10 Movies With The Worst Titles Ever, According To Reddit

There isn’t much artistry when it comes to movie titles, and they’re more of a marketing tool than anything. In the eyes of a movie studio, the film’s name should be eye-catching and give the audience some indication of what it’s about. And more often than not, when a movie doesn’t stick to those guidelines, it ends up being unsuccessful.

There’s a common theme amongst movies with bad titles, and that’s that they all almost always end up bombing at the box office. And whether the titles are absurdly long or just a single pronoun, Redditors have some fascinating criticisms about these movies.

John Carter (2012)

John Carter is an exciting, sci-fi adventure movie, but that isn’t what the title leads audiences to expect. Chadisdangerous puts it best by explaining that John Carter is “the least evocative, tantalizing title ever.” However, the movie was originally titled John Carter of Mars, the same name on which the movie’s based.

It was such a strange decision on Disney’s part to remove the “of Mars,” as that at least adds some intrigue to the mundane title. The movie should have been a hit, but it’s one of the most notorious box office bombs of all time, and its boring title didn’t exactly help.

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

A deleted user refers to the 2016 movie, rhetorically asking, “what is The Light Between Oceans about? I don’t know.” Usually, names of movies help potential viewers understand what the film is about, or at the very least, they set the tone. However, The Light Between Oceans isn’t indicative of either.

With a budget of $20 million, the movie was considered a flop, as it only made $26 million worldwide. The film received positive reviews, so if people knew what it was about and didn’t have such an ambiguous name, it could have been a lot more successful.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

NoPiesForYou cites The Shawshank Redemption as having the worst movie title, noting that they “truly believe Shawshank Redemption failed when it was first released because of the title.” The Shawshank Redemption is now a classic and easily the most rewatchable Stephen King movie, but it wasn’t seen that way upon its theatrical release back in 1994.

Again, despite now being a classic, the movie underperformed at the box office and didn’t meet its studio’s expectations when it was released. And the movie’s confusing title could have been part of the problem. However, it could have been a lot worse, as Pyrstoyska explains that in Finland the film was titled Rita Hayworth: The Key For Escape, which spoils the movie.

Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire (2009)

Kingdongbundy hilariously notes that, along with being the worst title ever, Precious‘ name “could only be worse with a little ‘TM’ after Sapphire.” Its name is like if the aforementioned The Shawshank Redemption was called The Shawshank Redemption: Based on the Novel ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’ by Stephen King.

It was such a strange decision to include those details in the movie’s title, and it could only be the result of some kind of copyright issue between the studio and the publisher. And while there’s no knowing if the title helped the film’s box office’s success or limited it, it was still a huge success relative to its small $10 million budget, as it earned $63 million worldwide.

Her (2013)

As Her is all about people’s growing obsession with technology, it interestingly explores a futuristic relationship. It’s a hauntingly accurate prediction of the way the population will interact with computer operating systems in a not too distant future.

However, ElementofExpectation makes a great point that when bringing up the film in conversation, fans “always have to refer to it as ‘Her, the movie.'” Ironically, the film’s title isn’t referring to a woman at all, and it isn’t even referring to a human being, but a genderless piece of artificial intelligence. And in that respect, the title is ingenious.

Dredd 3D (2012)

Dredd was an interesting attempt at rebooting the series, as it tried to shake the stigma that it had gained after the terrible Sylvester Stallone-led 1990s movie. But in a lot of places, its title kept the movie from being the success it should have been. Lebiri recalls that Dredd was “advertised as ‘DREDD 3D’ and didn’t watch it because of it”

Ironically, while 3D is a big selling point, or at least it was in the early 2000s, it had a reverse effect on many potential audiences. But the Redditor, along with millions of other people (as it bombed at the box office,) missed out, as the reboot is one of the most original takes on the character, and the film has since become a cult classic.

Room (2015)

Room is a fairly appropriate title for the Academy Award-winning 2015 movie, as it’s about a mother and a son who is held captive in a very small room. But BullyTobeyMaguire commends the film for the risk it took with its name. The Redditor posits that it was “kind of ballsy to name a movie ‘Room‘ when ‘The Room‘ exists.”

The Reddit user is referring to the 2003 movie that’s considered the worst film ever made, and for that reason, it has grown a huge cult following. Unfortunately, while the difference in quality between the two movies is like night and day, they share the same name, and people must have mistaken one for the other on several occasions over the past seven years.

Army Of Darkness (1992)

Army of Darkness is such a fun historical horror-comedy, but what audiences aren’t told from the title, which is a fairly important detail, is that it’s the sequel to Evil Dead II. However, Primetime22 points out that “Army of Darkness was originally called Medieval Dead, one of the few cases where the working title was better.”

Medieval Dead would have been a great title, and it would have connected the movie to its two predecessors, letting audiences know that it’s part of the Evil Dead series. It isn’t too late to use the name, as some fans are campaigning for another sequel, and they think that Ash deserves his own Logan-like swan song movie.

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009)

The Men Who Stare At Goats is one of the weirdest movies ever, as it follows a section of the U.S. military who practice psychic powers. Surprisingly, the movie is based on real events, as the military implemented these tests and other new age concepts in the 80s.

But Dons4ever doesn’t like the movie title and mentions that it “sounds like some kind of kink to me.” However, the name stems from one of the practices in the movie where soldiers stared at goats in an attempt to kill them with their minds. And it’s an adaptation of a book of the same name, and the title at least grabs people’s attention.

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

Choco319 brings up the fact that the title “Edge of Tomorrow was so bad they changed it for the DVD.” Edge of Tomorrow has seemingly gone through some kind of movie identity crisis, as it struggled to find its audience and as a result, the studio changed its name not once but twice.

For the physical release of the movie, the title was changed to Live Die Repeat, and in some territories, it was changed to All You Need Is Kill. Fortunately, though the movie underperformed at the box office, it has become a cult classic and found its fans in recent years.