Do Movie Titles Go In Quotes Or Italics?

Have you ever wondered how to punctuate a movie title? What about when to italicize or put in quotation marks?

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Do movie titles go in quotes or italics?

Italics are used for large works, names of vehicles, and movie and television show titles. Quotation marks are reserved for sections of works, like the titles of chapters, magazine articles, songs, and episodes.

How to format movie titles in essays

italics. This is because movies, books, and other titled works are either italicized or put in quotation marks, and the choice dictates whether you should use underlining as well. When it comes to how to write movie titles in a paper, there are different rules that apply. Depending on the length of the movie title and the style guide you are using, you may either italicize the movie title or put it in quotation marks. If you are unsure how to format your movie titles, consult your style guide or ask your professor for guidance.

When to use italics or quotation marks for movie titles

Different style guides have different rules for how to treat movie titles when you’re writing. In general, you should either italicize or put quotation marks around the title of a movie. Let’s look at some examples.

If you’re writing for a publication that follows Associated Press style, like a newspaper, then you’ll want to use quotation marks around the movie title. For example: I saw “The Return of the Jedi” last night.

If you’re writing for a publication that follows Chicago Manual of Style, like a magazine, then you’ll want to italicize the movie title. For example: I saw The Return of the Jedi last night.

It’s always a good idea to check with your editor or instructor to see which style guide they prefer you use.

Get it right: movie titles in essays

When you write an essay about movies, you will have to specify the movie title in essay many times. At a first glance, this is not a problem. However, the correctness of writing such names as movie titles in essays raise doubt quite often. Aren’t movie titles supposed to be in italics or quotes? In truth, the rules for movie titles aren’t quite as straightforward as you’d think…

Here’s everything you need to know about using quotation marks and italics when referring to movies in your papers and essays.

When to Use Quotation Marks
• Title of a short story
• Title of a cartoon or comic strip
• Title of an episode from a television series
• Title of a song from a Broadway musical or album
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗹😜tip: tittles never go in all caps

How to punctuate movie titles

How you punctuate a movie title depends on which style guide you are using for your work. Some style guides (such as MLA and APA) use quotation marks around titles of shorter works such as articles and poems; other style guides (such as Chicago Manual of Style and the Modern Language Association) italicize titles of shorter works such as articles and poems.

If you are not sure whether to use quotation marks or italics for a movie title, check with your instructor, professor, or editor. As a general rule, if the work is published in a book, magazine, newspaper, or website, use italics.

Here are some examples:
The Graduate
Pulp Fiction
Citizen Kane

Punctuating titles: when to use italics, underlining, and quotation marks

It can be confusing to know when you should be using quotation marks, italics, and underlining when you are writing. There are different rules for different types of titles because you need to be able to indicate which type of title you are using. The table below explains these rules.

Punctuating Titles: When to Use Italics, Underlining, and Quotation Marks
Title Type Punctuation
———————————————-
Movie Quotation Marks
———————————————-
Television Show Italics
———————————————-
Book Italics
Collection of Stories Italics or Quotation Marks if the stories have unique titles
Magazine Italics
———————————————-
Newspaper Italics or Quotation Marks if the newspaper has a unique name
Composition in Anthology Italis or Quotation Marks if the anthology has a unique title Work in an Anthology Underlining or Quotation Marks

It’s all about the movie titles

When writing about a movie in your paper, you want to make sure you format the title correctly. After all, you don’t want your teacher to think you’re sloppy and careless! So, what’s the right way to do it?

Here’s the deal: movie titles should be in italics. That’s because movies are considered long works, just like books. (The one exception is if the movie is part of a series, like The Lord of the Rings movies. In that case, the individual movie titles should go in quotes.)

Still not sure? Here’s an easy way to remember: if you can buy the movie on DVD or Blu-ray, then it should be in italics. If you can only stream it on Netflix or another site, then it should go in quotes.

So there you have it! Now go forth and write great papers — with correctly formatted movie titles.

How to correctly format movie titles in your writing

When writing about movies, you can either italicize the title or put it in quotation marks. The general rule is that if the movie is part of a larger body of work (like a franchise), then it should be italicized. If the movie is a standalone work, then it should be put in quotation marks.

Titles of movies and books: when to italicize and when to use quotation marks

It can be confusing to know when you should italicize a title or put it in quotation marks. In general, you should italicize the titles of long works, like books, movies, or record albums. Titles of short works, like poems, articles, or TV episodes, should be put in quotation marks.

Here are some examples:
-The movie “The Godfather” is considered one of the best films ever made.
-I read the book Wuthering Heights in high school.
-We listened to the album Abbey Road on the way to the concert.
-Do you remember that episode of “The Twilight Zone” where…

Remember that these rules apply to titles that appear in your text as well as in your Works Cited list.

Formatting titles of texts in MLA style

According to the MLA Handbook (8th edition), titles of texts should be formatted as follows:

-Titles of books, plays, films, periodicals, databases, and websites are italicized.
-Article titles, chapter titles, and section titles are placed in quotation marks.
-A title appearing within a quotation gets placed in double quotation marks.
-The title of an epic poem or book-length poem is italicized; the title of a long poem is placed in quotation marks.
-The title of a short story is placed in quotation marks; the title of a novel is italicized.