Narnia Fans » 20th Century Fox

More ‘Dawn Treader’ Set Photos

Paul Martin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:19:21 +0000

We received word from MundoNarnia about some new photos that have surfaced from the set of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at The Spit. It seems that a lot of progress has been made in the last few days. If they’re shooting the film right now, though, the set doesn’t appear to be ready. It’s close, though. There is still no word as to who has arrived in Australia for the film shoot, aside from Skandar Keynes. All that I know is that it’s on schedule to make it’s release on December 10, 2010, as scheduled by Fox and Walden Media. It’s sure to be a good way to spend the holiday season, and to bide our time for The Hobbit a year later.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader comes to Gold Coast, Confirmed again

Paul Martin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:33:50 +0000

Many many people have written us to let us know that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is definitely, confirmed again, to be filming on the Gold Coast in Australia. Thanks, in particular, to Brendan and Elika for the particular announcement.

QUEENSLAND has attracted one of the biggest-budget films to be shot in Australia. The multi-million dollar Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be filmed on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane this year, Premier Anna Bligh told state Parliament today. Ms Bligh says the Walden Media/Twentieth Century Fox feature film will employ about 2000 Queenslanders during production.

“This means more jobs for extras, wardrobe assistants, make-up artists, drivers, production staff, set designers, set builders who will gain work and valuable experience during the production,” Ms Bligh said. ”This will possibly be the highest-budget feature film ever shot in Queensland.”

It is set to rival the previous record breaker, Peter Pan, in 2002-03. Locations include Doug Jennings Park on The Spit at the Gold Coast and Cleveland Point in Brisbane’s bayside. Ms Bligh said more Gold Coast locations were being negotiated. ”We faced some very stiff competition for this production from NSW and New Zealand,” she said.

NarniaFans Mailbag #37: Academy Awards, Publicity and Casting

Paul Martin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:26:55 +0000

This week’s mailbag is a little bit late, and I apologize for that. I had some stuff to get done this week, and I’ve started doing a new project. Not to mention that I have been a little sick, so I’ve gotten a lot of extra sleep lately. Not that it has anything to do with this. Anyway, let’s get to it, some interesting letters came in this week.

Q: When the list of eligible songs for the “Best Original Song” Academy Award was released, “The Call” was there but “This is Home” and the others weren’t. Can you explain this?

-Skulblaka_Shur’tugal

Paul: Good question. I’m not sure the rules on this, and even the official site for the Oscars doesn’t have the rules for eligibility posted in this category. There must have been a reason, but I just can’t find it. Can anyone else?

Q: I want to say something about the most recent mailbag; Skulbaka had a question about Fox’s handling of Narnia, and mentioned that Eragon was a poor film compared to the book. While I haven’t read Eragon and haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know anything about it, I do know that Fox has handled STar Wars quite well (which I believe you mentioned). HOWEVER, Fox will not be responsible for what’s in the script, am I right? Michael Apted and the screenwriter(s) are responsible for what goes into the script; the studios (Walden and Fox) will handle the distribution, marketing and publicity.

I also wanted to ask a question: since Disney has bailed on the films, do you think there will be better publicity for Voyage of the Dawn treader, like there was for Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

-Aravis Kenobi

Paul: Good additional points about the Dawn Treader script, and you are correct about that. I think that there’s a good chance for better publicity than Prince Caspian had. 20th Century Fox wants to make this a franchise and they don’t want to do one Narnia only to see it fail. Expect to see a lot in the way of publicity, this time around.

Q: Am I the only one who noticed the Narnia flag (rampant lion) on the opening shot of the Disney castle in the movie theater version of Prince Caspian? I was rather disappointed when it didn’t make the DVD.

Kelley

Paul: Now that you mention it, I sort of remember seeing it. Anyone have verification on this? I’m not sure I can find it. It is interesting if it really isn’t on the DVD. If I wasn’t watching the Ocean’s trilogy at the moment, I’d check the Blu-ray.

Q: Any idea on when we’ll hear casting announcements?
Do you think/know if TCF/Walden will market VDT to faith groups?

Mike

Paul: Casting announcements, if filming indeed starts in late July, some time this month. Keep your eyes on NarniaFans.com for these! I think that that Walden will market VDT to faith groups again, and hopefully with as much stress as they did LWW. The biggest problem is that the rest of the Narnia films don’t have as public a symbolic reference to Christ. Nor the name recognition. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could have been released under that name alone. Calling it The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was pure marketing so that when future films in the series were released, people could see the name Narnia and remember the last film on the weight of that name alone.

And that’s it for this week’s mailbag. Keep sending us e-mails, and we’ll keep answering. If you have any answers, feel free to comment below, or send us an e-mail and we’ll post it in future mailbags.

NarniaFans Mailbag #36: The Fourth Narnia, Narnia Exhibition, Ben Barnes and Fox

Paul Martin — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:00:47 +0000

Here we are with this week’s mailbag! It’s been pretty exciting to see the response that we’ve gotten so far, and I’ve had a great time writing them. Hopefully the e-mails keep coming in each week so that I can continue.

The first question is a short one that I somehow missed a couple of weeks ago.

Q: What is the 4th Narnia?

-Matthew

Paul: This simple question has a bit of a complex answer. It depends on what you’re talking about, first and foremost: The books or the films.

If it’s the films, then it’s The Silver Chair.

The book version is a little more complex. But I’ll give you the original answer first: The Silver Chair. It was the fourth book published in the series. Later on, in the 1970s, the books were published in the chronological order of the story, based on the Narnia timeline. This put The Silver Chair in the sixth position in the series. Oddly enough, it also puts Prince Caspian as the fourth. However, this is something that I find rather odd, personally. Especially so because of the movies out so far.

Q: Hi! Love the Mailbag! Okay, so obviously as of May 22nd, the Narnia Exhibition rides into Union Station. (My friend thanks you for this info – she lives near there!) But is there, as of yet, any knowledge that the exhibition will continue AFTER Kansas City? I know this is a silly question, but so far this hasn’t come within quite a few miles of my area, and I might as well go to Kansas if it isn’t coming near me. Thankies! Oh and by the way, isn’t there a new movie that Ben Barnes plays in that is coming out soon?

-April G.

Paul: From what I was told in New York City a year ago, the Exhibition is meant to continue for a few years, traveling all over the country and changing after each film comes out. I just don’t know where. Perhaps someone involved in the Exhibition knows. I should have done some homework, but I haven’t had time in the last week.

Also, Ben Barnes is, in fact, in a couple of movies at the moment. Easy Virtue is currently playing in a limited release in the United States, and has been opening in many foreign territories since September 2008. It will continue to open in many foreign territories through August of this year.

Dorian Gray is the other film, and it doesn’t currently have a release date set in the United States, but it is scheduled to open in the UK on September 18 as well as Finland on December 25, 2009. It could be out any time in the fall, however, but there is no word on the scope of the release.

Q: What are your opinions about Fox taking over the Narnia series? Personally, I’m all for it; the only worry I have is they also adapted “Eragon”, which frankly was poor compared with the book. Anyway, thanks.

-Skulblaka_Shur’tugal

Paul: This is a difficult question to answer. It’s kind of a double edged sword. It really depends on how the film (series?) is handled by the studio. Their handling of the X-Men franchise is the only one that has me slightly worried. Apparently, there is a producer there that wanted to kill the franchise from the start, not really understanding why it’s a franchise worth doing well. (If it is true, then that producer should be removed from any type of control over the future of the series.)

Eragon isn’t worth getting concerned over. There is a different creative team than that which worked on Eragon. In fact, it is still pretty much the same team that worked on the first two films, save for the screenwriters, director and composer. It should feel like a Narnia film.

If there is one thing Fox has done really well, it’s letting outside creative teams have complete control of their franchises, such as George Lucas with Star Wars. Those were the terms of his contract with them, and I’m willing to bet that the Lewis Estate made it a big part of their contract with Fox as well.

All in all, I trust 20th Century Fox with the future of the franchise, and I think they’ll do a great job with it. Remember: Walden Media is still very much a part of this.

Alrighty, this is a little shorter than usual, but it’s all I have time for this week. Keep the e-mail coming!

Official Narnia Website Vanishes

Paul Martin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:43:26 +0000

It looks like Disney has taken down the official Narnia website, formerly available at Narnia.com. Perhaps they’re getting ready to transfer the domain to 20th Century Fox. Get ready, then, for an all-new Narnia.com, sometime this year.

I’ve always thought that it should be in the hands of Walden Media for this very reason. Walden Media holds the license on the series. However, Disney’s hosting capacity was probably much larger, being as big a company as they are.

John Burkitt points out who the owner of the Narnia.com domain is. It’s as I figured, the Lewis Estate owns it.

The domain belongs to:

C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd
1st Floor, Unit 4, Old Generator House
Bourne Valley Road
Poole, Dorset BH12 1DZ
GB

20th Century Fox appoints Lime to handle European Dawn Treader promos

Paul Martin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:42:35 +0000

20th Century Fox has appointed partnership specialist Lime Communications to handle all promotional activity for its film and DVD portfolio across Europe, which includes the campaign for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie, releasing in December 2010.

The brief was previously held by 360 Communications and DSA PR who will cease working on the business as of April 1.

Among the upcoming projects Lime will be working are campaigns for Avatar, Fantastic Mr Fox, Alvin & the Chipmunks 2 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Fox executive director of European promotions Ian Morton said: “Lime has unparalleled experience within the film promotions environment and, from working with them on many previous Fox films, we know that they have the expertise to deliver the impactful promotions our films deserve.”

Michael Petroni writing next Narnia movie: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Paul Martin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:27:10 +0000

Michael Petroni has been tapped to write the next installment in “The Chronicles of Narnia” franchise, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for Walden Media and Fox 2000.

He will take over for Richard LaGravanese, who penned the most recent draft of the C.S. Lewis novel.

This move makes it clear that Walden is moving full steam ahead on the third chapter in the franchise with its new Narnia studio partner, 20th Century Fox. They are eyeing a summer start date for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

Michael Petroni earned the “Narnia” writing job based on his recent work for Fox 2000, including a rewrite of the Kevin Lima film “Afterlife,” an adaptation of Markus Zusak’s novel “The Book Thief” as well as a rewrite of the Julia Roberts film “Daniel Isn’t Talking.”

The project also reteams Petroni with “Narnia” producer Mark Johnson. He previously adapted the Australian novel “The Long Green Shore” for Johnson, Intermedia and Russell Crowe.

“I think he may be the best we have had yet on this project. So far I am very encouraged.” said Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis’ Step-son and Narnia film co-producer, in an e-mail. ”I have been in extended and very encouraging meetings with him the last two days in Los Angeles. I think Michael is an excellent choice for the task and our time together has been very productive, I like most of his ideas and it seems he even likes some of mine. He is also a very nice guy, and an Aussie of Maltese extraction so he has everything going for him.”

Voyage of the Dawn Treader headed to Australia

Brendan Wong — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:57:44 +0000

Following the news that 20th Century Fox would co-finance The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, an Australian industry insider announced yesterday that Sydney was likely to host filming of the Narnia sequel.

Queensland is also a possibility because of the water tank at the Gold Coast studios. A final decision is will be made within a month.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader was originally due to be shot in Mexico at the Baja Studios water tank where Titanic and Master And Commander were filmed. However, last month the makers pulled out due to difficult conditions including increased violence and kidnappings associated with a drug war.

Fox To Pick Up Dawn Treader

Emily — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:02:28 +0000

Twentieth Century Fox has agreed to partner with Walden Media for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader after Disney dropped the film in December.

The two companies are hoping to begin production over the summer in order to release the film holidays 2010. Although this is later than the film was originally planned to be released, many Narnia fans were eager for a holiday release after disappointments surrounding the box office sales generated by Prince Caspian.

——————–

NarniaFans.com’s Paul Martin writes:

Twentieth Century Fox has agreed to take on the Chronicles of Narnia and agreed to do the Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Welcome aboard, Fox!

The film will be produced on the Fox 2000 label whose previous fantasy film effort was Eragon.

The agreement is pending approval of the script and the shooting budget, but it is expected to go through. According to the L.A. Times, Fox and Walden first have to hire a screenwriter to do another pass on the script that was last rewritten by Richard LaGravenese. His credits include “Freedom Writers” and “The Horse Whisperer.”

The movie companies are looking to make the film for about $140 million. Michael Apted, who made “Amazing Grace” and the 1999 Bond flick “The World Is Not Enough,” is still on board to direct.

The Times also revealed some details of the meetings that have been taking place over the last few weeks. Walden chief David Weil and “Narnia” producer Mark Johnson met a number of times with top Fox executives, including movie chiefs Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, to discuss script revisions and the movie’s cost.

The goal is to get back to the magical aspects present in the first “Narnia” pic but mostly absent from “Prince Caspian.”

They’re also going to film the picture in Australia, instead of Mexico, as was originally planned.

Studios Interested in Narnia Franchise

Paul Martin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:53:50 +0000

If you’ve read the L.A. Times article that Mike posted about, you might have read far enough to know that there are other suitors for the Narnia franchise. We’ve been speculating that 20th Century Fox would want the franchise, but we’ll take a look now, at the studios that the article says are showing strong interest in the series.

20th Century Fox: They have a good relationship with Walden Media, especially with the Fox Walden label that they released a few movies under. None of the movies released together have done very well, though, and I’m sure they’re looking to change that around and have a few hits together. Doing the Narnia series would be a good bet for that.

Sony: They’ve got the Spider-Man franchise, and have been doing well with that, save for Spider-Man 3, which fell prey to too many villains, and Venom being shoe-horned into the screenplay, when he was going to be saved for Spider-Man 4. They also haven’t had a big fantasy series in years.

Warner Brothers: After the next three Harry Potter films, having 5 Narnia films assures them of eight total fantasy films that will bring in the bucks. They have been handling Potter really well, but not perfectly, however. They’ve not pleased many book purists, but as someone that’s never read the books, I’ve enjoyed films 3 and 5 of the series, and that’s probably due to the great directors on the projects.

Patrick Goldstein writes:

It doesn’t have a lack of suitors. The studio with the inside track is 20th Century Fox, which has first dibs on the project, since it already markets and distributes Walden projects under its Fox-Walden banner. Fox has plenty of interest, having seriously considered acquiring the movie rights to the C.S. Lewis books even before Walden originally landed the franchise. Fox has a strong marketing department, with lot of success with family entertainment–the studio’s biggest hits last year were both family films, “Horton Hears a Who” and the year-ending “Marley & Me.”

But Fox is famous for driving hard bargains and exercising fiscal discipline, so don’t expect to see “Dawn Treader” costing anywhere near $225 million. Walden has been aiming to bring the new film in at around $140 million, which would be a far more enticing price tag for a 50/50 studio partner. If Fox passes, both Sony and Warners have expressed strong interest in the project. It would be a good fit for either studio, giving Sony something it hasn’t had in recent years–a fantasy-oriented family franchise, while it could provide Warners with a ready-made family-oriented franchise to replace the soon-to-be completed “Harry Potter” series. Whatever happens, it seems likely that “Narnia” fans will soon have another chance to visit the enchanted world of Narnia and other distant lands.

He also says that Walden Media could announce a new partner for the Narnia franchise by the end of the week!

Keep your eyes here at NarniaFans.com for the latest news!

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