# Novels into Movies: Title Changes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557 "2001-04-02T23:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KeithB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@KeithB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithB)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/21 "2001-04-03T15:18:39Z")
Oh, and Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” became “Apocalypse Now.” (Though a lot more changed than just the title!) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/22 "2001-04-03T15:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Tengu wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > The Monolith -\> 2001: A Space Oddesy > > I think you mean: > > “The Sentinel” -\> _2001: A Space Odyssey_ \*\* You’re entirely correct. Soon after posting that, I realised it was wrong, but I couldn’t remember what the correct title was, and couldn’t find the book it was in, so I left it alone. THANK YOU. This would have bugged me. (And I think Keith’s correct about Something Wicked This Way Comes. When we read the novel in school, it was Something Wicked This Way Comes. A phrase that shows up a LOT in the novel.) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/23 "2001-04-03T15:40:51Z")
It’s not a big change, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory became Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Part of Judges became Samson and Delilah, and most of Exodus became The Ten Commandments (yeah, I know, I’m pushing it!) 😃 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/24 "2001-04-03T15:41:28Z")
Don’t forget: _Beowulf_ became _The Eaters of the Dead_ (book) became _The Thirteenth Warrior_ (movie). Which I actually enjoyed (the movie and the original Beowulf). Don’t know that I enjoyed Crichton so much–I enjoyed the new viewpoint but didn’t think he added anything else. But I’m an English major, we’re supposed to be weird like that. Snicks ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/25 "2001-04-03T15:53:38Z")
Romeo & Juliet became West Side Story. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/26 "2001-04-03T20:12:03Z")
Ethilrist wrote: > [@](#): > > Romeo & Juliet became West Side Story. Hell, if Broadway musicals count: “The Wizard of Oz” became “The Wiz”. “Little Orphan Annie” became “Annie”. “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” became “Cats”. The later chapters of Genesis became “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. The Gospels became “Godspell” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”. “Auntie Mame” became “Mame”. “Green Grow the Lilacs” became “Oklahoma!”. “Tales of the South Pacific” became “South Pacific”. “Liliom” became “Carousel”. “Logan’s Run” had a “Carousel” in it, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/27 "2001-04-03T21:29:33Z")
Pick, pick, pick. Discord in Scarlet was the basis for Alien. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/28 "2001-04-04T00:06:17Z")
The _New York Post_ article “Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip” begat the movie, _It Could Happen to You_, undoubtedly the worst title change of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/29 "2001-04-04T00:13:02Z")
The coolest of all book-to-movie title changes has to be when “Rocket Boys” (not technically a novel, though) had its title changed to “October Sky” for the movie. A perfect anagram of the original title! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/30 "2001-04-04T00:45:01Z")
Stanley Kubrick had been working on adapting Brian Aldiss’s short story “Supertoys Last All Day Long” for many years when he unexpectedly died. He had discussed the project off-and-on with Steven Spielberg, who decided to pick up the reins after Kubrick’s death. Spielberg is using Kubrick’s alternate title: _A.I._ For what it’s worth, the movie comes out at the end of June. [Here’s the official site](http://aimovie.warnerbros.com/), if you want to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/31 "2001-04-04T01:03:48Z")
“The Awakening” became The Grand Isle ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/32 "2001-04-04T18:35:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KeithB \* > \*\*I may be misremembering, and the IMDB has no mention of a “Black Ferris”, but I believe that “Something Wicked This Way Comes” was based on the Bradbury novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” In fact, Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay. \*\* Well, the situation is a bit more complex…Bradbury’s short story “The Black Ferris” came first, in 1948. Years later, he used the idea of “The Black Ferris” to create an outline for a movie idea and was encouraged to expand upon it so that a movie could be created. The novel _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ was the result of that expansion. So, I’d still say that the movie came about as a result of, originally, the short story, and that the retitled novel was basically a script for the eventual movie. There’s more information in [Ray Bradbury’s introduction](http://www.gauntletpress.com/books/wickedintro.htm) to the book, including this great quote: > [@](#): > > The buck never came out on the table and Sam Peckinpah wandered off to do other films in far places. When, tired of waiting on his love, I sold the rights to Paramount Studios, Sam piqued, wrote me a letter calling me a “bunch-quitter” and sent me a small cactus with a jar of Vaseline to be applied as directed by myself and my producers. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/33 "2001-04-04T20:34:07Z")
[Moderator Hat ON] How’d I miss this one? Moving to MPSIMS… [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/34 "2001-04-04T21:16:05Z")
> [@](#): > > here’s another: > > El Club Dumas (book) became The Ninth Gate (book). actually, _EL Club Dumas_ was first translated as _The Club Dumas_ (how surprising), then made into the for-s\*\*t movie _The Ninth Gate_, then republished under that title. why oh why do books I love get turned into such AWFUL movies?!?!?! There will be HELL to pay if those Hollywood people mess up _Good Omens_ or _Neverwhere_… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/35 "2001-04-04T22:34:52Z")
Re _Good Omens_, fear not; Terry Gilliam is doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/36 "2001-04-05T02:09:09Z")
The Coen brothers took Dashiell Hammett’s _The Glass Key_ and ran with it to make [_Miller’s Crossing_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100150). There are also two versions under the original title. The '42 one is really quite good. Haven’t seen the George Raft version yet. Elmore Leonard’s _Rum Punch_ became _Jackie Brown_. If I had a dollar for every time _Cyrano de Bergerac, Pygmalion, The Prince and the Pauper, or Romeo and Juliet_ was massacred and retitled, I’d buy you all a beer. ---
**Author:** ![FEotU](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@FEotU](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FEotU)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/37 "2001-04-05T04:19:42Z")
The short story “The Foghorn” (Ray Bradbury) became “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”. Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” became “Forbidden Planet”. The book “6 Days of the Condor” became “3 Days of the Condor”. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/38 "2001-04-05T04:42:06Z")
Here’s a couple of really grungy ones. Bram Stoker’s **Dracula** was filmed as **Bram Stoker’s Dracula**. Likewise, Mary Shelley’s **Frankenstein** became **Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein**. Bradbury’s “The Foghorn” is actually a bit more complicated. It was originally published, in The Saturday Evening Post, as “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.” It was retitled “The Foghorn” when it was reprinted in Bradbury’s collection **Golden Apples of the Sun** (I think), and that’s since become it’s “official” title. So does the movie **Beast from 20,000 Fathoms** count as a title change or not? ---
**Author:** ![FEotU](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@FEotU](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FEotU)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/39 "2001-04-05T06:40:38Z")
Wasn’t aware the story was published under that title in the Saturday Evening Post (though I was aware that it was published by them), thanks for the info. Another for the list is “Leiningen versus the Ants”, which was filmed as “The Naked Jungle”. Jules Verne’s “Captain Grant’s Children” (or was it “The Children of Captain Grant”?) became “In Search of the Castaways”. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557/40 "2001-04-05T06:46:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by arisu \* > \*\*There will be HELL to pay if those Hollywood people mess up … _Neverwhere_… \*\* This’n started as a British TV series, so it’s already been bungled by Hollywood - they never picked it up for air or video… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-into-movies-title-changes/60557.md?page=3)