Coming up with an original title for a film can’t be easy. So many movies have been made, and when you get to one- or two-word titles, it has to be all the more difficult. Of course in some cases, studios or distributors may have a hand in changing the title of a film. In other cases, it’s simply coincidence.
Either way, there are at least four movies expected to come out this year or next that share titles with movies that have been released in the past year.
The Boy is of my favorite films of 2015, but sadly, not enough people have been talking about it. I suspect that this is because many have yet to see it, but I’ve already seen more headlines about another film called The Boy due out on January 22.
2015’s film was directed by Craig William Macneill and stars David Morse and Rainn Wilson. Both actors are at the top of their game, and Jared Breeze who plays the titular boy delivers an absolutely chilling performance. If you haven’t seen this one yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
2016’s The Boy was directed by William Brent Bell and is about a doll.
Backcountry is also one of my favorite films of 2015. It follows a couple who partake in a camping getaway only to be harassed first by Eric Balfour and then by a grizzly bear who really isn’t fucking around. Outside of Werner Herzog’s documentary Grizzly Man, Backcountry is the hardest-hitting bear movie I’ve ever seen and gets my vote for the year’s scariest scene.
2016’s Backcountry is a family survival thriller, which stars Tom Holland (no, the other Tom Holland).
Felt didn’t quite make it on my best of 2015 list, but it was a contender. It’s a very small indie film that follows a young woman who suffers from depression and her penchant for playing with scissors.
Felt, due out in 2017 and starring Liam Neeson, tells the story of Mark Felt, better known as Deep Throat, the whistleblower from the Watergate scandal.
I haven’t seen 2015’s The Forest, so don’t have much to say about it, but I can tell you that it was written and directed by Paul Spurrier and involves a monk-turned-teacher in rural Thailand.
2016’s The Forest has been building some buzz of late, and is due out on January 8. It was directed by Jazon Zada, and involves paranormal happenings in a Japanese forest.
There are some other new flicks that share titles with films of the past. It’s inevitable, but it would be nice to see a little more creativity when it comes to naming movies. Just a thought.
The Author
March 26, 2016
Hi. As annoying as it is for audiences that two films come out in the same year with the same title, it’s even more annoying for directors. My version of ‘The Forest’ was dreamed up almost ten years ago. In fact it’s a Thai film, and ‘The Forest’ is the translation of the Thai title. We shot it in 2015, and it was edited and finished by around December. And then we noticed there was another film due to be released called, would you believe it… ‘The Forest’.
Of course one thinks about changing the title. No-one wants their film to be considered a rip-off of someone else’s film. And so you think about ‘The Jungle’, ‘The Glade’, ‘The Copse’. etc. Or you think about adding something – ‘The Boy in the Forest’. ‘Into The Forest’. And I’m sure if you’re making a studio film, there are test screenings and panels and marketing departments etc.
But when you’re making a low-budget independent film, you’re actually free to say ‘To hell with it. Ours is a film set in rural Thailand, with no stars and shot on a budget of under $100k. Theirs is a film with Natalie Dormer and a budget of $10m. Are people really going to be confused between the two?”
Thanks for the mention. Tiny little films like ours with no PR and marketing budget need all the mentions they can get!