Bad Names for Good Movies

Okay so I’m a naming fiend. I believe that a good name (or title) is one of the simplest ways to quickly communicate purpose when it comes to a project, a meeting, an undertaking, or any group endeavor. The right project name or meeting title or report heading allows participants to understand intent and to buy-in to the activity.

This week I was also thinking about wrong names. As important as the right name is to any group venture, a bad name can be disastrous. And I remembered two examples from the world of motion pictures.

In 1994, Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption was released by Castle Rock Entertainment. The movie was an adaptation of the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman as prisoners in the fictional Shawshank Penitentiary in Maine. (The movie is one of only three Stephen King NON-supernatural stories turned into films, along with Stand By Me and Misery.)

The Shawshank Redemption is a great film, and one of my top ten favorite films of all-time. On its release, reviews were almost universally positive, and it remains one of the highest-ranked movies ever in IMDB. Yet no one saw it. In fact, even I, its biggest fan, failed to see it when it was released in theaters. The reason? A horrible name. I’m convinced that audiences stayed away from The Shawshank Redemption because it didn’t have a name that was exciting (The Great Escape, The Bridge on the River Kwai) or intriguing (12 Angry Men, Chinatown), or enchanting (Casablanca, The Best Years of Our Lives). Shawshank is a word that sounds a little goofy and mostly just causes blank stares. And it’s probably reason No. 1 why you’ve never seen this beautiful, uplifting, and completely fulfilling motion picture.

Eleven years later, Ron Howard produced and directed Cinderella Man, a wonderful movie staring Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, and Paul Giamatti. It told the moving story of boxing champion James J. Braddock during the Great Depression. And although  Cinderella Man depicted a powerful story, had a great script, received outstanding reviews, and was nominated for many motion picture awards, audiences stayed away in droves. Why? My guess is the lousy name. The title Cinderella Man simply does not make you want to see the movie. It doesn’t reflect the content of the film well, it doesn’t match audience desires when selecting a film to see, and it doesn’t captivate. And it’s a shame, because it really was a good movie.

Creating a good name is hard because it must be both brief and comprehensive. (Just ask a good news headline writer.) And failure to name is almost always a missed opportunity. Worse yet, and regardless of the quality of the product behind the title, a bad name can be disastrous when it doesn’t match expectations or audience hankerings.