From this day forward, thou shall not refer to the former names of the following film titles. Dark Horizons (via Rope of Silicon) has confirmed title changes for two films. First up, Disney has changed the title for the live-action debut of Wall-E and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton. John Carter of Mars has dropped the planet aspect, now simply titled John Carter. I fear they were scared of any association with their mega-bomb Mars Needs Moms, but I thought the Mars aspect added a twist to the normal name.
The adaptation of the beloved Edgar Burroughs series stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, and Raad Rawi. It follows Carter, “who finds himself suddenly projected to Mars and captive of the savage green men of Thark. With him is Dejah Thoris, lovely Princess of Helium. And between them and rescue lay a thousand miles of deadly enemies and unknown dangers.”
John Carter hits theaters March 9th, 2012.
In other title changes, Andrew Niccol‘s upcoming sci-fi thriller has already been through the ringer. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde and Bella Heathcote, the film was titled I’m.mortal, then Now. But 20th Century Fox have now landed on In Time for “the story of a society in which aging stops at the age of 25 and the rich are immortal, while the rest struggle to stay alive.” The title is just as bad as the previous ones, but at least we’re getting a new sc-fi film this year from The Truman Show writer and Gattaca director.
In Time its theaters October 28th, 2011.
Lastly, OLV reports that the next film from Beastly director Daniel Barnz, Still I Rise, has been retitled. This could simply be a change for the production in Pittsburgh, but the new title is now reportedly Steel Town. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holly Hunter, and Viola Davis, the drama follows “two mothers who team up to help make a difference at a local school.” It is expected to have a 2012 release.
Like Steven Spielberg’s upcoming The Adventures of Tintin dropped its The Secret of the Unicorn subtitle, what do you think about these title changes? Which film are you most looking forward to?