Michelle Trachtenberg

Kevin Smith on "Cop Out" Title Change

Kevin Smith’s new buddy cop movie "Cop Out" was previously called "A Couple of Dicks," but after Warner Bros got in touch with several of the major TV networks, it became obvious that it would not be able to promote the film before 9pm.

"I’m like, ’Well what about Inglourious Basterds?’ And I guess, because of the spelling, they got away with it," said Smith. "So we were like, ’Can we call it A Couple of D.I.C.s?’ Because that’s the proper acronym for detectives, Detective In Charge. And [the networks] kicked that back as well."

He continued: "So my feeling was like, it’s an R-rated movie, so who the f*ck are we talking to anyway before 9 o’clock? Warner Bros’ feeling was like, ’Hey man, we have to advertise to the sports audience on Saturday and Sunday and all those sporting events usually take place before 9 p.m. in the evening.’ At which point, I was like, ’Oh wow, you guys are way smarter than me.’"

Smith added that Warner Bros tried really hard to keep the title, but if the film was to get the best marketing campaign, the title had to be changed. Smith understood the situation, but he was not about to accept the studio’s choice of title, which was "A Couple of Cops."

Since Warners was planning to run the trailer for the new film in front of "Sherlock Holmes" on Christmas, Smith began coming up with a title that could satisfy him and the studio. "I was like, ’God that title is going to feel like such a f*cking cop out’," he said of the "Couple of Cops" title. "And [the producer] goes, ’We should just call the movie that’."

"I liked it because it sounds like exactly what we set out to be: An ’80s buddy cop movie, without sounding like ’Loaded Weapon,’ or some such sh*t," he continued. "But more importantly, to me, the title tells the story of what happened to our other title. I think it’s kind of ironic. It’s win-win."