Overview | The 5 AKA Title Rules | Attribute definitions
1. Formatting
2. Uniqueness
3. Authenticity
4. Year
5. Medium
Our goal at IMDb is to be able to represent to any customer in any locale (speaking language and country) what a title is known as.
For example, "Black Panther" is known in Germany as "Black Panther" to a German speaking audience, regardless of the text being in English. Similarly, "Das Boot" is known in the USA as "Das Boot" to an English speaking audience, regardless of the text being in German.
The main imdb display title for a country should reflect what title the movie/tv show is primarily known as to the locale (speaking language and country) of choice.
Previously, submitting an imdb display title for the country of origin was considered unnecessary. However, in order to capture all of the associated title information for a movie/tv show in full, we are now encouraging the submission of an imdb display title for the country or origin. By doing this the title for the original country will also display under the Release Info on the title page.
1. Common/Simple variants
reissue title | The title used on the title card of the film for a theatrical reissue. |
new title | A re-titling of the film relative to the primary title, or another alternate title (for the same country-language combination) in the same distribution channel (theatrical, TV, video). |
first part title (+ second part title etc.) |
The title for the first (or second etc.) part of a multipart film. |
segment title | The title of a segment of the film/series (where segments have their own titles). |
orthographically correct title | The orthographically correct spelling for the film in a case where the primary title has (intended or unintended) spelling errors. |
alternative spelling | An alternative spelling of the title as used in secondary sources (only applicable to minor differences such as "7" versus "Seven" etc.) |
uncensored intended title | The uncensored intended title of the film. |
bowdlerized title | A bowdlerized (i.e. censored) version of the corresponding primary title or another alternate title. |
subtitle | A subtitle added to the primary title. (Subtitles are usually part of the primary title, so this |
closing credits title | The title used in the closing credits of the film (which is different from that used in the opening credits). |
2. 'Length' variants
complete title | The complete version of the primary title (or a corresponding short(er) alternate title). Since the primary title is supposed to be the complete title it is only used for special cases such as overlong primary titles (e.g. "John Carpenter's Halloween"). |
short title | A short version of the primary title or a corresponding long(er) alternate title. |
informal short title | An informal short title. |
long title | A long(er) version of the primary title. Again, since the primary title is supposed to be the complete title it is only used for special cases such as overlong primary titles. |
long new title | A longer new title for the film. |
3. Production stage and promotion related variants
original script title | An original script title for the film. Once the script is approved and (pre)production has started we use working title or pre-release title respectively. |
working title | A working title used for the film during production (and before its premiere). The corresponding country/language attribute must be from (one of) the (co)producing country/countries. |
fake working title | A fake working title used during the production of the film. The corresponding country/language attribute must be from (one of) the (co)producing country/countries. Fake working titles are sometimes used to hide the true nature of a film, for example to avoid unwanted public attention or political interference/censorship. |
pre-release title | A pre-release title. The difference to a working title is that the film is finished but has not yet premiered. |
promotional abbreviation | A promotional abbreviation used for the film. |
promotional title | Used for promotional purposes (but is not an abbreviation). |
copyright title | A copyright title for the film in the original country (not identical to the primary title). |
second copyright title | The second copyright title for the film (if there was more than one). |
review title | Used in written reviews of the film. |
teaser title | The title used on a teaser. |
trailer title | A title used in a trailer for the film. |
4. English language variants
literal English title | A literal English translation of the primary title. |
informal English title | An informal alternate title in English. Informal means it's not an official title coming from the producer(s) or distributor(s) but it's a title widely used in the public nonetheless (such as in the press or online etc.). |
literal translation of working title | A literal (English) translation of the working title of the film (which has a non English original title). |
informal literal English title | An informal literal title in English. |
5. 'Version' variants
dubbed version | A dubbed version of the film. |
original subtitled version | A subtitled original version of the film. |
recut version | A recut version of the film (can be longer or shorter than original version). |
director's cut | The title for the director's cut of the film. |
cut version | A cut version of the film (shorter than the original version). |
censored version | A censored version of the film (can be shorter or not as the original (use of alternative takes)). |
soft porn version | A soft porn version of the film. |
racier version | A racier version of the film. |
X-rated version | An X-rated version of the film. |
bootleg title | The title of a bootleg version of the film. |
longer version | A title used for a longer version of the film (not a longer alternate title). |
short version | A short version of the film (not a short(er) alternate title). |
restored version | A title given to a restored version of the film. |
3-D version | A 3D version of the film. |
6. Release format variants
DVD title | The title used on the title card of the film on the DVD edition. |
DVD menu title | The title used for the film in the DVD menu. |
DVD box title | The title on the DVD box of a video release of the film. |
3-D video title | The title of the 3D version of a film released on video. |
video title | The title on the title card of the film on the video edition. |
video box title | The title used on the video box of a video release of the film. |
unauthorized video title | An unauthorized video title (on the title card of the film). |
video CD title | The title used on the video CD version of the film. |
TV title | The title on the title card of the film when shown on TV in the region corresponding to the country/language attribute. |
rerun title | A rerun title on TV. |
syndication title | A TV title for the film used for syndication. |
cable TV title | An alternative title used on cable TV. |
theatrical title | A theatrical title (for a TV or made for video film). It is not used for theatrical films where it is an assumed default. |
poster title | The title used on posters for the film. |
8mm release title | The title used on 8mm prints. |
16mm release title | A title used on 16mm prints. |
16mm rental title | The 16mm rental version of the film. |
IMAX version | The IMAX version of the film. |
PC version | The PC version of a video game. |
game box title | The title used on the box for a video game. |
7. Festival, premiere and catalogue variants
festival title | The title used on the title card of the film when screened at festivals in the region corresponding to the country/language attribute. (Only used if the title changed later on when the film went into distribution.) |
Berlin film festival title | The title used at the Berlin film festival. |
MIFED title | A title of the film used at MIFED. |
Venice film festival title | The title used for the film at the Venice film festival. |
Cannes festival title | The title used for the film at the Cannes film festival. |
premiere title | A title used at the premiere of the film (but not afterwards). |
Los Angeles premiere title | The title used at the Los Angeles premiere of the film (but not afterwards). |
American Mutoscope & Biograph catalog title | The title used in the American Mutoscope & Biograph catalog. |
YIVO translation | The Yiddish title used by the YIVO (Institute for Jewish Research). |
video catalogue title | A title used in a video catalogue. | series title | A title used to link a film with other titles in a film series. Usually includes a volume number. |
8. Literal/translated/transliterated variants
literal title | A literal translation of the primary title. |
informal literal title | An informal literal translation of the primary title. |
informal title | An informal title. Informal means it's not an official title coming from the producer(s) or distributor(s) but it's a title widely used in the public nonetheless (such as in the press or online etc.). |
informal alternative title | An informal alternative title. |
correct transliteration | A correct transliteration of the primary title. Only used for cases where an incorrect transliteration is also listed because it is actually on a title card. |
alternative transliteration | An alternative transliteration compared to the one used for the corresponding primary or alternate title. |
9. Character set variants
original Cyrillic KOI8-R title | The Cyrillic title used on the title card of the film in the original country of the film corresponding to the country/language attribute and using the KOI8-R character set. |
Cyrillic KOI8-R title | The title card of the film in the country corresponding to the country/language attribute and using the KOI8-R character set. |
original ISO-LATIN-2 title | The original title of the film in the ISO-LATIN-2 character set. |
original Greek ISO-8859-7 title | The original Greek title of the film using the ISO-8859-7 character set. |
ISO-LATIN-2 title | The title of the film in the ISO-LATIN-2 character set. |
10. TV variants
last season title | The final season of a TV series. |
weekend title | The weekend (only) title for a TV series. |
summer title | The title for a TV series used during the summer months. | first episodes title | The title for a TV series only used for the first few episodes. |
first episode title | The title for a TV series only used for the first episode. |
first season title (+ second season title etc.) |
The first (or second etc.) season of a TV series. |