# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/101 "2024-07-03T09:54:49Z")
Must have been easy to find Brooks films at the Stockholm Blockbuster. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/102 "2024-07-03T11:24:48Z")
I might just be stupid - but what do other English speakers associate the term with? ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/103 "2024-07-03T14:11:48Z")
It appears that “revoke” is the term for taking away a driver’s licence/license both in the U.S. and the U.K. I think this is like the philosopher’s/sorcerer’s stone change in the U.K. and the U.S. The movie distributors/book publishers change anything they feel like. They don’t have to check whether there’s really a difference in what the viewers/readers think about the titles. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/104 "2024-07-03T14:41:53Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > Originally titled _Licence Revoked_, the name was changed during post-production due to American test audiences … I find this claim doubtful. I mean, they released a record and constructed a title sequence around the title. Did they make one for the original title, and then change it? I doubt it. I think the change must have been made early in the process. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/105 "2024-07-03T14:53:28Z")
The phrase “License to Kill” is associated with James Bond, so anyone already familiar with it would expect a movie called _License to Kill_ to be a James Bond movie. And to anyone who didn’t, it still sounds kinda cool. If you’re already thinking of James Bond, the title _License Revoked_ might make you think of Bond’s famous License To Kill. But if you didn’t already know that a movie called _License Revoked_ was a James Bond movie, the title would be confusing or misleading, and you would indeed think the titular “license” was something more mundane, like a driver’s license. I don’t really see a US/UK distinction here, just a familiarity with James Bond distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/106 "2024-07-03T15:31:04Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > License to Kill is such a better title though, I disagree. He already had a license to kill for 15 previous movies and three previous actors. It was well established. I remember before the name change and I thought _License Revoked_ was perfect. You knew Bond was going rogue, and that _this time, it’s personal!_ If only it had been a better movie… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Baggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Mr.Baggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Baggins)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/107 "2024-07-03T15:53:53Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > In Latin America it was released as “What Happened Yesterday” (Que’ paso’ ayer?) Which is strange because there are plenty of perfectly good words for Hangover. As a translator, I can tell you that’s the problem; too many words for “hangover”, most of them regional, which is a nightmare when you need a title for the whole region. ("Can we call it “la cruda”? “No, they won’t get that in Argentina or Chile, how about the resaca?” “No, no one in Mexico will understand that”… There’s also guayabo, goma, caña, resto, and probably a bunch more. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Baggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Mr.Baggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Baggins)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/108 "2024-07-03T16:04:44Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > I understand the title of Airplane! in Spanish countries is: ¿Y Dónde Está El Piloto? > Which translates to And Where is the Pilot? It gets better. The format was successful enough to be applied to a bunch of other unrelated films (successfully informing they were parodies, or at least comedies): The Naked Gun - ¿Y dónde está el policía? (Where’s the policeman) A Haunted Movie - ¿Y dónde está el fantasma? (Where’s the ghost) Reposessed - ¿Y dónde está el exorcista? (Where’s the exorcist) White Chicks - ¿Y dónde están las rubias? (Where are the blond girls?) Young Doctors in Love - ¿Y dónde está el doctor? (Where’s the doctor) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/109 "2024-07-03T16:06:07Z")
Not in Argentina, Diego be thanked, at least for the Naked Gun, which was faithfully translated as “La pistola desnuda” ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/110 "2024-07-03T17:14:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The phrase “License to Kill” is associated with James Bond, so anyone already familiar with it would expect a movie called _License to Kill_ to be a James Bond movie. And to anyone who didn’t, it still sounds kinda cool. > > If you’re already thinking of James Bond, the title _License Revoked_ might make you think of Bond’s famous License To Kill. But if you didn’t already know that a movie called _License Revoked_ was a James Bond movie, the title would be confusing or misleading, and you would indeed think the titular “license” was something more mundane, like a driver’s license. > > I don’t really see a US/UK distinction here, just a familiarity with James Bond distinction. Nobody has brought up the fact that _Licence Renewed_ was the title of the first James Bond book by John Gardner in 1981, the first new Bond novel since Kingsley Amis wrote _Colonel Sun_ back in 1968 (ignoring those awful Christopher Moore novelizations), The title made sense because Bond was, in a way, being brought out of retirement. There had evidently been some thought given to using Gardner’s novel as the basis for a new Bond film, but they decided to go with an original plot. But they seem to have kept the idea of the title, but changing from _Renewed_ to _Revoked_. Interestingly, Gardner also got the job of writing the novelization for the film (the first since Wood’s _James Bond and Moonraker_, so he wrote _License to Kill_ as well as _Licence Renewed_, and this became the only Bond novelist to have “License/Licence” spelled two different ways in his titles. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/111 "2024-07-08T20:28:28Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “Con la muerte en los talones” . . . . “With death in its claws”, maybe? Rather “With Death at his heels”. Once Upon A Time In The West - Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod: _Play me the song of Death_ or _Play the song of Death to me_. It’s a wordplay (he!) on the harmonica Charles Bronson plays and puts in Henry Fonda’s mouth while he is dying after he shoots him. > [@Mr.Baggins](#): > > > [@Author\_Balk](#): > > > > I understand the title of Airplane! in Spanish countries is: ¿Y Dónde Está El Piloto? > > Which translates to And Where is the Pilot? > > It gets better. The format was successful enough to be applied to a bunch of other unrelated films (successfully informing they were parodies, or at least comedies): > The Naked Gun - ¿Y dónde está el policía? (Where’s the policeman) In Spain airplane! was translated as _¡Aterriza como puedas!_ → _Land however you can!_, and The Naked Gun turned into _Agárralo como puedas_ (Grab it whichever way you can, if that makes any sense. It does not make much to me…). ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/112 "2024-07-08T20:31:47Z")
My favorite example was when I was on a vacation in Costa Rica and I saw a commercial for a movie. I can’t remember the actual Spanish title, but the movie _Lost in Translation_ was NOT titled _Perdido en traduccion_ or anything similar. In other words, the title of the movie was lost in translation! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/113 "2024-07-08T20:35:18Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Agárralo como puedas Catc > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The Naked Gun turned into _Agárralo como puedas_ (Grab it whichever way you can, if that makes any sense. It does not make much to me…). It makes sense if you translate it as “Catch him however you can”, “him” being the criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/114 "2024-07-08T20:38:21Z")
Oh, that was Perdidos en Tokio: Lost (plural!) in Tokio. The phrase “lost in translation” is usually expressed as _traduttore tradittore_ (translator traitor, meaning translators are traitors by trade) in Spanish, although it is actually Italian. > [@Frodo](#): > > It makes sense if you translate it as “Catch him however you can”, “him” being the criminal. OK, I guess translating it as “_cójelo como puedas_” would not do in your country, where _cojer_ make speople think of sexual intercourse, though it would have been the better way to say that in Spain Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/115 "2024-07-08T20:39:52Z")
It would also give us another way to make fun of Spain Spanish which is always a bonus 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/116 "2024-07-08T20:41:00Z")
Don’t you already do it? We do it with your version of Spanish, you know that 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/117 "2024-07-08T20:50:33Z")
Of course we do, that’s why I said “ **another** way” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/118 "2024-07-08T21:01:13Z")
Only tangentially related to movie titles is the Film Festival in San Sebastián, probably the most prestigious film festival in Spain. The city of San Sebastián has a beautiful beach with a rounded shape reminiscent of a shell, thus is is called La Concha. The highest award the festival bestowes is therefore called [La Concha de Oro](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Concha_de_Oro_(Festival_de_San_Sebasti%C3%A1n)): the [Golden Shell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Shell). Unfortunately for Argentinians the meaning in their version of Spanish translates not as the Golden Shell, but as the Golden Cunt. I wonder how they feel when they win this award, as happened in 1992 and 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/119 "2024-07-08T21:09:00Z")
Same way as when we win anything else, “ha! this is further proof that ours is the best country in the world” 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122/120 "2024-07-08T21:12:50Z")
Huhhh… [well, you know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c)… 🤣 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-movies-title-for-a-foreign-audience/1003122.md?page=7)