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.

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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!

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