An alternative title is a media

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

device most prominently used in film distribution.

Book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

s and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

s are commonly released under a different

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the title, such as the addition of ''The'', to wholesale changes. Film titles are also often changed when they are released on DVD or VHS.

Reasons

The reasons for this are varied, but usually point towards marketable, linguistic or

cultural differences Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different c ...

. Some titles may not be easily understood in other parts of the world, and may even be considered offensive. Most title changes are commercial. An example is Italian director's

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

's 1971 film ''Duck, You Sucker!'', initially released with this title as he was convinced it was a well-known English saying. When the film performed poorly, it was subsequently rebranded as ''

A Fistful of Dynamite ''Duck, You Sucker!'' ( it, Giù la testa, lit. "Duck Your Head", "Get Down"), also known as ''A Fistful of Dynamite'' and ''Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution'', is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and ...

'', similar in name to his 1964 film ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, a ...

'', part of the successful

Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...

. When

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

bought the U.S. rights to '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', they thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title and, after some discussion, the American edition was published in September 1998 under the title author J. K. Rowling suggested, ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''. Rowling claimed that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time. Academic Philip Nel, who specialises in children's literature, has pointed out that the change lost the connection with

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

References

Film and video terminology {{film-term-stub