Movies changing their titles is nothing new, especially in the tech era – love it or hate it, SEO is real, and sometimes studios need to boost their odds. Take a look atDC’sBirds of Prey, which theaters changed to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey in the hope of boosting ticket sales.
Or it could be for regional reasons. The big screen adaptation ofHarry Potterand the Philosopher’s Stone, for example, was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US to match the book, which itself was adapted as the book publishers thought American kids might be more familiar with the word “sorcerer.”
With horoscopes and astrology becoming a staple of pop culture, Horrorscope is some mighty smart word play – but perhaps Sony Pictures may have wanted Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg’s film title to match its content for SEO purposes?
This is a trend we’re seeing more and more these days – just take a look at the biggest hitters of the past year,BarbieandOppenheimer. Tarot is doing the same, with the plot centering on a group of friends who start dying in ways related to their card readings.
Taking to X, onewrote: “NOOOO THEY CHANGED THE TITLE FROM HORRORSCOPE TO TAROT WHY CAN’T WE HAVE FUN ANYMORE???” Anothersaid, “Personally, I was more interested in seeing #Tarot when it was still called Horrorscope.”
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“Looks fun but I’m deducting points for them dropping the punnery when changing titles. Especially when ‘Scare-ot’ is right there,”addeda third, while a fourthcommented, “Renamed the movie from Horrorscope to Tarot. Jail.”
Titles aside, Tarot looks like a lot of fun. The synopsis states, “When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards.
“One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.”
Daisy Phillipson is a Senior TV and Movies Writer on Dexerto’s UK Team. She’s a lover of horror, crime, psychological thrillers. After graduating with a Masters in Magazine Journalism, she’s gone on to write for Digital Spy, LADbible and Little White Lies. You can contact her at daisy.phillipson@dexerto.com
