10 Cloverfield Lane: Even the cast didn't know the title of JJ Abrams' film until the trailer dropped

They referred to it as The Cellar and Valencia on set.

10 Cloverfield Lane (YouTube)

When JJ Abrams released the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane it took everyone by surprise, even the cast of the film.

In an attempt to keep all knowledge of the film out of public consciousness, the film’s crew were not made aware of its actual title, instead calling it The Cellar and Valencia on set.

When lead actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead didn’t hear about the movie for months after filming, she assumed the worst.

"There were moments when I was worried,” she told Rolling Stone. “I mean, I'm unaccustomed to not hearing about a movie.

“Dan [Trachtenberg, director] called me literally an hour before the trailer came out and told me the title of the movie. My first reaction was ‘OK. That's interesting. I'm not quite sure how to feel about it, but that's interesting." And then I started checking Twitter around the time that the trailer dropped and I was like: 'Oh!'"

Winstead explained that she had absolutely no idea it was part of a major franchise. Neither did co-star John Gallagher, Jr: "There were always a couple of titles that were floating around on set. Some people were calling it The Cellar, others were calling it Valencia, but I never gave it too much thought. Because as an actor I'm always like 'Who knows what's going to happen after we shoot this thing?'"