Naming a Movie After a Fictional Main Character

[SGOS]

Just an inconsequential rambling observation about nothing important, because I got bored, so...

Naming a movie after the main character like, John Wick, Hud, Ronan, Jerry Maguire, Corky Romano, Charlie Bartlett is like the guy in Hollywood who gets paid to invent movie titles must have gone on a coffee break.  I can’t think of how that guy could get any less creative. 

It makes sense if the movie is about a famous person like Lincoln or Mozart, because it implies something about the movie, but for fictional characters, it’s like, “Oh, this movie is about John Wick??  Sounds interesting.  I should probably go see it!"  As if John Wick tells me anything.

I think maybe the first time I saw a movie titled that way, I thought it was interesting, because it seemed kind of different, but it’s such a common practice now that I’m guessing Hollywood is just running out of creativity.

[trdsf]

Oh, Hollywood ran dry creatively decades ago.  That's why every other movie is a sequel, prequel or remake.  It's just a matter of time before we see "Groundhog Day 2"...

[Hydra009]

I sort of agree.  Yeah, I dunno if Hancock really grabs me.  But on the other hand, I really like Beetlejuice, Spartacus, Dracula, etc.  I guess it depends.

Movie titles tend to fall into several broad categories:
* A person's name (Aladdin, Shrek, Forrest Gump, Borat, Jason, etc)
* A person's title/profession (Terminator, The Godfather, Anchorman, Timecop, etc)
* A location (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Jurassic Park, District 9, etc)
* A combination of the above, which tend to make for cumbersome titles (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Harry Potter and the ____, )
* Something esoteric or evocative (Chariots of Fire, V for Vendetta, Hunger Games, etc)

I personally prefer the last, but names are by far the most common category.  It makes sense for the company producing the movie to give it a title they can easily turn into a series.  Rocky easily lends itself to Rocky 2.  Before you sit down in the theater, you know you're watching a movie about Rocky.    Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick, not so much.  And then sometimes, you have to append the old movie title into the new one, which can be messy.  Hunger Games ---> Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The naming conventions are basically just to sell tickets.

[stromboli]

As opposed to snakes on a plane? I don't read graphic novels so I don't know most of the characters, aka "Jack Reacher" et al, so it doesn't mean much to me either way. But you're right. Can you say Big Jake?

[Desdinova]

I prefer porn versions.

Forrest Hump
Sperminator
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Poon
Womb Raider
Schindler's Fist

[SGOS]

I prefer porn versions.

Forrest Hump
Sperminator
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Poon
Womb Raider
Schindler's Fist

That's the ticket!

[stromboli]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Bone?

[Desdinova]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Bone?

I'd like to introduce my sorcerer's bone to her chamber of secrets!

[stromboli]

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