Hot off the porno mini-uproar, Smith's set to launch another comedy in theaters - but not with the original title intact. Smith, at the urging of Warner Bros, changed the title of the cop comedy (which he didn't write) from A Couple of Dicks (as in detectives) to Cop Out. Both titles are cute plays on words, but one is eye-catching while the other kind of reminds me of something Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito would sign up to star in.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the always outspoken Smith explained why he had to go with the new title: "Look, losing A Couple of Dicks was almost akin to losing my own dick. It was a perfect buddy-cop movie comedy title. Everyone knew it. You couldn't say that title to somebody without a f**king smile crossing their face. But what I had gone through with Zack and Miri Make a Porno — 'porno' had become very problematic, it became tough for us to advertise [the film], blah blah blah."
"Warner Bros. decided, 'Hey man, we'll call the networks and see if we're going to get any problems [with A Couple of Dicks as a title], months before the movie's ever going to come out.' The top 3 networks — CBS, ABC, NBC — said, 'We can't run one of your spots before 9 o'clock.'"
After some back and forth with the studio, the title of the R-rated comedy was changed to the innocent sounding Cop Out. But, even though it's not the title he would have chosen, Smith doesn't sound bitter about his dealings with the studio. "All credit due to Warner Bros., they tried really f**king hard to score that title. It just came down to a point blank choice of run a campaign where you're not going to be able to advertise on the big three networks before 9 o'clock, or run a campaign where there are no hindrances."
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Cop Out hits theaters on February 26, 2010.
