What’s in a name? As William Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That may be true, but a bad movie title can seriously damage its prospects at the box office. Just look at Edge of Tomorrow, a great Tom Cruise sci-fi action thriller whose generic moniker no doubt hurt its commercial performance. In fact, Warner Brothers went so far as to rename the 2014 film Live. Die. Repeat. upon its home market release. As it just so happens, the studio nearly shot itself in the foot when it came time to name Beetlejuice almost 30 years before that. Warner Brothers hated the name, wanting something more literal, like House Ghost. They urged director Tim Burton to change the title to something that would be easier for audiences to pronounce. Burton jokingly suggested calling the movie Scared Sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually liked it. Burton stuck to his guns, even threatening to jump out the window if they renamed the movie. Warner Brothers gave in and to their surprise the 1988 film was not only a blockbuster that would become a classic, it also raked in $451 million worldwide, not to mention the revenue that came rolling in from video games, comics, and theme park attractions that carried the moniker. What’s in a name?……apparently big bucks!
