I’ve always thought that, purely as a title, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho simply lacks brevity. You know what you’re getting with the film — the story of how Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho and, more than likely, how it affected his own life — but that doesn’t mean Scorsese should have made His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Hard Times in Tibet, either.

So it’s a smart move on Fox Searchlight’s part to have shortened the name down to Hitchcock, one that gets something across and, at the same time, doesn’t take up so much marquee space. More interesting, though, is the apparent shift in narrative content. The film’s source material, a book of the same name by Stephen Rebello, is often cited as one of the definitive accounts of Psycho‘s production — but, with a change in title, we now hear that Hitchcock will be a love story between he and his wife, Alma (Helen Mirren), which just so happens to take place around the time of its shooting. (I suspect rewrites of John McLaughlin‘s script by Ryan Murphy, Stephen Rebello, and director Sacha Gervasi had something to do with this, for better or for worse.)

With a supporting cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, James D’Arcy, Michael Stuhlbarg, Danny Huston, and Toni Collette (among others), though, my interest is still pretty resounding.

Read the full press release below (via Collider):

“HITCHCOCK” TO BEGIN PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Helen Mirren to star

with Sacha Gervasi to direct

LOS ANGELES, CA April 12, 2012 –Fox Searchlight Pictures and Montecito Pictures announced today that principal photography for the drama HITCHCOCK will start on April 13th in Los Angeles.  The film will star Academy Award® winners Sir Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Dame Helen Mirren as his wife, Alma.  Sacha Gervasi, whose big screen debut, ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL won the 2010 Best Documentary Feature prize at the Independent Spirit Awards, will direct from a screenplay by John McLaughlin, revisions by Ryan Murphy, Stephen Rebello and Sacha Gervasi, based on the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello.  Ivan Reitman, Tom Pollock and Joe Medjuck of Montecito Pictures (UP IN THE AIR) will produce along with Tom Thayer and Alan Barnette.  Ali Bell and Richard Middleton will be executive producers.  The film will be co-financed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and Cold Spring Pictures.  HITCHCOCK will be released worldwide by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Claudia Lewis, President of Production and David Greenbaum, Senior Vice President of Production are overseeing the project for Fox Searchlight Pictures.

HITCHCOCK is a love story about one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife and partner Alma Reville.  The film takes place during the making of Hitchcock’s seminal movie PSYCHO.

The film will also star Scarlett Johansson (LOST IN TRANSLATION) as Janet Leigh, James D’Arcy (MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) as Anthony Perkins, Jessica Biel (THE ILLUSIONIST ) as Vera Miles, Michael Stuhlbarg (A SERIOUS MAN) as Lew Wasserman, Toni Collette (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) as Hitchcock’s secretary Peggy, Michael Wincott (THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO) as Ed Gein, Kurtwood Smith (TO DIE FOR) as Geoffrey Shurlock, Richard Portnow (GOOD MORNING VIETNAM) as Barney Balaban and Danny Huston (THE CONSTANT GARDENER) as Whitfield Cook.

Have you been keeping track of Hitchcock? What do you think of the direction it’s being taken in?