OSCAR winning actor Jim Broadbent is putting on his scholarly look today as he plays the Professor in the blockbuster movie of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the CS Lewis classic fairytale which is being shot for the big screen on location in New Zealand.

The big budget movie is being filmed 54 years after it was written by the Belfast-born theologian and author – and is being tipped as the next Lord of the Rings-style hit.

“I spent an absorbing week re-reading the yarn,” said the star who won his best support Academy Award for his role as John Bayley in Iris.

“Smashing stuff and I’ve got a great part as the Prof – just ask any little boy or girl who has had the story read to them at bedtime.”

Broadbent, who was also in Moulin Rouge and Bullets over Broadway, is joined in the cast of the £70m Walt Disney film by the Vicar of Dibley Dawn French as the voice of Mrs Beaver, Rupert Everett who is in Shrek 2, as the Voice of the Fox and Scottish actress Tilda Swinton as The White Witch.

“The Lewis story is for all generations,” said Miss Swinton who won awards for her role in Adaptation with Nicholas Cage.

“Imagine, this story by theologian Lewis which he dreamed up first as a little boy in Belfast has sold 65 million copies around the world in 30 languages.

“I’m going to make a realistic evil witch, just the way CS wanted her to be.”

And for James Cosmo, seen recently on Belfast cinemas as Glaucus in Troy starring Brad Pitt, the film will be a second chance to play a role he loves – Father Christmas.

Cosmo had the part of Santa in Santa Claws, but will be best remembered as the grizzled warrior Campbell in Braveheart opposite Mel Gibson.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the Chronicles of Narnia first took shape in the family home at Circular Road in east Belfast where CS Lewis played hide and seek with his brother in an old wardrobe in the attic – a piece of furniture which is now a collector’s item in Chicago.

And in later life he would go walking at Craigantlet and dream up the fairytale that was to thrill several generations of children.

Former Belfast Lord Mayor Dr Ian Adamson, an authority on Lewis, said today: “It’s about time this film was shot. The Chronicles, and in particular the wardrobe story, rival anything in the Potter yarns and in The Lord of the Rings saga.”

By Eddie McIlwaine
emcilwaine@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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The Minister of Economic Development visited Waitakere recently for a look around the set of the movie he helped to secure for New Zealand.

Jim Anderton made a point of visiting the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe set at the Waitakere City-owned film studios in Henderson Valley Road and the Air Force hangars at Hobsonville Airbase.

He played a key role in making sure the film came to New Zealand, through the government’s tax incentive scheme.

The multi-million dollar film by Disney and Walden Production employs up to 500 people.

Later in the day, he discussed general business issues with prominent Waitakere business players including Peter Babich, Graeme Douglas, John Barnett (South Pacific Pictures), Julie Salthouse (Salthouse Marine), Mark Gunton (Westland Developments), Tim Livingstone (accountant) and Murray Spearman (CEO of the Trusts).

Thursday, 29 July 2004, 10:35 am
Press Release: Waitakere City

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A TALENTED young Five Valleys actor has gone from Sheepscombe to the silver screen after landing a major film role.

William Moseley, 17, was plucked from thousands of hopefuls to play the role of Peter in a new film version of CS Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The young star – a student at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse – is now in New Zealand filming the famous tale, his first big screen role.

His father, cinematographer Peter Moseley, said the whole family were delighted that William was playing his father’s Narnian namesake.

“We are all very excited – and very proud,” he told the SNJ. “These auditions went on for 18 months so it was quite a lengthy process. But it should be an amazing film.”

Mr Moseley went to New Zealand with his son for the first month of filming and said the youngster was busy adjusting to the lifestyle of a movie actor and working with Shrek 2 director Andrew Adamson.

“It is the first time he has done anything like this but he seems to be coping very well,” he said. “The crew are very good and the director is good at dealing with the youngsters so he is doing fine.”

Proud mum Juliette, sister Daisy, 15 and brother Ben, 12, are now all set to take their turn to visit William for a month. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is due to be released at Christmas 2005.

by Will Saunders

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Fathers of fantasy C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien shared a literary legacy; a love of initials and a desire to spread the Christian message through tales of myths and monsters.

Now the imagined lands of the friends – and rivals – who spent their lives creating “other worlds” are being recreated in the same country, New Zealand.

Filming of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second of the classic series by CS Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, has begun in the northern city of Auckland.

In October, the mountains of the South Island, probably better known to Lord of the Rings fans as Middle Earth, will be transformed into Narnia – the winter wonderland accessible only by bedroom furniture.

The adaptation of the best-known of the seven Narnia books is another coup for the Kiwi film industry, after Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

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Narnia Publicist Ernie Malik e-mailed me, confirming a few cast members and adding a whole lot more! Here’s the latest list of cast members, direct from the set!

Diminutive British talent Kiran Shah (”Lord of the Rings,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) portrays Ginarrbrik, the White Witch’s dwarfish sleigh driver; Best Supporting Actor Oscar® winner Jim Broadbent (”Iris,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Gangs of New York,” “Topsy-Turvy”) appears as Prof. Kirke, the Pevensie’s kindly uncle.

Director Adamson has also cast several Kiwi performers to portray a variety of human and Narnian creatures in the film, including Judy McIntosh (”Arriving Tuesday,” Ngati”) as the matriarch of the Pevensie family; Elizabeth Hawthorne (”The Frighteners,” “The Tommyknockers”) as Mrs. MacReady, the caretaker of the mansion; Patrick Kake (”Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”) as Oreius, Aslan’s head Centaur; and Shane Rangi (”Lord of the Rings”) as Gen. Otmin, the fierce Minotaur and leader of the White Witch’s army.

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Soundtrack.net has an interview with LWW Composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Here are some extracts, as well as the comments about LWW. You can read the full interview at Soundtrack.net.

Sinbad was big and orchestral. Do you find a particular type of score to be more gratifying?

Not really – but around about that time, leading up to Sinbad, I hadn’t done many projects that were particularly orchestral, so it was fun to get in front of the orchestra and not worry about electronics in the slightest bit. From the outset, Jeffrey Katzenberg had said that he wanted a very swashbuckling orchestral fun score, and that’s what they got! It brought with it a few anxieties, like “isn’t this going to sound like it was recorded 40 years ago – and if it does, does it matter?”

You’re also doing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe…

Yes – Andrew Adamson is shooting in New Zealand right now and it will be a Christmas 2005 release, I think. I’m doing a bit of music in advance of the main score, as there are a couple of moments where one of the characters plays a flute or pipe, and they need music to shoot to.

So you’ve read the books?

Yes, I loved the books as a child, so this is a very big deal for me. Andrew is a really incredible guy – especially with music. He’s very much single handedly behind the musical sound of Shrek and Shrek 2. I think they’re planning on doing all of the books into films, depending on how the first one goes.

What else do you have coming up?

Madagascar, next summer’s Dreamworks animated film. It’s CG animation, voiced by Chris Rock and Ben Stiller. It should be quite funny. The basic idea is that some animals break out of the zoo in New York City and head towards Madagascar – so I need to do my research. I have a feeling that might involve a trip…..!

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A few highlights from an article about the Licensing plans for the new Chronicles of Narnia films:

With 85 million copies sold in 29 countries, nearly 6 million copies annually, indeed, reader expectations will be high on a worldwide basis. Producer Johnson believes expectations will be met: “When audiences see this movie, they will have never seen anything like it in their lives.”

“Projects of the scope of The Chronicles of Narnia are few and far between,” reveals Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “This is well beyond a single movie.”

With HarperCollins as worldwide publisher of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” opportunity to cross-promote between the books and the movie is a natural, according to Mooney, and HarperCollins already has implemented some marketing tactics and agreed to republish the books to coincide with the first film. Asked what would be the marketing spend for the film, Cook says coyly, “The nature of the biggest marketing spend ever for a film.”

As The Chronicles of Narnia has a broad fan base, Mooney reveals the target age groups are “still being defined, and may change over time.” He continues, “Historically, the books have skewed more girls than boys. But translating the movie to product with the environments, characters, and the Narnia world, merchandise may skew more boys than girls.” Mooney speculates a 60-40 ratio, particularly where toys are concerned as they may have more boy appeal. In addition, he points to an older avid reader fan base, and believes collectibles would be in the merchandise mix. “We are treating this as a long-term franchise, analogous to Lord of the Rings and Star Wars,” Mooney asserts. “We would rather have the market be short on product than long on product.” At this stage in development, answering pointed questions relating to product is no easy feat, as Mooney and the Disney Consumer Products team are in the beginning phases, and are headed to Licensing 2004 International Show this month to showcase opportunities for The Chronicles of Narnia.

Walden Media-50/50 partner with Walt Disney Pictures on The Chronicles of Narnia-which originally brokered the deal with the C.S. Lewis Estate, secured the merchandising and licensing rights to an education project, which includes educational publishing, school workshops, and teacher training. The entertainment company, in its negotiations with the C.S. Lewis Estate, cinched the deal when it outlined its plans for education, and forged a relationship to work closely with the C.S. Lewis Estate on the development phase of the project.

Mooney concurs, “We will be very careful about how we embellish merchandise, whether toys, video games, or board games, and will work in conjunction with the C.S. Lewis Estate. The consumer products are an extension of the movie, but we will work to remain true to “The Chronicles of Narnia” original intent and content.”

With The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe slated for holiday ‘05, timing for the next film in the series has yet to be determined, although License! attempted to pry.

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I sent an e-mail to the C.S. Lewis Foundation for feedback on the C.S. Lewis Summer Conference at the University of San Diego: The Fantastic Worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Here’s the incredible response from Marlon Davies, an intern at the Foundation:

The Conference went smashingly! It was truly a magnificent weekend of fellowship, good company and quality learning. I have included a link to an article from Dick Staub, one of our featured guests over the course of the weekend. It will give you a window into one person’s experience. DickStaub.com

Overall, we received excellent praise and feedback about all our guests, especially scholars Peter Kreeft and Joseph Pearce, actor Tony Lawton and music artist, Fernando Ortega.

The C.S. Lewis Foundation will be facilitating a number of things throughout the next year. However, everything will be working toward, in anticipation, OxBridge 2005. You can view the archives of the 2002 OxBridge conference “Time and Eternity” at our site. This is similar in nature to the recent San Diego conference, but larger. The theme of 2005 will be “The Good, the True, and the Beautiful”. Our site will be updated this summer will much more information on the event. [July 24-August 5, 2005: Oxbridge 2005 Summer Institute - "The Good, the True and the Beautiful"] Also, any other events coming up will also be updated quite soon online.

Most notable will be the C.S. Lewis tall ship cruise. A beautiful way to see the British Isles and learn more about Lewis and his life and writings. This is put on in partnership with 1st century voyages.

For more information, visit: C.S. Lewis Foundation
and NarniaFans’ Festivals page

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The NZ Dominion Post reported it a few days ago and we’ve been able to confirm that Jim Broadbent will indeed play the role of the professor in the Narnia film.

Jim Broadbent recently played Lord Kelvin in Walden Media’s Around the World in 80 Days. He’s a versatile actor who’s appeared in many films and tv shows since beginning his career in 1978.

Jim Broadbent as the Professor
William Moseley as Peter
Anna Popplewell as Susan
Skandar Keynes as Edmund
Georgie Henley as Lucy

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The four young stars in Andrew Adamson’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe have finally revealed themselves to the world to welcome Prime Minister Helen Clark.

All four were involved in a cricket game being filmed in the grounds of Monte Cecilia House in Hillsborough when Miss Clark visited the set today.

The actors are: Georgie Henley, 9, from London, who plays the lead character Lucy; Skandar Keynes, 12, also from London, who plays Edmund; Anna Popplewell, 15, from West Yorkshire, who plays Susan; and William Moseley, 17, from Gloucestershire, who plays the eldest brother Peter.

Popplewell, the veteran of the group, has appeared in five previous movies, including Girl with a Pearl Earring and Mansfield Park, as well as three television series. Keynes has played a young Enzo Ferrari in an Italian biographical movie.

These are the first movie roles for Moseley and Henley, who despite her youth, has been a regular participant in England’s Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts.

Nine-year-old Henley said “It is quite tiring and it was a bit overwhelming at first, but everyone is doing everything they can to help, so it’s cool.” Her father and sister have been in Auckland for the past three weeks and her mother will be staying with her throughout the filming.

Moseley said he was enjoying the work, but was feeling a little homesick for his village near Stroud in the Cotswolds. “You don’t know what you have until it’s not there anymore,” he said.

The Hillsborough location will serve as the grounds of the country mansion where Lucy finds the wardrobe portal to the Kingdom of Narnia. The mansion which will seen in the movie will be computer generated.

Production manager Tim Coddington said everything is on schedule and they have another ten days of outdoor shooting to get through in Auckland before the crew moves to the South Island in mid-October. Most of the filming has been conducted on the indoor set built in the old Hobsonville air force base.

James Cosmo, who played Campbell in Braveheart and Mr Renton in Trainspotting, has been confirmed for the role of Father Christmas.

William Moseley as Peter
Anna Popplewell as Susan
Skandar Keynes as Edmund
Georgie Henley as Lucy

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