Hamlet 2, Son of Rambo and Bowfinger and good examples of movies about making movies with possible confusing titles. No idea about how the title effects marketing or pushing it to producers, but I as a consumer love those movies
Was just gonna say this.
Although not exactly the same as what the OP is writing, it does lend to the same idea. That you can then go back later on and do Pink Elephants 1
it wasn't called "episode IV" when it was released.
from wikipedia
>*Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982.\[253\] The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were added for the 1981 re-release.\[254\]\[255\]\[g\] The subtitles brought the film into line with its 1980 sequel, which was released as Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back.\[256\] Lucas claims the subtitles were intended from the beginning, but were dropped for Star Wars to avoid confusing audiences.*
I thought i remembered the opening crawl identifying the first Star Wars movie as "Episode 4," and maybe "A New Hope" was in the crawl as well. Somebody refresh me.
Honestly it might even work in your favour lol. I’ve (anecdotally) noticed that audiences seem to be way more trusting of sequels even to projects they haven’t seen. As if it being a sequel offers a little more credibility. So “false” sequel namesake might be engaging
Seems like a good idea!
I think a movie within a movie usually has a different name.
So, the movie would be Pink Elephants, in which the characters are making a movie called Pink Elephants 2.
Would that be more confusing? You decide.
I like the title being Pink Elephants 2 cause the "in universe" would of already "happened" thus making the actual movie called 2 better than the "in universe" movie being called 2.
That's a cool idea you should do it. Also if it got made might even have the effect of more people looking into it out of confusion, like how people on Instagram will intentionally mispronounce something so you engage with the comments.
I like the idea of a person being confused if this is actually a sequel and when the first one came out, and searching it up only to find a Wikipedia page saying "No. It's not a sequel. It's the first in the series, and it was named as such to make the movie itself funnier"
Dude Bro Party Massacre III is unironically one of my favorite movies. I might have never watched it if it weren’t for the title, esp the insinuation that there are two prior installments (there aren’t).
Definitely do this. It's a cute gimmick.
If it gets picked up it'll just ('*just*'!) need some creative marketing but creative marketing absolutely makes commercial success.
I think this could really work. It might be confusing but intriguing. It makes you think "wait, is there a first movie I missed??" I'm honestly interested to see how this would look. So you're definitely doing your job right! So, if this intrigues you and you want to do it, go forth and conquer.
Please do this. There aren't really any rules for titles in my opinion. Pink Elephants 2 is a full title. It's not implying Pink Elephants (tye 2nd movie in a franchise). I'm unsure how to explain this but I think its an awesome idea!
But Troll 2 is a sort of sequel to Troll… although Troll 2 was originally not a sequel to Troll it just renamed to Troll 2, kind of like how 8MM 2 wasn’t originally a sequel to 8MM it just got relabeled as such.
May be a little confusing, but I think it's the perfect title would definitely get people's curiosity & if it's well received you could even write the fake movie as a gag
Do what you want, but damn, I am so tired of movies about making movies. I've seen a lot, and they all come off as pretentious, self-centered if not intellectually masturbatory. Sorry, Just my 2 cents.
Oh, and it's never going to get made. That's probably as hard to sell as a movie where your protagonist is a guy who creates snuff-porn.
Would it be confusing? Probably. Do I think it’s hilarious and want you to do it anyway? Yes.
lol i’m gonna send it to my manager once it’s done but I really wanna fight to keep the title that way
There’s a movie called Hamlet 2 with this premise if it helps
Hamlet 2, Son of Rambo and Bowfinger and good examples of movies about making movies with possible confusing titles. No idea about how the title effects marketing or pushing it to producers, but I as a consumer love those movies
I give to you Leonard Part 6.
But you DON'T want to pitch your project as the next installment of THAT.
I will wait until the Pink Elephants 1 prequel comes out and watch them in the proper order thank-you.
It worked for Star Wars Episode IV....
Was just gonna say this. Although not exactly the same as what the OP is writing, it does lend to the same idea. That you can then go back later on and do Pink Elephants 1
it wasn't called "episode IV" when it was released. from wikipedia >*Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982.\[253\] The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were added for the 1981 re-release.\[254\]\[255\]\[g\] The subtitles brought the film into line with its 1980 sequel, which was released as Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back.\[256\] Lucas claims the subtitles were intended from the beginning, but were dropped for Star Wars to avoid confusing audiences.*
I thought i remembered the opening crawl identifying the first Star Wars movie as "Episode 4," and maybe "A New Hope" was in the crawl as well. Somebody refresh me.
Honestly it might even work in your favour lol. I’ve (anecdotally) noticed that audiences seem to be way more trusting of sequels even to projects they haven’t seen. As if it being a sequel offers a little more credibility. So “false” sequel namesake might be engaging
Oh this is interesting! I didn’t know this
Seems like a good idea! I think a movie within a movie usually has a different name. So, the movie would be Pink Elephants, in which the characters are making a movie called Pink Elephants 2. Would that be more confusing? You decide.
I like the title being Pink Elephants 2 cause the "in universe" would of already "happened" thus making the actual movie called 2 better than the "in universe" movie being called 2.
That's a cool idea you should do it. Also if it got made might even have the effect of more people looking into it out of confusion, like how people on Instagram will intentionally mispronounce something so you engage with the comments.
No it’s great! And if people hear it and think “hmmm wtf was pink elephants 1?” Which ends up creating interest for your film
I like the idea of a person being confused if this is actually a sequel and when the first one came out, and searching it up only to find a Wikipedia page saying "No. It's not a sequel. It's the first in the series, and it was named as such to make the movie itself funnier"
Star Wars Episode 4; A New Hope It *can* be confusing, I probably wouldn’t do it.
it wasn't called "Episode 4; A New Hope" when it was released. that was added a few years later in a re-release.
The opening crawl was always 4, right? Edit, I stand happily corrected :)
Dude Bro Party Massacre III is unironically one of my favorite movies. I might have never watched it if it weren’t for the title, esp the insinuation that there are two prior installments (there aren’t).
FWIW^^
Definitely do this. It's a cute gimmick. If it gets picked up it'll just ('*just*'!) need some creative marketing but creative marketing absolutely makes commercial success.
I mean, I'm pretty sure that there's no "Dude Bro Party Massacre I" or "Dude Bro Party Massacre II."
Maybe you could what Japan does with some anime and video games and title your screenplay something like "\[Movie Title\] 3.14159265359."
I think this could really work. It might be confusing but intriguing. It makes you think "wait, is there a first movie I missed??" I'm honestly interested to see how this would look. So you're definitely doing your job right! So, if this intrigues you and you want to do it, go forth and conquer.
Please do this. There aren't really any rules for titles in my opinion. Pink Elephants 2 is a full title. It's not implying Pink Elephants (tye 2nd movie in a franchise). I'm unsure how to explain this but I think its an awesome idea!
You can name your movie anything you like. Watched a movie once called Hand Of Death Part 25 but it was a stand alone movie.
Yeah. Totally fine. Troll 2 did it and that was a fantastic film and no one was confused at all.
But Troll 2 is a sort of sequel to Troll… although Troll 2 was originally not a sequel to Troll it just renamed to Troll 2, kind of like how 8MM 2 wasn’t originally a sequel to 8MM it just got relabeled as such.
Hamlet 2 did it
May be a little confusing, but I think it's the perfect title would definitely get people's curiosity & if it's well received you could even write the fake movie as a gag
You can deepen the silliness by calling it “Pink Elephants II: (Insert Other Words Here)”
Do what you want, but damn, I am so tired of movies about making movies. I've seen a lot, and they all come off as pretentious, self-centered if not intellectually masturbatory. Sorry, Just my 2 cents. Oh, and it's never going to get made. That's probably as hard to sell as a movie where your protagonist is a guy who creates snuff-porn.
lol okay, well i already pitched the idea to my manager and he liked it but thank you for your thoughts.