Entertainment
33 Famous Movies That Started Out With Some Truly Terrible Working Titles
Titling a film is no easy task, so you can't exactly blame producers for taking the time to find the perfect title for their soon-to-be famous flicks. Not everything can come together as easily as High School Musical. Of course, you can blame them for attaching some of these hideously bad working titles to their pictures. It's hard to imagine some of your favorite films ever having the wordy, complicated, or cheesy titles that these films started out with, so let's all be thankful that, at the end of the day, the titles got chucked. Click through to read about the embarrassing working titles for these famous films.
'Not Another Teen Movie'
The teen movie parody flick had the wordy working title of Ten Things I Hate About Clueless Road Trips When I Can’t Hardly Wait to Be Kissed.
Image: Columbia Pictures
'Hitch'
The short-and-sweet title of this Will Smith romantic comedy could have been The Last First Kiss.
Image: Columbia Pictures
'Hancock'
This Will Smith vehicle had the awkward working title of Tonight, He Comes. Mmmmkay.
Image: Columbia Pictures
'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
The original 1974 horror flick was originally titled Head Cheese. And yet, somehow, no one thought to call it Leather Face.
Image: Bryanston Pictures
'Obsessed'
Be prepared to cringe. The 2009 Beyoncé vehicle had the working title of Oh No She Didn’t.
Image: Screen Gems
'Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle'
Well, this title was pretty on the nose. The stoner flick could have been called Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies.
Image: New Line Cinema
'Reality Bites'
The ’90s coming-of-age story had to change the title of their film The Real World when that little MTV show debuted.
Image: Universal Pictures
'Titanic'
“Titanic was called the ship of dreams…” And, seriously, that was also the working title for the movie.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial'
The original title had absolutely nothing to do with the whole “alien thing.” According to Screen Slam, the working title was simply A Boy’s Life.
Image: Universal Pictures
'Boys Don't Cry'
The film that scored Hilary Swank her first Oscar was once titled Take It Like a Man. I actually don’t hate this title, though it sounds far more aggressive than the one the film chose to go with.
Image: Fox Searchlight
'Casablanca'
For some reason, someone decided that the iconic film would have worked with a title worthy of an ’80s sitcom. The original title? Everybody Come to Rick’s.
Image: Warner Bros.
'Friday the 13th'
The 1980 horror flick could have been called A Long Night at Camp Blood.
Image: Warner Bros.
'Child's Play'
The Chucky franchise could have been forever associated with the awful title Batteries Not Included.
Image: United Artists
'There's Something About Mary'
Not a bad title, just a slightly different one. The Cameron Diaz comedy could have been called There’s Something About Sarah — which means that Diaz’s character could have also been called Sarah.
Image: 20th Century Fox
'Stand By Me'
The flick was almost given the creepy title of The Body, which is also the title of the Stephen King story upon which it is based. Still…creepy.
Image: Columbia Pictures
'Psycho'
Well, this changes pretty much everything. The original title of Hitchcock’s iconic horror flick was Wimpy.
Image: Universal Pictures
'Scream'
The tongue-in-cheek horror flick could have been even more meta. The working title for the film? Scary Movie.
Image: Dimension Films
'Crossroads'
As if Crossroads couldn’t get cheesier, the original title of the Britney Spears vehicle was What Are Friends For?
Image: Paramount Pictures
'Fatal Attraction'
The working title of the stalker flick sounded like a trashy airport novel. Before it got its deadly title, it was called Affairs of the Heart.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'Cop Out'
The Kevin Smith flick was originally titled A Couple of Dicks. You see why it didn’t work.
Image: Warner Bros.
'Cloverfield'
Cloverfield is a pretty vague title as it is (we still don’t know the true significance of it), but in order to keep the film SUPER under wraps, the producers went with the uber ambiguous Cheese.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'Halloween'
The working title for the slasher flick was The Babysitter Murders. It’s a little on the nose, but, hey, at least it’s dramatic.
Image: Warner Bros.
'Big'
The original title for this Tom Hanks movie was When I Grow Up. The Pussycat Dolls got to use it later for a song instead.
Image: 20th Century Fox
'The Dark Knight'
To throw rabid Batman fans off, the production team on The Dark Knight used the working title Rory’s First Kiss.
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
'Saturday Night Fever'
The John Travolta disco flick almost used the name of the article that the film is based on before deciding it was way too wordy. The working title? Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'Bring It On'
The infamous cheerleading flick was originally titled Jump. So not as cute.
Image: Universal Pictures
'The Avengers'
The tongue-in-cheek working title of the Marvel flick — clearly created to keep fans from discovering info — was Group Hug.
Image: Walt Disney Studios
'Unforgiven'
The Clint Eastwood picture was originally titled The Cut Whore Killings. Seemed kinda dark, though.
Image: Warner Bros.
