# Changing a movie's title for a foreign audience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 20, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122 "2024-06-20T15:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/21 "2024-06-20T17:38:58Z")
_Airplane!_ was released as _Flying High_ in Australia and New Zealand. Supposedly this was intended to avoid confusion with one of the _Airport_ films, which would have been in the theaters at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/22 "2024-06-20T17:45:49Z")
_The Concorde… Airport '79_ was released a year later overseas as _Airport '80: The Concorde_, around the same time _Airplane!_ was released. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/23 "2024-06-21T01:26:20Z")
Oliver Stone’s **Nixon** was released in China with the title **Big Liar.** Finally, truth in advertising. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/24 "2024-06-21T01:40:13Z")
Not strictly in point, but when the Alan Bennet play _The Madness of George III_ was filmed, it was retitled _The Madness of King George_. A popular rumour at the time held that this was to avoid cinemagoers thinking it was part of a series and skipping it because they had missed _The Madness of George_ and _The Madness of George II_. Regrettably, there is no truth in this. The retitling was done with an eye to the US market, where the historical personage concerned is mainly known as King George rather than as George III. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/25 "2024-06-21T02:03:34Z")
[According to QI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wta6isxZlwQ) **The Sound of Music** was known in Italian as “Tutti Insieme Appassionatamente”, or **All Together Passionately**. And, it’s worth watching that clip, believe me … ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/26 "2024-06-21T03:12:51Z")
Which is ironic, or possibly appropriate, because _Airplane!_ was supposed to be an indirect parody of _Airport_. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/27 "2024-06-21T04:26:07Z")
In fact it takes its plot from the thriller Zero Hour! Presumably that’s also where it got its exclamation point. Zero Hour! itself is based on a CBC movie starring James Doohan(!!!). One of the funniest scenes in Airplane! is (almost) unchanged from Zero Hour! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yH6KW6eMWJI/maxresdefault.jpg "Airplane! Coffee Scene: The Original and the Spoof") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH6KW6eMWJI) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/28 "2024-06-21T07:08:29Z")
In some cases it would make no sense to just literally translate the title in the original language to another language. Sometimes the title in the original language involves a pun that doesn’t work in any other language. Consider the 2008 movie called _Made of Honor_ (or _Made of Honour_ in some English-speaking countries). This is a pun in English between the words maid and made that can’t be literally translated into any other language. So it was translated in various ways in other languages. Would someone like to tell us the literal meaning in those languages of as many of the translations as you know?: > **[Made of Honor (2008) - Release info - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0866439/releaseinfo/?ref_=tt_dt_aka#akas)** > > Made of Honor (2008) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... Note that you have to click on the words “45 more” below the section Also Known As (AKA) to see all the various translations. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/29 "2024-06-21T07:30:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Would someone like to tell us the literal meaning in those languages of as many of the translations as you know? German: Verliebt in die Braut=In Love With The Bride French: Le témoin amoureux=The Witness In Love ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/30 "2024-06-21T07:35:36Z")
I know, that’s why I said it was an indirect parody, as directly it’s a parody of Zero Hour. By the way, I still call iit _Flying High!_ sometimes. Old habits etc. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/31 "2024-06-21T08:22:36Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m guessing it’s marketing reasons, as they do this all the time even between English language countries. So what might be a plausible marketing reason for changing the title of movie in my OP, rather than just translating it? Is there maybe an assumption that native English speakers generally don’t even know where Tunis is? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/32 "2024-06-21T11:35:14Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Even better in Germany: “Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug”, “The unbelievable journey in a crazy plane”. And yes, Airplane II was called “Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Raumschiff”…(Raumschiff=space ship) Mel Brooks’s “History of the World: Part I” was called “La folle histoire du monde” (The crazy history of the world) in French. Subsequently, “Spaceballs” was called “La folle histoire de l’espace” (The crazy history of space). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/33 "2024-06-21T11:41:27Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Are there other movies that have received similar treatment? Forrest J. Ackerman, in his magazine _Famous Monsters of Filmland_, had a semi-regular feature that showed the titles of foreign versions of American and English films (trabslated into English). Often these had nothing to do with the original film, and sometimes didn’t even make sense. Apparently a lot of the time they change the title to try to bring more people in. So sometimes they’ll add a “Frankenstein” to a movie title for a film that has nothing to do with Frankenstein or his monster. So, yeah, they do this to other films. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/34 "2024-06-21T11:45:00Z")
And, of course, the American film distributors play the same game. So the 1976 French comedy **Un éléphant ça trompe énormément** , in English literally _An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive_ was retitled **Pardon mon Affaire** for US distribution ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/35 "2024-06-21T12:06:41Z")
The French antiwar comedy _La Victoire en chantant_ had its title changed to _Black and White in Color_ for the English speaking market. The original title was a lyric from a French patriotic song unknown outside of France. After it won the Oscar, it was rereleased in France as \*Noirs et Blancs en couleur \*, a direct translation of the English title, but also a pun on the French _Blacks and Whites angry_ (“en colour” vs. “en colère”) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/36 "2024-06-21T12:18:23Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I think it comes down to control. Maybe in some cases, but many times it’s a (not unreasonable) fear that the movie or book will fail to find its audience, and therefore flop, because of its title (that it would be misleading or confusing or turn people off). > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So Philosopher’s/Sorcerers stone change is some dumbass who changed it because he didn’t get it. Would you have “gotten it”? Remember, this was the first Harry Potter book, released when no one knew who or what “Harry Potter” was. If you’d never heard of the Philosopher’s Stone before (and I don’t know about the UK, but I’m sure very few US kids would have), you’d think a book with the word “Sorcerer’s” in the title would be a fantasy about magic but a book with the word “Philosopher’s” in the title would be… a book about philosophy? esoteric deep thoughts? Would kids have lined up to buy a book about a philosopher? It looks like they weren’t wrong to change it, since the book did turn out to be a massive success. Although… > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Imagine how successful the books might have been if they left the title alone! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/37 "2024-06-21T13:01:10Z")
In Sweden, **The Producers** was released under the title **Det våras för Hitler** , or “Springtime for Hitler” (the title of the musical-within-the-film). They went on to release every subsequent Mel Brooks film with the same title format: **Springtime for the Sheriff** , **Springtime for Frankenstein** , etc…. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/38 "2024-06-21T13:11:40Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Subsequently, “Spaceballs” was called “La folle histoire de l’espace” (The crazy history of space). _Spaceballs_ was apparently called that because it was a parody of films set in space and was a screwball comedy. There was no literal translation into any other language. Any translation would have to make some entirely different reference to being about space and being a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/39 "2024-06-21T13:15:17Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If you’d never heard of the Philosopher’s Stone before (and I don’t know about the UK, but I’m sure very few US kids would have), you’d think a book with the word “Sorcerer’s” in the title would be a fantasy about magic but a book with the word “Philosopher’s” in the title would be… a book about philosophy? esoteric deep thoughts? Would kids have lined up to buy a book about a philosopher? The philosopher’s stone is no better known in the U.K. than in the U.S. This was purely the decision of the American publisher. They made no survey of children about the title. Rowling was so happy about the amount of money they offered her that she decided to accept it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/40 "2024-06-21T13:15:31Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > _Spaceballs_ was apparently called that because it was a parody of films set in space and was a screwball comedy. There was no literal translation into any other language. Any translation would have to make some entirely different reference to being about space and being a comedy. In Germany it was called…Spaceballs. They sometimes keep the English title, especially when there is no direct translation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122.md?page=3)