Recent Trends
Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing in 2004 and Batman Begins in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. Similarly, Welles’s Touch of Evil originally waited until the end to display the title as well as the credits; however, Universal Studios took the film out of his hands, and his vision was not restored until 1998. Had Universal not wrangled Touch of Evil away from Welles, it might very well be the first film to follow this practice.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) went so far as to not feature the title at all, except briefly as graffiti in Colonel Kurtz’ (Brando) compound. George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence. However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, and The Godfather.
Nevertheless, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II, Lethal Weapon 2, and The Abyss following the practice. Clint Eastwood has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.
Other recent films that follow the trend:
- 2001: The Mummy Returns
- 2004: Teacher's Pet
- 2005: Batman Begins
- 2006: Hostel
- 2007: Hostel: Part 2
- 2007: No Country for Old Men
- 2007: There Will Be Blood
- 2008: Cloverfield
- 2008: Wanted
- 2008: The Reader
- 2008: The Dark Knight
- 2009: Avatar
- 2010: How to Train Your Dragon
- 2010: Inception
- 2012: The Dark Knight Rises
Read more about this topic: Opening Credits
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