Narnia is coming back to the big screen. Deadline reports that TriStar Pictures is teaming up with Entertainment One (aka eOne) to produce and distribute The Silver Chair, an adaptation of the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.
Narnia is coming back to the big screen. Deadline reports that TriStar Pictures is teaming up with Entertainment One (aka eOne) to produce and distribute The Silver Chair, an adaptation of the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.
The internet is abuzz with the news that a producer associated with The Chronicles of Narnia told a blogger yesterday that The Silver Chair, the proposed fourth movie in the ten-year-old series, will represent the start of “a brand new franchise.”
The first Narnia film was a massive hit five years ago; but the second film, Prince Caspian, made only half as much money at the box office when it opened three summers ago, and now it looks like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will make only about half of that. In truth, it’s not doing much better than The Golden Compass did at this time of year three years ago.
That’s a shame, because Dawn Treader is a pretty decent family film on its own terms. It’s not a particularly faithful adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ original novel, true; but it retains enough of the key themes, and it has a storybook quality that sets it apart from the first two films. It also features one of the most unlikely but appealing friendships ever.
I haven’t read the book version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in a few years now, so I don’t know quite how to pick this trailer apart just yet — but I’m sure the true Narnia fans out there will be chiming in pretty soon. In the meantime, behold:
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More ominous news has come out of Walden Media. First, co-founder Cary Granat has left the company. Second, in reporting on his departure, the Hollywood Reporter says Granat will stay as a “creative consultant” on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which the company is “close to greenlighting”.
Wait a minute, the film hasn’t been greenlit yet?
It gets better: The official press release from Walden uses even more cautious language, saying that “the company hopes to greenlight [the movie] soon.”
Only “hopes to”?
A bit of background: Back in February, Disney said Dawn Treader would be going into production in the summer. Then, in April, producer Mark Johnson said they were planning to start shooting in October. Then, in October, one of the actors stated publicly that shooting was now set to begin in April of next year.
So between their habit of putting off the start date, on the one hand, and the ongoing administrative upheavals at Walden Media, on the other hand, who can say whether this film will ever be made?
Ah well, either way, you will apparently soon be able to get a taste of how certain scenes in Dawn Treader are supposed to look, at least. NarniaWeb.com reports that the DVD and Blu-Ray of Prince Caspian coming out next month will include “brief glimpses” of the pre-visualization work that has been done on two of Dawn Treader‘s special-effects sequences.
Meanwhile, in related news, I am told that a certain Hollywood writer was approached about writing the script for Walden’s adaptation of The Screwtape Letters — which, like the Narnia books, was written by C.S. Lewis — but then the writer in question found out that Walden wants to turn the book into a broad comedy “in the vein of MR. BEAN a la Richard Curtis.”
I like Mr. Bean well enough, myself, but I am wondering how a mute character — a silent, physical comedian, in effect — can provide any sort of template for a story that is, in its own way, rather didactic.
Given Walden’s mixed-at-best track record with its other literary adaptations, this latest news does not bode well, I think.
NOV 16 UPDATE: Jim Hill says Disney is waiting to see what the first-week sales for the Prince Caspian DVD are like before they commit to a production budget for Dawn Treader.
1. Rumours have been circulating for the past few days that Baz Luhrmann has been forced by 20th Century Fox to change the ending of his upcoming epic, Australia. Now Fox is insisting that the rumours are simply not true. The real question, of course, is whether the film will break Fox’s surprisingly long streak of critically-reviled movies, or Nicole Kidman’s surprisingly long streak of box-office flops. — Patrick Goldstein
2. Emma Thompson had to choose between appearing in the final Harry Potter film and working on the next Nanny McPhee movie. Since she actually writes the Nanny McPhee movies, the choice, for her, was obvious. McPhee it is. — MTV Movies Blog
3. Producer Mark Johnson, who once said that he was hoping to release a new Chronicles of Narnia movie every year until 2013, now says that the plan is to release a new Narnia movie every two years — partly to give the filmmakers time to ensure, with each installment in the franchise, that the series is continuing to make money. — Movies.ie
4. Sir Ridley Scott has officially signed on to direct a movie based on the Monopoly board game, “with an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic ‘Blade Runner.'” Who wants to bet he’ll use this movie to make some sort of socially-relevant comment on the recent real-estate woes? — Hollywood Reporter
5. The movie about Magneto, the villainous mutant played by Sir Ian McKellen in the X-Men series (2000-2006), now has a plot synopsis. — MTV Splash Page
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