Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 92% certainty 2/5 debate potential 1/5

Van Veen: A studio passed on The Hangover over title rights

Ricky Van Veen · #32: Taylor Swift vs. MrBeast w/ Casey Neistat and Ricky Van Veen · More or Less Podcast · Feb 2, 2024 · at 3:20

Media executive Ricky Van Veen discusses the importance of titles in entertainment while discussing how the More or Less podcast got its name.

0:00 / 0:13exact quote · 13.8s

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“I don't think it's apocryphal, but it's a piece of Hollywood history that The Hangover was passed on by a studio because they couldn't get the title What Happens in Vegas, which was an Ashton Kutcher movie, came out like a year later.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

A film studio passed on the movie The Hangover because the studio could not secure the title What Happens in Vegas.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

Ricky Van Veen's claim that a film studio passed on the movie that became The Hangover because it could not secure the title What Happens in Vegas is confirmed by established Hollywood trade reporting. In The Hollywood Reporter's May 1, 2013 oral history of the film, it was documented that screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore originally pitched the concept under the title What Happens in Vegas in 2007. Executives at New Line Cinema loved the pitch but were dead set on that specific title; because 20th Century Fox already held priority to the title for its upcoming 2008 Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz comedy, New Line could not secure the rights and passed on the project. The screenwriters subsequently wrote the script, retitled it The Hangover, and sold it to Warner Bros. in October 2007.

The Hollywood Reporter (May 1, 2013, 'The Uncensored Oral History of The Hangover') reported that New Line Cinema loved Jon Lucas and Scott Moore's pitch but passed because they were 'dead set on that title and couldn't secure rights'.
20th Century Fox held the MPAA title registration for What Happens in Vegas, filming in late 2007 and releasing the Ashton Kutcher film in May 2008.
Writers Guild of America records and Variety (October 4, 2007) confirm the project originated under the title What Happens in Vegas before being acquired by Warner Bros. as The Hangover.

Checked against

[1] redef.com [2] redef.com [3] brobible.com [4] independent.co.uk [5] independent.co.uk [6] github.com [7] alamy.com [8] fandom.com

"October 4, 2007" "Warner" "Phillips" Variety "What Happens in Vegas" 20th Century Fox 2007 announcement "The Hollywood Reporter" "What Happens in Vegas" "The Hangover" "New Line Cinema" "The Uncensored Oral History of 'The Hangover'" "What Happens in Vegas" "What Happens in Vegas" "2007" "New Line" "Jon Lucas" "What Happens in Vegas" "The Hangover" "New Line" "Todd Phillips" "Jon Lucas" "What Happens in Vegas" "New Line" The Hangover script What Happens in Vegas title passed studio

assessed as of 2026-09-08

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Mentioned

The Hangover what happens in vegas

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Van Veen: A studio passed on The Hangover over title rights

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