How to Write a Movie Tagline

There is no formula for a tagline, and the sooner you accept that the better. What exists is a handful of tests, a handful of repeatable moves and a long list of lines that failed. If you only do one thing, write ten versions and show them to people who do not know you. The definition is in what a movie tagline is, and the rest of the writing taglines section covers the craft around it.

What the brief is

A tagline sells the experience of a film to an audience; a logline sells the story to producers. The definition and the history live in what a movie tagline is, so here is only the brief. Make the reader ask a question or feel something, in as few words as possible. Do not be boring, overly descriptive or try to do too much. The best lines balance informative, compelling and silly, and the very best cut dangerously close to the very worst.

The end result should vary with the use: festival programming, social media or advertising each want a different cut. For how the line relates to the trailer, see teaser trailer vs theatrical trailer.

Write one in six steps

1. Write a paragraph about the film, or reuse the logline, then make it shorter until it expresses an emotion.
2. Name the hook: what the film offers that nothing else does (more on that just below).
3. Draft ten versions, one technique each (the table below has them). You need more than one line anyway, because a film has several jobs to do, such as generating interest, offering more information and then selling tickets, and one line that tries all three is likely to miss all of them. Bad drafts are fine, because bad ideas can yield good ones.
4. Cut. Say as much as possible with as few words as possible.
5. Check the tone and the promise. A horror line will be suspenseful or ominous, a comedy's playful and humorous, and the title and tagline should accurately represent the movie's content and avoid misleading the audience. It also has to work with the poster, the title and the film.
6. Test it on strangers, with the protocol in the section after the next one, and keep the version that gets a strong reaction. Friends and family give a first read, but your own head is the weak spot, so collaborate early and often, and with people who will be honest.

Identify the film’s hook first

The hook is the unique selling point, and it can be thrilling action, emotional depth or a central mystery. The Goonies line shows a hook taken to the limit, a series of hooks each more aggressive than the one before. Roger Corman, asked about the secret of his success, said he always starts with the movie title and tagline. The reasoning is that a title and tagline are the audience’s first impression, which turns the tagline from the last job into one of the first. The title needs the same care: test every new title idea against Google or IMDb to see whether a similar title already exists.

Best movie tagline examples: nine effective moves

Each row comes from a documented line, so you can check the effect against the film.

For a drama, pick a desired emotional state and shoot for that. Putting a spin on a well-known turn of phrase is another reliable move.

Three lines that changed on the way

The sources document three campaigns where the first line was not the final one.

The early legwork on the Close Encounters line paid off as a shorter tagline further down the funnel.

Test it the way studios test everything else

Studios do not trust one person’s taste. Audiences are tested on trailers and commercials while a film is still in production, and recruiters target people who like that particular type of film. Most studios hold three to five screenings per film, and researchers also run focus groups of about 20 viewers who talk the film through in detail. One studio case study had seven ads rated for interest in the film, likelihood to see it in a theater and intent to see it on opening weekend.

A tagline is smaller than a film, so the protocol shrinks:

1. Shortlist three to six lines that each take a different direction. Six wordings of one idea waste everyone's attention.
2. Recruit strangers who like this kind of film. Internal staff and close colleagues almost always rate familiar language more favorably than an outside audience would.
3. Ask neutral questions. "Which of the following taglines do you prefer?" gets the vote, and "In your own words, what do you think this tagline is trying to say?" shows whether the line carries your premise. Keep wording neutral: "How appealing is this tagline?", not how much they love it. Randomize the order so the first line shown does not win by position.
4. Count honestly. A test of 20 or 30 responses per option produces a result that looks decisive but is not statistically reliable; the guideline is 200 to 300 completed responses per line for a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of five to seven points. A handful of interviews can still catch a misreading. It cannot name a winner.
5. Put the survivors in front of a real audience. Run two versions as ads on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok and compare click-through or watch time. Netflix tests up to 12 versions of a single promo image, but a tiny audience makes the results misleading, and unclear goals waste the time.

Alien’s line, copied

Alien’s is the best-documented case, and the whole story is on the Alien tagline page. What to copy: the copywriter saw the film first, then built the line on a fact about space rather than on the plot. The primary sources are the Library of Congress registry notice and the AFI movie club page.

Four ways to get it wrong

Jaws: The Revenge coined “This time, it’s personal”, a line that could apply to any number of revenge films and do just fine. Taglines do not work in isolation. Make a good film first, then work backward to marketing that tells the audience what they are in for.

The 1957 film I Was a Teenage Werewolf ran with “The most amazing motion picture of our time!” That claim is so audacious that there is no reason to respond to it. A direct line describes an experience; this one only boasts. Do not make claims, describe experiences.

A related trap is a line built from numbers, such as chunks of the runtime, which do nothing to grab a viewer’s attention, or one that merely announces its genre: you cannot simply say your film is very [same genre].

The fourth is a line that misleads. Blair Witch’s campaign had more than one tagline, including “Everything you’ve heard is true”, and its marketing material around the midnight premiere listed the actors as “missing” or “deceased”. That worked for one film. Representing the film accurately is still the rule.

A worked example, and a template

Imagine a micro-budget thriller about a lighthouse keeper who hears a second voice on the radio. The paragraph: a lonely keeper learns that the voice on his radio is calling from inside the building. The hook: where the voice is. A directive draft: “Do not answer.” A question draft: “Who is calling from inside?” A grouped draft: “Salt. Silence. Static.” After testing, the keeper’s story would likely keep the question, because the hook is a mystery only the film can answer. This film does not exist; the example only shows the steps in use.

Frames to try, each cut to the fewest words: “In [place], no one can [verb].” (a fact that turns into a threat, as in the Alien line); “[Word]. [Word]. [Odd word out].” (unlikely things grouped, as in Fight Club); “What is [the title]?” (a mystery).

If the film is crowdfunded, the tagline is the first impression and the overview paragraph beneath it must say everything people need to know if they read no further. Keep the whole pitch near 350 words and introduce yourself and your team, because many backers are friends and family but others do not know you. People connect more with the story of the team than with a synopsis. Get another set of eyes on the text before it goes live.

Checklist before it goes on a poster

• Is it brief?
• Does it communicate the experience, not the meaning?
• Does it centre on the film’s unique selling point?
• Does it match the genre’s tone?
• Does it represent the film honestly?
• Does it work with the poster and the title?
• Did people who do not know you react strongly to it?
• Can a stranger say in their own words what it is trying to say?

Where to go next

A famous quote and a tagline are different animals. AFI’s list of film quotes chose lines that circulate through popular culture and become part of the national lexicon; a tagline is written for the poster. For lines to study, read the Jaws 2 tagline page, the 1970s movie taglines list and horror movie taglines.