Selling a movie is hard work. The challenge becomes exponentially harder if you botch the title.

NEGI RK Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Selling a movie is hard work. The challenge becomes exponentially harder if you botch the title.

And by ‘botch,’ I don’t mean a ‘bad’ title. The ‘good,’ the ‘bad’ and the artistic merit of the title are secondary concerns. What it shouldn’t be, at any cost, is bland.

Precious Based on The Novel Push by Sapphire is an atrocious title, but you know what, it is memorable, and it has stuck around to this day.

You don’t want it to be bland, but you don’t want it to be way over the top either. Case in point, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

So avoiding blandness is a huge one. And as far as I’m concerned, the next one is equally essential.

There’s no proper name for it, but in summary, here’s the deal – if your movie has an X-factor element in it that separates it from the herd, make sure it’s in the title.

How many movies set in Mars are made every year? Not many.

Now, imagine for a moment that you are Disney.

You are sitting on a potentially multibillion-dollar franchise. An epic sci-fi adventure saga set almost entirely in a futuristic Martian landscape and society.

And you name it John Carter.

Who in the seven hells is John Carter? Why should I care?

I’m not paying money to see some goofy British man carefully sip tea and elaborate on the virtues of chivalry. Because that's what 'John Carter' sounds like.

You could have called it John Carter of Mars, or A Princess of Mars, or Tales of Barsoom for all I care. Literally anything but John Carter.

Of course, the title was merely the tip of the iceberg. The film’s marketing campaign was an unmitigated disaster.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Might as well have called the movie Murphy’s Law (Of Mars).

And if you’re wondering, John Carter, atrocious title notwithstanding, is a perfectly enjoyable blockbuster.

Source Code and Edge of Tomorrow are guilty of committing a similar sin.

The latter is one of the oddest blockbusters in recent history in terms of its box-office – far worse movies starring Tom Cruise have made far more money.

But I digress. The point is simple – If your movie has time-travel or Groundhog Day elements, make sure that is communicated via the title!

Back to The Future, Days of Future Past, The Sands of Time and Timecrimes are all examples of titles that provide an intriguing glimpse into the respective films.

Whereas Edge of Tomorrow and Source Code are painfully bland. The former is possibly the best movie among this lot save Back to The Future, and yet it failed considering its budget.