A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary
title of a product or project used during its development, usually used in
filmmaking,
television production,
video game development, or the creation of a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
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, with the working title being used purely for identification purposes, and the second being a ruse to intentionally disguise the real nature of a project.
Production title
Projects usually have a fixed working title throughout production to prevent confusion, because ideas for release titles can keep on changing.
Examples include the film ''
Die Hard with a Vengeance'', which was filmed under the title ''Die Hard: New York'', and the
James Bond films, which are commonly produced under numerical titles such as ''Bond 22'', until an official title is announced. Titles may also change because of significant changes to the plot during production, as was the case with
Disney's ''
The Emperor's New Groove,'' whose working title was ''Kingdom of the Sun,''.
Ruse title
A title ruse is a practice by which a high-profile film or television series is given a fake working title to prevent undesired attention, price gouging by suppliers and casual or targeted theft.
Notable examples of ruse titles include ''Blue Harvest'' (''
Return of the Jedi''), ''How the Solar System Was Won'' (''
2001: A Space Odyssey''), ''Planet Ice'' (''
Titanic''), ''Greenbrier'' (''
El Camino''), ''Red Gun'' (''
House of the Dragon''), the
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
films ''
Batman Returns'', ''
Batman Forever'', ''
Batman Begins'', ''
The Dark Knight'' and ''
The Dark Knight Rises'', which were produced under the titles ''Blinko'', ''Dictel'', ''The Intimidation Game'', ''Rory's First Kiss'', and ''Magnus Rex'',
[Nolan Fans articl]
"The Dark Knight Rises As Magnus Rex"
/ref> respectively and ''Tenet'', under the title ''Merry-Go-Round''.
In some cases a working title may ultimately be used as the release title, as in the case of leading man Samuel L. Jackson insisting on title '' Snakes on a Plane'', after he learned the title was going to be changed to ''Pacific Air Flight 121'' upon release.
See also
* Pseudonym
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Working Title
Film production
Editing
Naming