Martin Scorsese's 'Hugo' Drops The 'Cabret'

by Kevin Jagernauth
June 30, 2011 1:01 AM
10 Comments

Official Trailer Coming Soon

It seems the prevailing sentiment in Hollywood right now is that shorter is better. "John Carter of Mars" recently became just "John Carter" and now Martin Scorsese's "Hugo Cabret" is simply "Hugo." Variety's Jeff Sneider has confirmed the title adjustment which frankly leaves us scratching our head a bit.

You would think that the people behind the film would want to make sure audiences knew the connection between the movie and Brian Selznick‘s best-selling children’s historical fiction book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” that it is based on. Now it just sounds like that dude from "Lost" got his own movie. But there will be enough star power to get asses in the seats. Led by Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz, with a cast including Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emily Mortimer, Ray Winstone, Frances de la Tour and Richard Griffiths, the 1931-set film follows the story of the eponymous orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. When Hugo encounters a broken machine, an eccentric girl, and the cold, reserved man who runs the toy shop, he is caught up in a magical, mysterious adventure that could put all of his secrets in jeopardy.

A trailer for the film has recently been submitted for classification and it won't be a chintzy teaser -- it runs over two minutes long -- and we'd wager we'll be seeing it in the very immediate future. "Hugo" marks Scorsese's first venture into 3D filmmaking as well as directing a film aimed squarely at families so we're excited to see where the part-time cinema historian draws his influences from for this one. "Hugo" hits theaters on November 23rd.

More: Films, Hugo Cabret

10 Comments

| Reply
Xian | June 30, 2011 7:45 AMReply

Bad idea... "Hugo" could mean anything (maybe it's about a French writer who, while working on a magnum opus about the French poor during the eve of a revolution, falls madly in love with his lead actress)... better to change it back to the longer title of the book, and attract fans who would then spread word-of-mouth if the film is any good.
starway2001 | June 30, 2011 7:16 AMReply

Uh huh.
scribe | June 30, 2011 4:30 AMReply

holly filled idiots
Another Director | June 30, 2011 3:51 AMReply

And one more notch down the toilet America's intellectual standing slips in the international pantheon. It's the increasingly frequent moments like these I truly wish I had been born in Europe or Asia, and were still there.
Mark | June 30, 2011 3:30 AMReply

Shit title. Change it back please.
Bryan C. | June 30, 2011 2:52 AMReply

The first trailer will be attached to Harry Potter, meaning it will hit July 15.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/board/flat/184092889
BuntyHoven | June 30, 2011 2:47 AMReply

Maybe because people would have pronounced it "Ca-brett" instead of "Ca-brey" or something. Still, seems silly.
Bickle, T | June 30, 2011 1:37 AMReply

So... Sacha Baron Cohen is in the movie twice?
borg | June 30, 2011 1:35 AMReply

I don't get that one either. "Hugo Cabret" sounded unique and ear-catching. "Hugo" sounds blah and doesn't grab my attention.

Maybe they're counting on the trailer running prior to the last Harry Potter movie to give it the attention it needs.
rotch | June 30, 2011 1:10 AMReply

Man, they dumbed down that title. If it wasn't broken, why fix it? The same with John Carter. Another example, Polanski's Carnage in favor of the much better God of Carnage