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.
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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 learnt 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.
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. Purchase orders from vendors, outdoor signs, videocassettes and DVD labels will use the cover title of a film.
The following is a truncated list of English language films, television series and video games which used a title ruse during production.
| Fake Working Title | Film's Actual Title | Notes | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| RKO 281 | Citizen Kane | Later used as title for 1999 film about production of Citizen Kane | 1941 |
| How the Solar System Was Won[3] | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 | |
| Star Beast[3] | Alien | 1979 | |
| A Boy's Life[3] | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | 1982 | |
| Dangerous Days | Blade Runner | Later used as title for a documentary for the 2007's Final Cut of Blade Runner | 1982 |
| Blue Harvest[3] | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | Later adopted by Family Guy as the title for an hour long premiere to the sixth season | 1983 |
| Paradox[3] | Back to the Future Part II | 1989 | |
| Three[3] | Back to the Future Part III | 1990 | |
| Dictel[3] | Batman Returns | 1992 | |
| Very Special People[4] | Freaked | 1993 | |
| Blinko | Batman Forever | 1995 | |
| Planet Ice[3] | Titanic | 1997 | |
| A Tough Nut to Crack[5] | "The Finale" (Seinfeld episode) | 1998 | |
| Blackwood | The X-Files | 1998 | |
| Thomas and the Rainbow Railway | Thomas and the Magic Railroad | 1999 | |
| Last Summer I Screamed Because Halloween Fell on Friday the 13th / Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween[3] | Scary Movie | 2000 | |
| Changing Seasons[3] | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 2001 | |
| Incident on 57th Street[3] | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 2002 | |
| Jar Jar's Big Adventure[6] | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | 2002 | |
| Grand Tour[3] | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | 2002 | |
| Seven Days / Static[3] | The Ring | 2002 | |
| The Athlete | XXX | 2002 | |
| Till Death, For Glory[3] | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 2003 | |
| The Burly Man[3] | The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions | 2003 | |
| Clowns Can't Sleep | Ocean's Twelve | 2004 | |
| The Woods[3] | The Village | 2007 | |
| The Intimidation Game[3] | Batman Begins | 2005 | |
| The Hundred Year Winter / Paravel[3] | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | 2005 | |
| Torchwood[7] | Doctor Who | Later used as title for a spinoff series | 2005 |
| Party in Fresno[3] | War of the Worlds | 2005 | |
| Half Dead[3] | Spider-Man 3 | 2006 | |
| Red Sun[3] | Superman Returns | Codename a possible reference to Superman's home planet, Krypton, which has a red sun as the center of its solar system. | 2006 |
| Colorado Nights[3] | Alien vs. Predator: Requiem | 2007 | |
| Bruce: The Second Coming[3] | Evan Almighty | 2007 | |
| Yellow Harvest[3] | The Simpsons Movie | An homage to Blue Harvest AKA Star Wars VI Return of the Jedi | 2007 |
| Prime Directive[3] | Transformers | 2007 | |
| Toastie[3] | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | 2008 | |
| Slusho / Cheese / Cloverfield[3] | Cloverfield | 2008 | |
| Rory's First Kiss[3] | The Dark Knight | 2008 | |
| Genre[3] | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | 2008 | |
| Hunting and Fishing | Meet the Spartans | 2008 | |
| Farewell Atlantis[3] | 2012 | 2009 | |
| Obelisk[3] | Angels and Demons | 2009 | |
| Project 880 [3] | Avatar | 2009 | |
| Corporate Headquarters[3] | Star Trek | 2009 | |
| Prime Directive 2 [3] | Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen | 2009 | |
| Rasputin[8] | Iron Man 2 | 2010 | |
| Hour Glass[9] | Inception | 2010 | |
| Frostbite[10] | Captain America: The First Avenger | A reference to Captain America being frozen | 2011 |
| Prime Directive 3[10] | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 2011 | |
| Autumn Frost | Man of Steel | 2012 | |
| Magnus Rex | The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 | |
| Group Hug | The Avengers | 2012 | |
| Artemis | The Hunger Games | 2012 | |
| Fiona's Tale | The Amazing Spider-Man | 2012 | |
| Office Seekers | Lincoln | 2012 |