17 Fake Working Titles That Were Given To Famous Movies

13. "Changing Seasons" - The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings

When The Lord of The Rings first went into production, producers gave the production the working title "Changing Seasons." Though the fake name wasn't used much during the actual production process, Changing Seasons was the name that was printed on the film reels and canisters, likely to prevent those reels from "disappearing" on their way to theatres. Producers would repeat the trick with The Two Towers (renamed "Grand Tour") and The Return of the King (renamed "'Til Death, For Glory").

12. "Obelisk" - Angels & Demons

When Ron Howard was shooting Angels & Demons, he used the working title "Obelisk" for all the usual reasons. However, he also used the fake title to avoid being denied permission to film in Rome. The Catholic Church disliked the way it was portrayed in Dan Brown's novels and the earlier film The Da Vinci Code, so Howard hoped that the fake title would throw off both the Church and onlookers while he was filming in Rome. Still, word soon got around with regards to Howard's plan. Perhaps people seeing Tom Hanks around Rome with his sort-of mullet gave it away?

11. "The Burly Man" - The Matrix Reloaded

When the Wachowskis started work on The Matrix Reloaded, they wanted to keep the project as secret as possible. Of course, since they were filming a sequel to one of the most popular movies ever released, they had to be extra sneaky. Their main strategy was using the working title "The Burly Man." The title comes from an unproduced screenplay that the Wachowskis wrote early in their career, though film fans will also recognize the title from the Coen Brothers' 1991 movie, Barton, Fink as the title of the script that Fink is writing.