The Hollywood Guide to Naming Sequels

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.”

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