Film and Television
| Type of work | UK title | US title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Film | The 51st State* | Formula 51 | |
| Film | American Pie: Reunion | American Reunion* | |
| Film | American Pie: The Wedding | American Wedding* | Third movie in the American Pie series. Also American Pie 3 in some markets. |
| Film | Avengers Assemble | The Avengers* | To avoid confusion with The Avengers (TV series), as well as its film adaptation. Original title is used worldwide. |
| Film | World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles | Battle: Los Angeles* | The original title is used in Australia. |
| Film | Blueberry | Renegade | Original French title Blueberry: L'expérience secrète |
| TV series | Born Survivor: Bear Grylls* | Man vs. Wild | Man vs. Wild used in Australia. |
| Film | Bonnie and Clyde...Were Killers! | Bonnie and Clyde* | Descriptive term added in order to clarify the subject of the film to those who would not be familiar with the American couple, Bonnie and Clyde. |
| Film | A Cock and Bull Story* | Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story | |
| Film | Airport '80: The Concorde | The Concorde ... Airport '79* | Title matches year of initial release in each country |
| TV series | Danger Man* | Secret Agent | The US used the original title for the first series. |
| Film | Dennis | Dennis the Menace* | To avoid confusion with the unrelated British character Dennis the Menace. |
| Film | Escape to Victory* | Victory | |
| Film | Europa | Zentropa | Name changed to avoid confusion with Europa Europa. |
| Film | Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist | Fast Five* | Name changed to avoid confusion with the Kung Fu Panda franchise, which uses the term "Furious Five". Also Fast & Furious 5 in some markets. |
| TV series | The Fast Show* | Brilliant | Avoid confusion with unrelated US series The Fast Show |
| Film | The First Great Train Robbery | The Great Train Robbery* | Based on The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton, unconnected to the 1963 heist known by that name in the UK. |
| Film | Harold and Kumar get the Munchies | Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle* | White Castle restaurants does not trade in the UK. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle used in Australia. |
| Film | Highlander III: The Sorcerer* | Highlander: The Final Dimension | Also Highlander 3: The Final Conflict in some markets. |
| Film | Best Shot | Hoosiers* | Term "Hoosier" is a demonym for residents of the State of Indiana, and is generally unknown outside the US |
| Film | Howard: A New Breed of Hero | Howard the Duck* | Based on the comic Howard the Duck |
| TV series | The Good Life* | Good Neighbors | To avoid confusion with the unrelated US series The Good Life. |
| TV series | Grace & Favour* | Are You Being Served? Again! | |
| Film | The Green Ray | Summer | Original French title Le rayon vert |
| Film | Ice Cold in Alex* | Desert Attack | Allusions in original title deemed obscure for US audiences |
| Film | Inside I'm Dancing | Rory O'Shea Was Here | Original Irish title Inside I'm Dancing. |
| TV series | Jam & Jerusalem* | Clatterford | American audiences would not be familiar with the Women's Institute's traditional association with jam-making and the hymn "Jerusalem" |
| Film | Last Year in Marienbad | Last Year at Marienbad | French title L'année dernière à Marienbad; "à" may be translated as "in" or "at", but "in" is correct in reference to a town. |
| Film | La Haine © | Hate | UK retained original French title. American video release translated it. |
| Film | Bicycle Thieves | The Bicycle Thief | Original Italian title Ladri di biciclette. The UK title is the correct translation of the Italian. |
| Film | Léon: The Professional © | The Professional | Original French title Léon |
| Film | Diabolique | The Fiends | Original French title Les Diaboliques |
| Film | Belleville Rendez-vous | The Triplets of Belleville | Original French title Les Triplettes de Belleville |
| Film | Monsieur Hulot's Holiday | Mr. Hulot's Holiday | Original French title Les Vacances de M. Hulot |
| Film | Die Hard 4.0 | Live Free or Die Hard* | "Live Free or Die", the state motto of New Hampshire, is little known outside the US. |
| Film | Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior | The Road Warrior | Original Australian title Mad Max 2*. The original Mad Max had only a limited release in the US; the original title would have discouraged those who had not seen the original. |
| Film | In Bed With Madonna | Madonna: Truth or Dare* | |
| Film | The Untamed | Return to Snowy River | Original Australian title The Man from Snowy River II*. |
| Film | A Matter of Life and Death* | Stairway to Heaven | |
| TV series | The Office: An American Workplace | The Office* | To avoid confusion with the original British series The Office, which the American series was adapted from. Australia uses the British title on the DVD of the first season and the original title on all subsequent releases. |
| Film | Build My Gallows High | Out of the Past* | Based on a novel called Build My Gallows High |
| Film | Patton: Lust for Glory | Patton* | |
| Film | The Yellow Winton Flyer | The Reivers* | Title changed to avoid confusion between the Anglo-Scottish Reivers and the general term, "reiver". |
| TV series | Robin of Sherwood* | Robin Hood | |
| Film | Sabrina Fair | Sabrina* (1954) | Sabrina Fair was the title of the original play. |
| TV series | Spooks* | MI-5 | In British slang, "spooks" are spies; in the US "spook" is an offensive term for African Americans. |
| TV series | Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* | "Ninja" was considered inappropriate for children. |
| Film | It's My Life | My Life to Live | Original French title Vivre sa vie (English: To live her life). |
| Film | Paying the Penalty | Underworld* | When originally submitted to the BBFC as Underworld, the film was rejected due to the sympathetic portrayal of a gangster. After cuts and a title change to The Penalty (to place emphasis on morality and that crime does not pay), it was rejected again. After further cuts, and a second title change to Paying the Penalty (made to further emphasize morality), it was passed. |
| Film | Waking Ned* | Waking Ned Devine | |
| Film | Witchfinder General* | The Conqueror Worm | Lead Vincent Price had starred in several Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. This film has almost no connection to Poe's The Conqueror Worm. |
| Film | WΔZ* | The Killing Gene | The original title is part of a scientific equation, pronounced double-yoo delta zed. |
| Film | xXx 2: The Next Level | xXx: State of the Union* | Non-Americans would be less familiar with the State of the Union Address |
| Film | Young Man of Music | Young Man with a Horn* | To avoid association with "horn" as a euphemism for "erection". |
| Film | Big Tits Zombie | The Big Tits Dragon* | The original Japanese title Kyonyû doragon: Onsen zonbi vs sutorippâ 5 roughly translates to The Big Tits Dragon: Hot Spring Zombies vs Strippers 5. The title was shortened for the US market, however the UK title was changed as it was deemed to better reflect the content of the film. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Works With Different Titles In The United Kingdom And United States
Famous quotes containing the words film and, film and/or television:
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)
“All the old supports going, gone, this man reaches out a hand to steady himself on a ledge of rough brick that is warm in the sun: his hand feeds him messages of solidity, but his mind messages of destruction, for this breathing substance, made of earth, will be a dance of atoms, he knows it, his intelligence tells him so: there will soon be war, he is in the middle of war, where he stands will be a waste, mounds of rubble, and this solid earthy substance will be a film of dust on ruins.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“It is marvelous indeed to watch on television the rings of Saturn close; and to speculate on what we may yet find at galaxy’s edge. But in the process, we have lost the human element; not to mention the high hope of those quaint days when flight would create “one world.” Instead of one world, we have “star wars,” and a future in which dumb dented human toys will drift mindlessly about the cosmos long after our small planet’s dead.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)