A few years ago, it might have been a problem: Filming a fantasy novel that also happens to be a Christian allegory. In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, four siblings—the boys dubbed "sons of Adam," the girls "daughters of Eve"—venture to a fantasy land where they meet a Christ-like lion, Aslan, whose sacrifice and resurrection allows him to fight an evil witch. (Aslan's dramatic phrase, "It is finished," is even one of Jesus' lines, swiped from John 19:28.) Earlier, American pop culture's awkwardness with religion might have made the overtones of Narnia a problem—but that was before The Passion of the Christ. Now, those overtones are a marketing opportunity.

"If the studio plays down the Christian aspect of the story, it risks criticism from the religious right," Charles McGrath suggested last month in the New York Times. "If it is too upfront about the religious references, on the other hand, that could be toxic at the box office." But Disney—who co-produced Narnia with conservative entertainment company Walden Media—is too smart to pick one option over another.

With dual marketing campaigns, the fight to make Narnia a box-office juggernaut was waged on two fronts. For secular audiences, the promotions make no mention of C.S. Lewis' orthodox Christian overtones. But for the pious, Disney released an album of Christian music "inspired by" the film and screened the film's trailer at Christian music festivals. Disney's already shown the film to over 1,400 religious leaders, and this week, they'll sponsor a 13-theater screening of the film for members of a California church, among other church-based screenings.

"The Narnia film arrives as the entertainment industry is taking notice of—and trying to profit from—what it views as the increasing influence of religiosity on American culture," Jeff Leeds wrote in another Times piece, this one from October. Whether Narnia will prove as popular as the mega-grossing Passion is doubtful, but with anticipation high, it's not out of the question—especially when you've got two very different groups, both eager to catch the film on opening weekend.