There are certainly some pretty horrible film titles that get churned out on a regular basis, and while they probably mean little in the grand scheme of things, naming a movie is still something Hollywood takes very seriously. On that note, it looks like a trio of highly anticipated films have had their titles put under the microscope recently, with two now set for changes and one gaining its first name.
For starters, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's first attempt at simultaneously starring, writing and directing a feature — a project long in the works considering his ventures on website hitRECord — has been given a title, or at the very least now has a working title to go by. The film seems to be going by "Don Jon's Addiction," as recently reported by THR and detailed on the Voltage Pictures website. The title is of course a play on Don Juan, who is name-dropped in the project logline, which finds JGL playing "a modern day sort of Don Juan who goes on a journey to become less of a 'selfish dick.'" Scarlett Johansson is already on board the rom-com with an April shoot in the works.
John Hillcoat certainly has our attention with his next effort behind the camera, an adaptation of Matt Bondurant's "The Wettest County In The World," which had already been shortened to "The Wettest County" for the film. However, it looks like that won't be sticking much longer either, with author Bondurant tweeting that fans should "get ready to change hash tag [#wettestcounty] – title change in works." We guess it makes sense. While the phrase "wettest county" fits in perfectly with the Prohibition tale (it refers to an area flush with liquor) we guess the Weinsteins are considering the average moviegoer might not know that offhand. And, if they're releasing the film on the back of Tom Hardy's rise to fame and "The Dark Knight Rises," they might think they're better off with a more accessible title.
Lastly, we have the Zoe Kazan-scripted fantastical romantic drama "He Loves Me," which will also serve as the long-awaited return of "Little Miss Sunshine" helmers Jonathan Payton and Valerie Faris. Kazan's partner Paul Dano now tells Vulture that the film will also be going through a name change, even though the original seems to be harmless and compelling enough. Antonio Banderas, Annette Benning, Alia Shawkat, Elliott Gould, Steve Coogan, Deborah Ann Woll, Chris Messina and Aasif Mandiv all co-star in the film about a young novelist who achieves success early in his career but begins to face struggles. As the young protagonist, in a bid to overcome his writer's block, follows the advice of creating the character of the woman he thinks will love him, he ends up willing her into existence.
And no matter what these are called, we're eager to see how they turn out.
