Gosh. That name change you say is absolutely hilarious….what were they thinking!!
HAHA
Sorry Dan I didn’t see this comment until today
I know! When I’ve told people about the name change, they don’t believe me. It’s so ridiculous.
Very informative! Wow! I had no idea all these titles were changed! Thanks.
I actually liked 13th Warrior. The montage that portrays Banderas’ character learning the language of the Norsemen was so inventive and new. It stays in my mind as a very ingenius way of doing so!
Oh, and I liked Renaissance Man too.
Great list!
You are a rare person. Not many have ever heard of let alone actually like Renaissance Man. Thanks for the comment my friend. It is great to see you here
I still don’t understand why they changed the name of Rapunzel to Tangled! Is nothing sacred!
I can understand why Blade Runner had a name change, but some of the others? Glad Captain America kept his name in most countries.
Hi Fabo, Thanks for taking the time to comment. Really kind of you
After seeing Captain America last night it would have been very strange without it!!
Nice list dude. Some i knew already, but Coma Guy?!?! Why would they even consider that title? Haha
Thanks Wally!!
I know right…Coma guys is a crackers name for a film!!
Fragments [previously] Winged Creatures (2009)
The Code [previously] Thick as Thieves (2009)
Kill the Irishman [previously] Bulletproof Gangster (2011)
Pirate Radio [previously] The Boat That Rocked (2009)
any more to add to this list from 2008-2011