{"id":11856,"date":"2026-09-30T05:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T03:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/30\/5-iconic-films-that-almost-had-different-titles\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T05:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T03:02:56","slug":"5-iconic-films-that-almost-had-different-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/30\/5-iconic-films-that-almost-had-different-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Iconic Films That Almost Had Different Titles"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

There might be people out there who describe Star Wars<\/em><\/u><\/em><\/a> as \u201cthat sci-fi movie with laser swords and Harrison Ford,\u201d but it\u2019s mostly a small percentage of the public. The title has become as famous as any character name, memorable lines, and those laser swords.<\/p>\n

That is the impact a great movie title can have. It can indicate the genre and give audiences a taste of the world before the movie even starts playing. Of course, not every movie does this; some are more vague. <\/p>\n

But choosing the right one can be as important as the cast and the story. That is what the five iconic films on this list did. <\/p>\n

1. Alien<\/em> (1979)<\/h2>\n

\"Xenomorph, \u2018Alien\u2019 (1979)<\/small>Credit: 20th Century-Fox<\/small><\/p>\n

The sci-fi horror classic<\/u><\/a> that made Sigourney Weaver a star and introduced a terrifying outer space creature.<\/p>\n

Alien<\/em><\/em> was born, not by a jumping facehugger, but through a story by Dan O\u2019Bannon and Ronald Shusett<\/u><\/a>, which O\u2019Bannon then made into a screenplay. During this time, when the movie only existed on the page, it went through a working title which, thankfully, did not stick.<\/p>\n

\u201cStar Beast\u201d was the title of O\u2019Bannon\u2019s 29-page rough draft, about a spaceship crew who find themselves trapped with an alien. <\/p>\n

He did an interview for the 2003 documentary The Beast Within: The Making of Alien <\/em><\/em>where he talked about changing the title once he saw the word \u201calien\u201d repeating in his writing. O\u2019Bannon loved that \u201cit\u2019s a noun and it\u2019s an adjective.\u201d That became the official title. It\u2019s direct and primal, in a way that \u201cStar Beast\u201d wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

2. Beetlejuice<\/em> (1988)<\/h2>\n

\"Michael \u2018Beetlejuice\u2019 (1988)<\/small>Credit: Warner Bros.<\/small><\/p>\n

This bizarre, funny, sweet, and creepy film directed by Tim Burton<\/u><\/a> had the perfect title for a story about a recently deceased couple trying and failing to scare out the living occupants who have moved into their home. Just don\u2019t say it three times.<\/p>\n

Studio interference was almost responsible for changing that. According to Bruce G. Hallenbeck\u2019s book Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2008<\/em><\/em>, Warner Bros. attempted to rename the movie to \u201cHouse Ghosts.\u201d<\/u><\/a> Burton did not want that, but he joked about going with a more ridiculous idea, \u201cScared Sheetless,\u201d only to be met with actual consideration by the studio. <\/p>\n

\u201cHouse Ghosts\u201d is too tame and vanilla for what happens in Beetlejuice<\/em><\/em>. The title ultimately went untouched, but \u201cHouse Ghosts\u201d did get used as an in-joke in the 2024 legacy sequel<\/u><\/a> that featured a paranormal talk show called Ghost House<\/em><\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. Field of Dreams<\/em> (1989)<\/h2>\n

\"James \u2018Field of Dreams\u2019 (1989)<\/small>Credit: Universal Pictures<\/small><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you build it, he will come.\u201d Iowa farmer Ray (Kevin Costner) hears this message from his cornfield, and it compels him to build a baseball field on his property, which soon brings the arrival of the ghosts of famous players<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on Shoeless Joe<\/em><\/em>, a 1982 novel by W. P. Kinsella, this movie kept the novel\u2019s title during production, taken from the nickname of baseball outfielder Joseph Jefferson Jackson. It was during post-production that writer\/director Phil Alden Robinson learned from the chairman of Universal Pictures, Tom Pollock, that it would be renamed due to reactions from test audiences.<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cDad\u2019s Second Chance\u201d was one idea which Robinson hated, and he wasn\u2019t convinced when Pollock told him about \u201cField of Dreams.\u201d But it was met with better scores by another test audience. In what seemed like a twist of fate, Robinson then learned from Kinsella that he had originally wanted to name his novel, \u201cDream Field.\u201d <\/p>\n

4. Pretty Woman<\/em> (1990)<\/h2>\n

\"Richard \u2018Pretty Woman\u2019 (1990)<\/small>Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution<\/small><\/p>\n

The rom-com starring Julia Roberts<\/u><\/a> as Hollywood escort Vivian and Richard Gere as wealthy businessman Edward was not a love story in the original screenplay by J. F. Lawton.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cThree Thousand,\u201d Lawton had written a dark drama<\/u><\/a> about capitalism with an ending to match the tone, where Edward was desperate to rid himself of Vivian by forcing her out of his car and paying her the $3,000 they agreed on. When Disney purchased the script, major rewrites led to the movie becoming a hopeful Cinderella-esque tale.<\/p>\n

The movie got its new title, Pretty Woman<\/em><\/em>, when it had been completed and was put in front of test audiences. \u201cDisney\u2019s idea was to try to find a song that would also double as the title,\u201d first assistant director Ellen H. Schwartz said in a Season 2 episode of Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us. <\/em><\/em>That song picked would be the catchy Ray Orbison tune that could get stuck playing on repeat in your head. <\/p>\n

5. Scream<\/em> (1996)<\/h2>\n

\"The \u2018Scream\u2019 (1996)<\/small>Credit: Dimension Films<\/small><\/p>\n

Screenwriter Kevin Williamson was a big horror fan, and he wanted to bring that passion into the meta-slasher he wrote. Before you knew it as Scream<\/em><\/u><\/em><\/a>, Williamson\u2019s script went by as \u201cScary Movie,\u201d which was part of the self-referential style. Director Wes Craven loved it. Everyone involved in the production loved it. Well, not everyone.<\/p>\n

From interviews in the documentary Scream: The Inside Story<\/em><\/em> (2011), it was only after the movie was in post that the executive producers decided it should be called \u201cScream,\u201d with inspiration for it taken from the 1995 Michael and Janet Jackson song. <\/p>\n

\u201cScary Movie\u201d wouldn\u2019t be forgotten among other discarded movie titles. It became the name of the spoof franchise that parodied Scream<\/em><\/em> and other horror classics.<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n

If these movies below went by different titles, would they still be as famous? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Author: Chris Sasaguay
\nThis article comes from No Film School<\/i> and can be read on the original site.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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