The Hollywood Guide to Naming Sequels

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? raises some good questions
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2010 12:29 PM CDT
The Hollywood Guide to Naming Sequels
Janet Jackson attends the special screening of 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' at the School of Visual Arts Theater on March 22, 2010 in New York City.   (Getty Images)

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? hits theaters today, which means it’s time for a lesson on how Hollywood names its sequels. Obviously, writes Amos Barshad in New York, the choice of “Too”—“far more elegant” than simply “2”—was the right one, but here are some other techniques Perry could have gone with:

  • Pump up the intensity: Á la Die Hard With a Vengeance. Perry could have gone with “Why Did I Marry My Ass Off?
  • Tack on a subtitle: Like Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Or perhaps, in Perry’s case, “Why Did I Get Married: Seriously, Why?

  • Bill the location: For example, Ernest Goes to School. Perry could have tried Why Did I Get Married Goes to the Bahamas, but that just doesn’t make sense.
  • Give it an entirely new name: Sure, this can be “classy,” like Clear and Present Danger. But in Perry’s case, he “makes so many same-y looking movies that viewers would assume it was any other Tyler Perry movie.”
For the complete list, click here.

(More Tyler Perry stories.)

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