Why do films use a working title instead of the real title?

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

When films are in production, why do they use a working title instead of the real title?

Was this practice more common in the past or is it still in use?

[Frank Wylie]

Sometimes for secrecy, sometimes because creative types can't make up their mind until the last second and probably a few more I can't think of at the moment...

[aapo lettinen]

if it's not a secrecy thing, then it is often that the marketing dept has not yet figured out which name would sell the best. they are trying to max their audience and the name of the film is very important to raise the interest of the target audience

[Max Field]

When it's a sequel I think the reason is also pretty obvious.

[Tyler Purcell]

Quite a few movies have bogus titles when they go into production. Mainly as stated above, because they either don't know the final title and/or they simply don't want behind the scenes social media pictures and such, to be attributed to the final name of the product. It's all so stupid, free publicity is too scary sometimes. Imagine if filmmakers were allowed to take BTS pictures with cast and crew on a daily basis and post them? Most big movies make you sign an NDA and if they see you with a camera out taking pictures, will be a bit angry. I remember on a little commercial I did not long ago, I took some pictures for color reference and the client chewed me out. I was like, how the heck do you want me to time the film in the scanner? I can guess or I can get a digital image to help guide me. Some people are overly protective.