Narnia Fans » Production Companies

During the 2008 Summer Olympics, television network NBC produced a short video clip about Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima.  That clip, which can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here, featured a portion of “Only the Beginning of the Adventure” from the LWW soundtrack (audible around the 3:20 mark).

Sunday evening, during closing ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canadian singer Alanis Morisette performed none other than “Wunderkind,” her contribution the LWW soundtrack.  You can watch her performance on Videolog.

If you’ve heard Narnia music elsewhere, sound off in the comments section – pun intended.

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Brandon Gray at Box Office Mojo has posted a short preview of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  You can read his piece by clicking here.

Gray reports little, if anything, about VDT that the fanbase didn’t already know, but he does analyze the film’s box office potential.  After calling Prince Caspian a “disappointment” Gray states VDT will “sink further than Prince Caspian…it would take an extraordinary final product and marketing effort for Voyage to tread water.”  In his view, working against VDT are the 2.5 year gap between it and Caspian, as well as the December release.  And of course, he does make a comparison to Eragon and The Golden Compass, which did not perform strongly with December openings.

Its a unique take.  He’s probably right about the film delays, but most seem to agree that moving VDT to December was a good idea.  We shall see…

The Narnia fan community knows all too-well the sometimes controversial link between Christian elements of the books and what has appeared on screen.  This is probably most evident in discussions of Prince Caspian the book versus Prince Caspian the film.

The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column this week touched on the tension between faith and film, specifically those released by Disney.  Strangely, the Narnia franchise is not mentioned at all, but the piece is still an insightful read.  Click here to read “What Walt Wrought” on the WSJ’s website.

What say you?

NarniaFans spy Daniel sent us a link to a video which shows the Dawn Treader re-constructed inside the Warner Studios in Australia.  Note the mention of a sword fight between stuntmen, Caspian, and Lucy which takes place in among some cool-looking statues.

Click here to watch the short clip, which is more about Australia’s film industry than Narnia, but is still interesting.  Thanks, Daniel!

Dark Horizons has posted a list of the “notable films” that will be released in 2010.  “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is included on that list.  They write:

Best of all is the story, which lifts much of its basic outline from the best bits of Homer’s “The Odyssey”, is widely considered the best of all the ‘Narnia’ adventures. The script has been adapted by Richard LaGravenese (“A Little Princess,” “The Fisher King”) and Michael Petroni (“Til Human Voices Wake Us,” “Queen of the Damned”) and shooting went smoothly in Queensland, Australia throughout much of the last few months of 2009.

The only downside here could be Walden itself which has been keeping production rather quiet and didn’t have any set visits to the film, even for locally based journalists like myself which has surprised more than a few people. A decently updated production blog is online which is a nice start, but the buzz needs to begin early to make sure this doesn’t go the way of ‘Caspian’. Lets hope the film becomes the hit it could be, because the next book ‘The Silver Chair’ is also one of the best of the series and deserves a big-budget adaptation.

I, for one, couldn’t agree more about “The Silver Chair.”  Read what else Dark Horizons had to say about VDT and the Narnia films by clicking here.

Mill Film has recently been awarded work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

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Those of you wondering where to catch “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” on television (after the film is released, hits DVD, and is allowed to broadcast on TV, that is) may wonder no longer.  Variety reports:

“Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution has inked an exclusive long-term output deal with Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1.

“The licensing agreement, the first such deal between the two companies in 14 years, includes exclusive TV rights to upcoming features such as Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” as well as a large selection of U.S. series for the group’s stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”

Read more at Variety.com.

Last spring Micheal Flaherty, President of Walden Media, visited Asbury College as part of its Engaging Culture weekend. As those who have met him know, he is a truly great man–full of wisdom, enthusiasm, real joy, and deep compassion.

While he was on campus, Devin Brown had the opportunity to ask him about Walden’s mission, where its name came from, and even what his favorite scene is. His response to these and other questions can be viewed in “An Interview with Micheal Flaherty” which has been posted at: Asbury.edu

There’s also a question and answer session about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

For those interested in the technology that is in use on the production of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we now have some information on the process that they’re going through to create movie magic.  This article is highly technical, intended to inform those interested in filmmaking, and the tools of the trade.

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I know that this is a strange departure from the usual Narnia news, and believe me when I say: more Narnia news is coming, and you’re going to love it.  I just wanted to take the time to tell you all about a film from the studio that is bringing us The Chronicles of Narnia movies.  It’s called Bandslam and it’s a film that I went into expecting to enjoy it, but not much more than that.  I found myself really having a great time with it, and wondering where the marketing department missed the boat.

I thought they might have seen the wrong movie, by the way it was being promoted, and came out of the theater having experienced a wonderful little film whose characters captured me and captivated me as they went on their journey through the film.  It’s not really about a battle of the bands competition, though that is part of it.  It’s really about the character of Will, who has problems just like anyone else.  In fact, everyone in the movie is more than meets the eye, and every character is brought in with a purpose.  I can’t recommend this movie highly enough.

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