Working title

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A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.

Purpose

Working titles are used primarily for two reasons-the first being that an official title has not yet been decided upon and the working title is being used as a filler for naming purposes, the second being to intentionally disguise the production of a project.

Examples of the former include the film Die Hard with a Vengeance, which was produced under the title Die Hard: New York and the James Bond films, which are commonly produced under titles such as Bond 22 until an official title is decided upon.

Examples of the latter include Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, which was produced under the title Blue Harvest; 2009's Star Trek which was produced under the title Corporate Headquarters; and the Batman films Batman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, which were produced under the titles Dictel, The Intimidation Game, Rory's First Kiss and Magnus Rex,^[1] respectively.

In some cases a working title may ultimately be used as the official title, as in the case of the films Cloverfield, High School Musical, and Snakes on a Plane (at the insistence of leading man, Samuel L. Jackson, who joked that he took the role for the working title alone, after he learned the title was going to be changed to Pacific Air Flight 121 upon release), the television show The Cleveland Show, and video games Quake II, Spore, Silent Hill Origins and Epic Mickey.

Title ruse

A title ruse is a practice by which a high-profile film or television series is given a fake working title to keep its production a secret, and to prevent price gouging by suppliers,^[2] casual theft and undesirable attention.^{[citation needed]}Purchase orders from vendors, outdoor signs, videocassettes and DVD labels will use the cover title of a film.

Examples

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The following is a truncated list of English language films, television series and video games which used a title ruse during production.

References

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