Two movies, both about the apocalypse, both comedies, both hitting theaters in the summer of 2013. Looking back on it now, Edgar Wright’s The World’s End and Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg’s This Is the End couldn’t be more different. But before release, at least one person wasn’t so sure, and the story of what happened next is wonderful.
This week at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, CA, the theater (which is owned by Quentin Tarantino) played a double feature of the two films, celebrating their respective 10-year anniversaries. On hand for the occasion was Wright himself who, between films, did a Q&A run by his friends and fellow filmmakers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. (Note: io9 was attending the screening for fun and didn’t think to record it so while we don’t have specific quotes, we’re paraphrasing what Wright said.)
Since his film was on the double bill with Rogen and Goldberg’s, Wright told the story of how, during pre-production, he heard that the pair were working on a film called Apocalypse. Worried that the two might be similar, he looked into it—but after realizing theirs was about the Rapture and his was about a robot invasion, put the thought aside. Later though, he noticed that Apocalypse changed its title to “The End of the World,” and with that movie coming out before The World’s End, he got in touch with Rogen to talk to him about it.
Wright explained the situation to Rogen, who revealed he wanted to title the film “Apocalypse,” but that Tom Rothman, who was running Fox at the time, held the rights to the title and wouldn’t give it up. So Rogen and Wright emailed the studio head to ask him if he’d be so kind as to allow Sony, which was releasing Rogen’s movie, to use the title. (Wright couldn’t change his title because The World’s End is a location in the movie.)
Rothman responded with praise for the filmmakers, but said while he’d do almost anything for them, he couldn’t do this. The reason being, Wright figured out years later, was that the studio was in development on what would eventually be called X-Men: Apocalypse.
It all ended up working out though. Sony, along with Rogen and Goldberg, changed the title of “The End of the World” to This Is the End, and the rest is history: This Is The End tells a hilariously meta tale about the rapture, while The World’s End adds a sci-fi exclamation point on Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy. And different as they may be, they make a killer double feature.
This is the End is currently streaming on Netflix and The World’s End is available to rent or purchase digitally just about anywhere. (They’re also playing one more night, Wednesday, October 18, if you happen to be in Los Angeles. Tickets are sold out but there’s always a standby line.)
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