Gareth Edwards Discusses ‘The Creator’s’ Title Transformation

The forthcoming Gareth Edwards film, The Creator, is set to release on September 29, 2023. Over the past weekend, the director has actively participated in promotional activities at the San Diego Comic-Con. The movie, interestingly enough, had a different title announced initially and well into the production.

The film was first introduced in May 2021 under the name True Love. Edwards conveyed that the title was a temporary or working name for the movie while the team was contemplating the best approach to market the film. During an interview with Perri Nemiroff from FilmSweep, Edwards clarified that the team realized True Love was misleading as it resonated more with a romantic comedy genre, which could confuse audiences unfamiliar with the plot or trailer. Edwards shared with Nemiroff:

“When you produce a film, you start with a working title, and the first day you announce it to the world is the most crucial. You have to decide then if that’s the final title. All through the production, I believed people who watch the movie would understand why we thought of calling it True Love. But if you ask a random person whether they want to see a movie named True Love, they would probably associate it with romantic comedies. I didn’t want to spend time explaining to everyone that it wasn’t a rom-com.”

Image via 20th Century Studios
Renaming Your Child

Edwards pointed out that even iconic films underwent title transformations, like Back to the Future, initially called Space Man from Pluto. He praised Disney for suggesting a more fitting alternative title, which seamlessly aligned with the film’s dialogue and overarching message. He continued:

“Disney, wisely suggested The Creator as a fitting title. The title features prominently in the movie, and it made a lot of sense. I’m glad we decided to change it. It’s akin to getting used to calling your child by a different name. I’m past that phase now and find myself naturally referring to the movie as The Creator, but for a while, it was True Love. But when you watch the film, it will all add up. It’s like how Blade Runner was initially Dangerous Days. You often find films with working titles that make you think, “Alright, that could have worked.”

The Creator will hit theaters on September 29. Don’t miss the new trailer below:

20th Century Studios offers the following official synopsis for the film:

In a futuristic war between humankind and artificial intelligence forces, Joshua (John David Washington), an emotionally hardened ex-special forces agent mourning the loss of his wife (Gemma Chan), is tasked with hunting down and eliminating the Creator. The elusive mastermind behind advanced AI has developed a mysterious weapon capable of ending the war… and humanity. Joshua and his team of elite operatives traverse enemy territory, venturing deep into AI-controlled land… only to learn that the apocalyptic weapon he is to destroy is an AI resembling a young child.

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More about Gareth Edwards ‘The Creator’ Title Change

• Gareth Edwards IMDb Profile
• San Diego Comic-Con Official Site
• Disney Official Website
• The Creator Official Trailer
• FilmSweep’s Perri Nemiroff
• 20th Century Studios