This whole title thing is so awkward. Apparently studios can protect a certain number of titles in their catalogs, and Warner Bros. decided to stick it to Harvey Weinstein by filing to block The Butler from being called The Butler because some short film from 1917 shares that name. It seems terribly petty and dumb to me, but the motion was upheld, so now the movie is called Lee Daniels’ The Butler, which is great if people like LDTB, but if they hate it then poor Lee Daniels is stuck attached to it in perpetuity. But maybe he’ll like it, and like Tyler Perry, continue to do it throughout his career and even then retroactively apply it. I would love it if we somehow ended up with Lee Daniels’ Precious Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.
[Photos: Getty, WENN]
