40 original movie titles for some of Hollywood's biggest-ever movies

What films were almost called.

40 original movie titles for some of Hollywood's biggest-ever movies
Marc Chacksfield's avatar
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published
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Picture the scene: it's 1985 and you are sitting down to watch one of the biggest new blockbusters of the movie world, one that will end up being loved by millions. Popcorn at the ready, the lights go down and the title appears, with the words: Spaceman from Pluto... Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Back To The Future, does it?

That's because naming your movie is even harder than naming your child. No, stick with us on this one.

Your movie is going to live for longer (even if it's awful), it will come into contact with a wider cross-section of critical people and an entire marketing campaign will exist, based on that name.

So it's therefore understandable that a title may go through a number of different options, especially considering the amount of people involved.

Here's a look at an alternate universe where films all go by very different names...

Original movie titles

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...was almost known as: WiseguyYear: 1990
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...was almost known as: Flight 180Year: 2000
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...was almost known as: Batteries Not IncludedYear: 1988
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...was almost known as: HunterYear: 1987
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...was almost known as: Spaceman from PlutoYear: 1985
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...was almost known as: Shoeless JoeYear: 1989
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...was almost known as: Scary MovieYear: 1996
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...was almost known as: Watch The SkiesYear: 1977
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..was almost known as: When I Grow UpYear: 1988
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...was almost known as: Black MaskYear: 1994
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...was almost known as: Star BeastYear: 1979
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...was almost known as: NottinghamYear: 2010
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...was almost known as: Extremely ViolentYear: 1993
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...was almost known as: Tonight, He ComesYear: 2008
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...was almost known as: Fear and TremblingYear: 1958
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...was almost known as: The Cut Whore KillingsYear: 1992
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...was almost known as: Take It Like A ManYear: 1999
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...was almost known as: Everybody Come To Rick'sYear: 1942
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...was almost known as: The BodyYear: 1986
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...was almost known as: Love HurtsYear: 1992
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...was almost known as: East Great Falls HighYear: 1999
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...was almost known as: The B-TeamYear: 2010
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...was almost known as: Night SkiesYear: 1982
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...was almost known as:Truth, Justice and the American WayYear: 2006
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...was almost known as: The Lunch BunchYear: 1985
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...was almost known as: Head CheeseYear: 1974
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...was almost known as: How The Solar Space Was WonYear: 1968
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...was almost known as: The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday NightYear: 1977
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...was almost known as: Licence RevokedYear: 1989
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...was almost known as: American Pie 3: Piece Of PieYear: 2003
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...was almost known as: Affairs Of The HeartYear: 1987
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...was almost known as: StaticYear: 2002
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...was almost known as: Red Sun, Black SandYear: 2006
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...was almost known as: AshecliffeYear: 2010
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...was almost known as: AnhedoniaYear: 1977
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...was almost known as: Pacific Air Flight 121Year: 2006
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...was almost known as: CottonYear: 2010
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...was almost known as: Route 66Year: 2006
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...was almost known as: Oh No She Didn'tYear: 2009
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...was almost known as: Not Tonight JosephineYear: 1959

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Marc Chacksfield
Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.

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