So, following this weeks Casting Call announcement, I find myself again leaning ever more towards the idea that the title might just be 'NARNIA'. Ever since November (which in my head is the start of the Production Proper) in every single piece of official or semi-official communications, it has always been styled as just 'NARNIA' often in all block capitals and/or single quotation marks in the manner traditionally used to signify titles in film reporting.

And this Casting Call is no different. In fact, this was the moment when they could have quite clearly said "Magician's Nephew" given that its abundantly clear what its for, however once again they didn't. Its just 'NARNIA',

The only thing that gives me some reason to think that it still might just be a placeholder title, is the fact that they were willing to go with such an obvious codename for the role of "Frannie" as part of the audition process. Yes, its pretty much standard practice to use a codename in casting calls, but given that its abundantly clear what role its for, why bother?. Perhaps though if they are willing to indulge in some pointless misdirection for that, then maybe they are willing to engage in some pointless misdirection for the title as well?

But then, if secrecy is an issue, why not just go with an actual codename for the project as well? (Walden's Prince Caspian did all its business under the codename of "Toastie" for example, in order to keep things like this under the radar). They clearly however want people to know this casting call is for Narnia so that that they can bring in a bigger number of applicants.

And maybe that's the crux of it. That "The Magician's Nephew" just isn't a big enough draw, but "Narnia" is.

Perhaps it will be like the James Bond films where it has a specific film title, but the majority of the marketing is focussed on the "007" logo and brand identity. The recent Superman trailer did a similar thing, in that it never once used the actual film title in the trailer (even though its just "Superman" now), but instead relied upon the music and the visual iconography of the character to sell it.

P.S. i love how delightfully old-fashioned the name "Frannie" is. Maybe that's just me. I hope that's a positive sign though.

Posted by: @icarus

And this Casting Call is no different. In fact, this was the moment when they could have quite clearly said "Magician's Nephew" given that its abundantly clear what its for, however once again they didn't. Its just 'NARNIA',

The only thing that gives me some reason to think that it still might just be a placeholder title, is the fact that they were willing to go with such an obvious codename for the role of "Frannie" as part of the audition process. Yes, its pretty much standard practice to use a codename in casting calls, but given that its abundantly clear what role its for, why bother?.

Well... not necessarily "abundantly clear" to the general public just yet — only to those who know all the books. Plenty of people out there, I'm guessing, will only be familiar with Narnia from the Walden film trilogy. Some will remember the BBC TV version as well, which covered four of the books. But there hasn't been a screen adaptation of The Magician's Nephew before at all — and despite 40+ years of publishers numbering the books with MN as number 1, THE one everyone has heard of, and the book I would guess they're most likely to have read (if any), is LWW. The title of MN just isn't as well-known out there as LWW, or even PC and VDT.

I agree, now would be the perfect time to reveal the title if it is going to be more than just "Narnia", but I also think the codename "Frannie" must be an indication that they're still trying to keep it obscure for just a little longer. I'm hoping that some time soon, perhaps within just a few more weeks or less, it'll be announced that the full title is Narnia: The Magician's Nephew. Just "Narnia" on its own, for the actual film title, still doesn't make sense to me — although maybe it does to the people marketing this production, for whatever reason.

That said, even if the new film really is just called Narnia, I will be willing to forgive that rather bizarre choice if the movie itself turns out to be brilliant!!