Narnia, Interrupted?
by Steve Watters on 03/27/2008 at 3:30 PM
Maybe you've already seen this, but I just now ran across an article from last week hinting that Disney might scale back on their plan to release movies based on all seven books from Chronicles of Narnia. According to JimHillMedia.com (an entertainment site):
...studio suits seem to be cooling to the idea of producing movie versions of all seven of C.S. Lewis's Narnia books. And unless The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian does truly huge box office once it's released to theaters in May of this year ... Disney & Walden Media (i.e. Mickey's partner on the Narnia film series) will probably still go forward with production of the already-in-development The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But after that ... The Mouse would then mostly likely pull the plug on the rest of the proposed Narnia film series.
That would be lame. I know the stories don't work quite as closely together, but could you imagine if New Line Cinema had gotten Lord of the Rings fans all excited about a trilogy and then bailed after number two? Come on Disney, give us all seven.
1. Adam T. said the following at 3:39 PM on Mar 27
Do you think it's got anything to do with anxiety over how exactly to pull off The Last Battle without becoming too explicitly Christian?
Maybe that's got nothing to do with it. Just an idea.
2. Louise said the following at 3:58 PM on Mar 27
Hey, folks, remember it's all about the profit.
If the first few productions don't produce the "filthy green stuff" the studio will seek another project.
3. Michele Samuelson said the following at 4:00 PM on Mar 27
That would be really lame. Especially since the Mouse could help manufacture lower box office in theory, by doing less promotion or playing around with the release date.
Sigh.
4. Josh said the following at 4:11 PM on Mar 27
Let's face it, in a narrative sense very few of the Narnia books translate very well to cinema. And even viewing them as part of the entire Chronicles each book stands alone fairly well, so not finishing out the series wouldn't be as huge of a loss as if New Line had cut "Return of the King" before release.
5. Matt said the following at 4:17 PM on Mar 27
The BBC produced through The Silver Chair and then gave up.
The first movie was not that good. I was suprised they were continuing in making the movies.
6. JJ said the following at 4:49 PM on Mar 27
A Disney rep has already denied this rumor. They will continue with their plan to release them as long as they are financially successful.
7. Andrew R. (aka Canadian Boy) said the following at 4:53 PM on Mar 27
Quite frankly, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader are the most screen-worthy. The Silver Chair's climax is way too slow, and the Last Battle really isn't so much of a battle as it is hiding in the dark for two hours before Aslan shows up. Great to read, not as exciting to watch.
I'll take the ones that are in production over no movies at all.
8. Amir Larijani said the following at 5:27 PM on Mar 27
I see Disney doing the movies. Shareholders will demand it as long as the profitability is there.
At the end of the day, it's all about profit margin. So far, Narnia looks like a very lucrative opportunity.
If you're the CEO, and you pass on an opportunity for such profitability, you're toast.
9. Sasha said the following at 6:59 PM on Mar 27
Oh dear, I hope this is false. I want to see The Silver Chair on film! The first one was a box-office success, so we can hope that the films will continue to be profitable for the industry. I guess this means we all need to go see "Prince Caspian" lots of times. ;)
10. Kathryn said the following at 7:35 PM on Mar 27
this sounds crazy. They release very bad movies every year and keep on flogging dead sequel/prequel horses. So why produce and make those and not the other Narnia books?
11. Amy P. said the following at 7:44 PM on Mar 27
So is the moral of this story that we Christians should go and see the movie in the theater in droves (and tons of times apiece too) to "encourage" the success of the next movie and ultimately affect the fate of the entire series?
Well, that's what I got out of the post.....
12. tom said the following at 7:54 PM on Mar 27
Peter Jackson was smart; he made all three LOTR movies simultaneously. That way the studio couldn't jerk him around, and actors couldn't hold out for higher pay after the success of the first film.
Besides, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" has grossed three-quarters of a billion dollars (that's right, with a "b") on a production budget of $180 million (and figure another $25 million in marketing costs). Do you think the shareholders will let them pass up another potential half a billion in profit -- times six? (All figures courtesy of Box Office Mojo .)
13. Kellie said the following at 8:10 PM on Mar 27
I love the books, but I wasn't all that impressed with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie. Somehow, that doesn't stop me from being excited about Prince Caspian, though.
14. Leigh said the following at 9:36 PM on Mar 27
Ditto JJ (6). There were several articles about this on the NarniaWeb site and they all got taken down because Disney denied the rumor and affirmed its plans to work with Walden Media on all seven books/movies.
15. Jacob said the following at 9:49 PM on Mar 27
Like JJ said in #6, there have been a few stories out there debunking this rumor. I just can't remember where I read the one I did....
16. Roger Spendlove said the following at 10:01 PM on Mar 27
Even if Disney pulls out of releasing the Narnia movies, I would think it wouldn't preclude Walden from producing and then releasing them on their own.
Remember, Walden initiated the first movie, developed the script and got it mostly through production on their own. Disney only came aboard when Walden began looking for distribution help.
Also, Since Walden is basically a Christian-founded and -owned and company, not being shackled to Disney might be a good thing for the rest of the series. I'm already anxious about what Disney might do to the Reepacheep's and the Dawn Treader's quest to find the Emperor Across the Sea, Aslan's Father.
17. DannieA said the following at 11:14 PM on Mar 27
Morale of the blog....support the movies....financially by going to see it.
18. Suzanne said the following at 11:31 PM on Mar 27
I hope if/when the rest are released they're a little closer together... at the rate we're going, it'll be another ten years before Last Battle comes out!
But I have to say, I'd really like to see that one in film.
19. michelle said the following at 5:24 AM on Mar 28
I would LOVE to see the kind of publicity and quality of movie that Disney could make with these films...say, the same quality as a movie like the Golden Compass (which, i must admit I refused to see for various reasons but the quality from trailers etc was very good). I was very excited to see the first Narnia when it came out but then was very disappointed that the quality lacked...You could see the blue/green screen work during the more "adventurous" moments in the film...as i said...I was a bit disappointed...
Hopefully the quality of the movies this time is much better and...if, 2 billion people in the world claim to be Christian and even just half of them would go see the movie in the cinema...even if one quarter...
That's a lot of money for the studios...
20. David said the following at 7:33 AM on Mar 28
The Last Battle is easy. Just make it more universalist than Lewis did, and everyone is happy!
21. Ivan said the following at 8:17 AM on Mar 28
I agree! I hope that they don't lose hope on being able to produce all 7.
22. Dr. Ransom said the following at 9:48 AM on Mar 28
JJ is right. No worries, all. :-) We at NarniaWeb issued a correction, based on Disney's word, back on March 19.
Ergo, just try to ensure you're in line opening night or day, eh wot?23. Matt said the following at 10:02 AM on Mar 28
I don't think it's lame that Disney is going to pursue profit as the most important factor in deciding to make more movies. If I had to make the decision about spending 100 million dollars (my guess on movie production cost) seven times over then I would want to be really sure that I was going to get back more. They're a for-profit company and they don't owe Narnia fans anything. Narnia fans need to make it worth Disney's time/money. I'm looking forward to seeing all seven movies done well. There are a lot of things that can go wrong here. What if Disney butchers the story and alienate their core audience. If they do that twice I bet the whole thing dies.
About Lord of the Rings, remember it wasn't so much about the success of one movie pouring into the other like the seven movies of Narnia. With Lord of the Rings a lot of work was done all at once and during the in between years things were polished and finished. Also, New Line approved the creation of the trilogy as a whole, not as consecutive movies. New Line was the third studio that Peter Jackson approached with the idea because he wanted to do the trilogy right - he wanted to handle it like a single movie during production. New Line took a huge risk and now has a huge reward. Disney doesn't have the backbone to do this with Narnia and I bet it is for good reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the source material or the desire of the core audience.
I have my Visa card in hand - bring on the Narnia.
24. Peter said the following at 10:32 AM on Mar 28
Honestly, the only one I could probably do without would be The Horse and His Boy, just because I didn't care much for that one. The Last Battle would be kind of interesting, but I can see where people might not appreciate it being so heavily Christian. What a way to wrap it all up, though.
I'd really like to see The Magician's Nephew. I think that could be done really well and could translate nicely into a movie.
I can definitely understand that Disney may not want to produce all 7 books/movies. With the time to make them and everything else, it puts a lot on the line and assumes that everyone will stay interested. I do think that Disney could easily manipulate the "Financially Successful" part by changing advertising/release dates/etc. if they choose not to make any more.
25. Jeremy said the following at 10:55 AM on Mar 28
I don't think they will stop making these any time soon. The first one is currently the 27th highest grossing film of all time, making nearly $750 million worldwide, and multi-part series that appeal to kids are huge cash cows. It did have an enormous budget, however (~$180 million, twice that of the last LoTR movie), which will probably make the studio a bit more hesitant particularly with the later books, which are far less well known and work less well as straight-forward children's stories.
26. jblaha said the following at 12:42 PM on Mar 28
I'm with ya! Long live Narnia!
27. Candace said the following at 1:38 PM on Mar 28
If you want to see more Narnia movies (or other family-friendly films) made, it's important to go to the next one on opening weekend. That will probably determine future movies...that's my understanding, anyway. I think Disney can be swayed!
28. Ben said the following at 1:47 PM on Mar 28
Agreed on the profit motive angle: the movies will keep being made if and only if there's money in it.
I suspect that there might also be some concern with how to portray Calormen faithfully to Lewis's description in The Horse and His Boy (and excerpts of a couple other books) without coming across as anti-Islamic.
29. Andrea said the following at 2:41 PM on Mar 28
Unlike Peter (#24), I would LOVE to see the Horse and His Boy. That's the one I'm holding out for.
It is uniquely Narnian. I've been wanting to see the lion/horse chase scene for years, as well as see the sets they'd use for Tashbaan.
I always liked the dynamic between Shasta and Aravis. I'd like to see it on the big screen.
But that's just me. Glad to hear Disney is planning on doing all seven.
30. Anne said the following at 2:11 PM on Mar 29
Well, I for one will simply be sure to go see Prince Caspian at least once. :)
Although I must confess that I would be very sad if the younger generations replaced these wonderful books with the films.
31. Don said the following at 12:20 AM on Mar 30
Here's my one concern about Prince Caspian: Disney released The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe around Christmas time. It made a lot of money, in part because there wasn't anything else that was really great out at the time. Now they've made Prince Caspian a summer release thinking that it could be the next summer blockbuster.
I'm afraid that this might be a mistake. This one might not do so well because it will have to compete with some pretty big name summer blockbusters that they wouldn't have to deal with if the release date was around Christmas.
Of course, a similar thing happened with the Harry Potter movies. They were hugely successful movies at Thanksgiving time, and when they moved them to the summer they were still successful, to a degree. After the third one (which I believe had the lowest gross of those three) was released in the summer, they released the fourth in November again. It did well so the fifth was released in the summer, and now the sixth is set with a November release date.
The release date can have a huge impact on how well a movie does. It can be great just so long as it doesn't seem like the company is pushing it back because they don't think it is quality. Those movies usually end up bombing. We'll see how Prince Caspian competes with the action flicks coming out this summer. They may end up releasing the next one at a later time in the year.
32. Esther said the following at 6:53 PM on Mar 30
I know it's off the topic, but does anyone know if a movie of "The Hobbit" is in the works? I know it's a stand-alone of Tolkien's, but with the success of LOTR, it seems like it could be a hit.
33. ashleigh said the following at 9:08 PM on Mar 30
I was reading an article that for now they were only making 3 movies with no real plans to make the others. They are making the voyage of the dawntreader next i believe. They wanted to make the movies with that had all of the children because with such a long delay the kids are getting older.
34. Alex C. said the following at 10:21 PM on Mar 30
I'm glad to hear that this news about disney not doing more movies was just a rumor...for now. I'm really looking forward to Prince Caspian, I LOVED the first movie and I really want to see them all get made. I can't wait to see part 6.
The thing I'm most worried about is the age of the actors. If they keep going at the current pace, they're going to end up being too old for their roles by the time we get to the Last Battle.
35. Paul said the following at 3:37 AM on Apr 3
I think that The Horse and His Boy will scare the studios off far before they deal with the Last Battle or the creation themes of Magicians Nephew. The obvious correlations to muslims and the stereotypes that are associated with that will have Mickey hiding in the castle and begging Tinkerbell to keep the drawbridge closed.
Let's not forget that truth often hurts and offends. We live in world and culture where this plays out every day. We should not be surprised, Jesus told us it would happen.
I am excited for Prince Caspian and hope that we get to see the creative productions of the other 5 films; but I will not be surprised if they never get completed and released.