Woody Allen Film Gets James Bond-Like Third Title Change

Previously titled “Nero Fiddled” and “The Bop Decameron,” the Sony Pictures Classics release hits theaters on June 22 with a new name

Woody Allen is abandoning allusions to crazy Roman emperors and medieval allegories and echoing a famous James Bond movie with the latest title for his upcoming film. 

The next film from the urban auteur will be called "To Rome With Love," Sony Pictures Classics said Monday. 

It marks the third title change for the movie, which was previously called "Nero Fiddled" and prior to that was labeled "The Bop Decameron." 

Also read: Woody Allen's First Stab at 'Midnight in Paris': A 1971 Short Story

Sony said that the newest title will help broaden the film's appeal globally.

"The film’s former title, 'Nero Fiddled,' while an appropriate and humorous phrase in the U.S., is not a familiar expression overseas and many international territories preferred a more globally understood name," Sony said. 

The studio said that the new title is more in keeping with Allen's love letter to the Italian city. In recent years, he has offered similar homages to Paris and Barcelona and turned himself into the European tourism council's favorite filmmaker with "Midnight in Paris" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," respectively. 

"To Rome With Love," at least to our ears, lands a little like "From Russia With Love," the 1963 Bond classic — although this being Allen, it probably has more to do with the psychologist's coach than it does with international espionage. 

The film hits theaters on June 22 and stars Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page.

"To Rome With Love" is a Gravier Productions film produced by Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, and financed by the Italian production and distribution company, Medusa Film.

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