Many of you will recognize Dr. Devin Brown as the writer of Inside Narnia and Inside Prince Caspian. He’s hard at work on the next edition, Insider The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, at the moment. A colleague of his is Professor Greg Bandy, who works in the media communications department at Asbury College. Both were in attendance at the Narnia Summit last week, and were equally fun to talk to and joke around with. It was great to finally meet them both in person, and to get their insights into the films, especially surrounded by Dawn Treader for two days. Both came away from the summit with a positive view of the direction that the film-makers have taken with this film.
Over the last couple of days, I’ve been in Los Angeles with many fascinating people from all over the United States. Grace Hill Media, Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media were our host as we gathered for the L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics basketball game on Thursday night, while meeting Mr. Phil Anschutz, the owner of Walden Media. It was an incredible night, meeting many of the people that are going to be incorporating Narnia into their programs this year.
Recently, Douglas Gresham was interviewed for a podcast called “Your Story.” The specific episode title is “Episode 46: Doug. C.S. Lewis, Narnia, Film Making and Christianity.” This particular interview is causing quite a stir in people, as their nerves are already running high that the film is going to be “vastly different” to the book, and this interview appears to confirm that there are “big changes” to the story. I’ve gotta tell you though: regardless of what your worst fears are about the translation of book to screen, we’re still getting The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on the big screen. Period. It’s going to be epic and fun, it’s going to be magical and delightful. Sure, it’s going to have changes, but what adaptation doesn’t?
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and all the stories from the Chronicles of Narina are some of the most beloved children’s stories and the movies have recently become major motion pictures and blockbuster hits. The movies’ producer and Lewis’ step-son Douglas Gresham visited FOX 35 to talk about how Lewis has influenced his life, both through his writings and as an adopted member of Lewis family. He also mentions that he’s just come from the set of the Lone Islands from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in Australia, and that he hopes to make all seven books into films.
The producer of the widely popular “Narnia” films is joining forces with the author of “The Shack” – a modern day classic and New York Times bestseller with more than seven million copies in print – to celebrate the life and legacy of legendary Christian apologist and beloved author C.S. Lewis.
“The Chronicles of C.S. Lewis Conference,” which will be held Aug. 14-15 at Northland, A Church Distributed, Longwood, Fla., will give unique insights into the mind of C.S. Lewis that won’t be found anywhere else. They would like questions for Douglas Gresham, so if you have any you would like asked, please post them in the comments, or contact us, prior to August 14th.
This week has been flying by. I just remembered that it was Thursday, and that I hadn’t written this week’s mailbag. So I’m spending lunch time writing this week’s installment. I spent Tuesday riding roller coasters at Cedar Point, and around that day there were some really huge things happening in the world of Narnia. The third film started shooting, and we’ve gotten some great photos of the Dawn Treader nearing completion. I’ve got a couple of e-mails to answer this week, but before I do, I just wanted to give a status update on the secret project. I’m currently working on speed issues on it, but it’s moving forward. I have guests up from Florida so it’s going to take me a little longer than I had initially anticipated, but I hope that it’s worth the wait.
And a quick update on Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man that just came in from a woman named Barbara: “C.S. Lewis’s appreciation for Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man in correspondence is well known. Tolkien borrowed the idea for Ents from Chesterton’s The Trees of Pride! I hope these facts were brought to your attention.” Thanks Barbara!
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the third in the epic series of films based on the bestselling books by C.S. Lewis, will begin principal photography on location in Queensland, Australia, today – July 27, 2009. The production, a joint venture between Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Walden Media, continues the franchise which commenced with
The spectacular, Oscar®-winning 2005 release, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and its 2008 follow-up, “Prince Caspian,” whose combined global box office gross tops $1.2 billion.
The last two weeks have been some of the busiest weeks I’ve had since re-launching the mailbag. Last week, in fact, was so busy that I didn’t get a chance to do the mailbag. I usually do it on Wednesdays, but there was something important that came up last week. You see, there was a movie that came out that has made nearly a half of a billion dollars worldwide, so far. Being a child of the 80s, I had to see it. Twice. On opening day. Yes, I am a geek, and no, I don’t recommend this movie for children to see. But I won’t be reviewing it entirely unless I am asked to write further on it, the film is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and I loved it. Not every minute, but I thought it was great overall.
The C. S. Lewis Society announces that the spring tour to England is now closed. The Society is very thankful as the response from Narnia fans worldwide has been very positive and encouraging and the tour is moving forward anticipating the trip of a lifetime.
In the Spirit of that anticipation, Douglas Gresham (who will be guiding the Oxford leg of the tour) has been kind enough to share an essay (originally published in Silver Leaves) that provides a refreshing glimpse of the many Inklings he attended with his stepfather, C. S. Lewis. There are many books about the Oxford Inklings (J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams & others) but Douglas’ essay is from a rather unique perspective – sitting around the table with them! Shards of Diamonds can be found at www.oxfordspires.wordpress.com.
Blessings,
Darren Jacobs
The C. S. Lewis Society
Darren Jacobs was kind enough to forward another update on the C.S. Lewis 2009 Tour. The update comes by way of the C.S. Lewis Society.
We have added a new and exciting dimension to our C.S. Lewis Society’s tour, “The Path of C.S. Lewis and British Christianity.” Douglas Gresham, the step-son of C.S. Lewis, will be our special guest for the Oxford portion of our nine-day educational tour of England, May 31st through June 8th, 2009. He will personally accompany us as we visit the colleges at Oxford, tour the Kilns (Lewis’s and Douglas’s home in Oxford,) and enjoy an evening meal at the Trout Inn, where J. R. R. Tolkien ate often with “Jack.” He will travel with us as we visit the Eagle and Child Pub, where Lewis gathered with his Christian soul mates, the “Inklings.” It is an incredible honor for our society to have Mr. Gresham with us, who is co-producer of the two recent Narnia Disney films. It is gracious of him to share with us his personal life-memories of his years with C.S. Lewis.
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