There might be people out there who describe Star Wars as “that sci-fi movie with laser swords and Harrison Ford,” but it’s mostly a small percentage of the public. The title has become as famous as any character name, memorable lines, and those laser swords.
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.
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.
1. Alien (1979)
‘Alien’ (1979)Credit: 20th Century-Fox
The sci-fi horror classic that made Sigourney Weaver a star and introduced a terrifying outer space creature.
Alien was born, not by a jumping facehugger, but through a story by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, which O’Bannon 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.
“Star Beast” was the title of O’Bannon’s 29-page rough draft, about a spaceship crew who find themselves trapped with an alien.
He did an interview for the 2003 documentary The Beast Within: The Making of Alien where he talked about changing the title once he saw the word “alien” repeating in his writing. O’Bannon loved that “it’s a noun and it’s an adjective.” That became the official title. It’s direct and primal, in a way that “Star Beast” wasn’t.
2. Beetlejuice (1988)
‘Beetlejuice’ (1988)Credit: Warner Bros.
This bizarre, funny, sweet, and creepy film directed by Tim Burton 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’t say it three times.
Studio interference was almost responsible for changing that. According to Bruce G. Hallenbeck’s book Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2008, Warner Bros. attempted to rename the movie to “House Ghosts.” Burton did not want that, but he joked about going with a more ridiculous idea, “Scared Sheetless,” only to be met with actual consideration by the studio.
“House Ghosts” is too tame and vanilla for what happens in Beetlejuice. The title ultimately went untouched, but “House Ghosts” did get used as an in-joke in the 2024 legacy sequel that featured a paranormal talk show called Ghost House.
3. Field of Dreams (1989)
‘Field of Dreams’ (1989)Credit: Universal Pictures
“If you build it, he will come.” 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.
Based on Shoeless Joe, a 1982 novel by W. P. Kinsella, this movie kept the novel’s 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.
“Dad’s Second Chance” was one idea which Robinson hated, and he wasn’t convinced when Pollock told him about “Field of Dreams.” 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, “Dream Field.”
4. Pretty Woman (1990)
‘Pretty Woman’ (1990)Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
The rom-com starring Julia Roberts as Hollywood escort Vivian and Richard Gere as wealthy businessman Edward was not a love story in the original screenplay by J. F. Lawton.
Titled “Three Thousand,” Lawton had written a dark drama 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.
The movie got its new title, Pretty Woman, when it had been completed and was put in front of test audiences. “Disney’s idea was to try to find a song that would also double as the title,” first assistant director Ellen H. Schwartz said in a Season 2 episode of Netflix's The Movies That Made Us. That song picked would be the catchy Ray Orbison tune that could get stuck playing on repeat in your head.
5. Scream (1996)
‘Scream’ (1996)Credit: Dimension Films
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, Williamson’s script went by as “Scary Movie,” which was part of the self-referential style. Director Wes Craven loved it. Everyone involved in the production loved it. Well, not everyone.
From interviews in the documentary Scream: The Inside Story (2011), it was only after the movie was in post that the executive producers decided it should be called “Scream,” with inspiration for it taken from the 1995 Michael and Janet Jackson song.
“Scary Movie” wouldn’t be forgotten among other discarded movie titles. It became the name of the spoof franchise that parodied Scream and other horror classics.
If these movies below went by different titles, would they still be as famous?
