Narnia Fans » The Screwtape Letters Movie

Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (11/21/07):

1. More Christianity vs. Atheism Debates
2. Next meetings of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: The Screwtape Letters
3. New Books for Christmas
4. Other Events

1. More Christianity vs. Atheism Debates:

The new Christianity vs. atheism debates will continue on November 30th when Christian author Dinesh D’Souza and atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett meet on the subject “God is a Manmade Invention,” at 7 p.m. in the Cabot Auditorium at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

On December 5th, D’Souza will then debate Skeptic magazine editor Michael Shermer on “Is Christianity Good for the World?” at 7 p.m. in the Marvin Center at George Washington University, and then again on December 9th at 2 p.m. in the Beckman Auditorium at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

To date, anti-theist Richard Dawkins has not accepted D’Souza’s offer to debate.

Here are a number of recent article by D’Souza:

“Does the Ghost in the Machine Have a Soul? An Argument for the Spirit Hinges on the Freedom of Choice”

“Atheism, Not Religion, Is the Real Force Behind the Mass Murders”

“The Atheist Who Came In From the Cold”

Dinesh D’Souza is the author of the best-selling new book, What’s So Great About Christianity

2. The next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:

Book for Discussion:

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, November 28th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Frank Green
Wednesday, December 12th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Frank Green

A best-selling masterpiece of satire and dedicated to his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, this classic book by C.S. Lewis has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of the evil Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below” who holds an administrative post in the governing bureaucracy (“Lowerarchy”) of Hell. At once comic, deadly serious, and highly original, Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man known only as “the Patient.” THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is the most engaging account of temptation — and triumph over it — ever written.

The immense success of the book when it was first published resulted in C.S. Lewis appearing on the cover of Time Magazine. More recently, cartoonist Bill Watterson named the fictional first-grade teacher in his “Calvin and Hobbes” after the devil Wormwood. In the animated video to U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”, a copy of THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is seen falling from Bono’s hand. In the 2006 book The Top Ten, a compilation of “top ten novels” lists by different writers, David Foster Wallace names THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS as the greatest novel in history. A sold-out stage production directed by Jeffrey Fiske was produced in New York City in 2006, and a widely acclaimed revival production by Fiske opened on October 16th.
http://www.fpatheatre.com/

And a film version of the book is now underway, co-produced by Ralph Winter (X-Men, Star Trek, Fantastic Four) and Douglas Gresham (Lewis’s stepson), for release at Christmas 2008.

“Mr. Lewis has contrived to say much that a distracted world greatly requires to hear.”
–Times Literary Supplement

“If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.”
–The New Yorker

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are numerous articles and excerpts re THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS:

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS” by Wikipedia

“Excerpts from THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”, by Will Vaus

“Screwtape: What’s Going On?”, by Bruce Edwards

“Wicked Good: THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on Page and Stage” by John J. Miller

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS foreword,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS Letter 1,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available in paperback.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available free online.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on CD.

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings.

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis.

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

3. New Books for Christmas:

C. S. Lewis, My Godfather: Letters, Photos and Recollections
By Laurence Harwood

There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
By Antony Flew and Roy Abraham Varghese

Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief
By Rodney Stark

What’s So Great About Christianity
By Dinesh D’Souza

The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul
By Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible
By Robert J. Hutchinson

Acts for Everyone, Part 1
By N.T. (Tom) Wright

The Dawkins Delusion: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine
By Alister McGrath

The Gods of War: Is Religion the Primary Cause of Violent Conflict?
By Meic Pearse

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony
By Richard Bauckham

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, 2nd Edition
By Craig L. Blomberg

Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power
By J. P. Moreland

Passionate Conviction: Modern Discourses on Christian Apologetics
Edited by Paul Copan and William Lane Craig

4. Other Events:

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Anne’s, Soho, England
December 17, 2007
conference@sayers.org.uk

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
London, England
January 15, 2008
conference@sayers.org.uk

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/?page_id=49

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008
http://www.taylor.edu/academics/supportservices/cslewis/colloquium/

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008
http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/events.html

“Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Oxford University, July 28 – August 2, 2008
Cambridge University, August 3-8, 2008
http://www.cslewis.org/programs/oxbridge/2008/index.html

Please advise me with any questions.

Best regards,

David

David J. Theroux
Founder and President
C. S. Lewis Society of California

http://www.lewissociety.org

Hey, Narnia Fans! Welcome to “Behind the Wardrobe” an Interview Series with Douglas Gresham. Join me as we find out about CS Lewis, Narnia and more in this interview series.

Special thanks to Paul Martin (The Webmaster for NarniaFans) and to Mr. Douglas Gresham himself for this amazing opportunity. And an even bigger thanks to Mr. Gresham for putting up with a few of my impossible questions. Thanks for being such a great sport about it!

For this week: On The Narnia Film Project.

JS: Why did it take so long for films of Narnia to be made?

DG: My theory? The Holy Spirit of God held them off until the time was right.

JS: Do you think the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series helped Hollywood realized there was an opening for Narnia?

DG: Not really, we had a film deal in place long before they ever started on those two projects, It came to nothing in the end, but we had to wait until the
rights were free before we could move on.

JS: The time certainly was right for the Narnia films in terms of the technology to bring them to life as well as the fact that general film going audiences (beyond just the fans of Jack’s books) wanting more fantasy films. That was pretty much what you were waiting for, correct?

DG: No not really, I had already been trying to get good films made for many years before we actually got the first one done. It was in fact the Holy Spirit of God that held things up all those years until the time was absolutely right for LWW to appear before the public. It is true enough that we could not have made the movie that we did as little as a year earlier than we did, and indeed our teams pushed the available technology right to the edges of its performance envelope in making the movie. It is also true that to some extent Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series and the advent of J.K.Rowlings work did call attention to fantasy in film, but this was a market that I had already seen to be existent years before. In fact years before Peter made LOTR, and years before Rowlings even wrote her first book! I was all fired up and enthusiastic long before the time was right, and God had to yank my reins pretty hard to slow things down. For me, to be told to just shut up and wait, is one of His hardest instructions to obey.:-)

JS: Yes, I’m familiar with the early ideas for the Narnia film (the modernized version set in LA, with Edmund being tempted with a burger and milk shake instead of Turkish Delight). I take it that it is a case of “the less that is said about it”, the better?

DG: Absolutely. Looking back now though, it is rather gratifying to have been proven to be right to stick to my guns, through considerable pressure, on how the LWW movie should be written and made.

JS: Though I must say I don’t think that version could have even been done. Mostly for their reason all the names are too British to pass off as American. (I’ve never meet any one in the states with the name Edmund, Digory or Eustace)

DG: Interestingly, the US is the only place today where I do occasionally run into such names, the exception being Digory, but just wait till we make The Magician’s Nephew.

JS: Have you ever seen the old BBC mini-series versions of the Narnia books?

DG:Yes.

JS:What is your opinion on them(and please be honest)?

DG:With the budget they had and the technology available at the time they did a pretty good job other than the monumental miscasting of one or two of the characters.

JS:Why did they never do the other three books in the series?

DG: I have no idea.

JS: I’ve heard rumors they didn’t do The Last Battle or The Magician’s Nephew as of the seven books they were the most “Christian”. Are the rumors this true?

DG: Obviously not because they aren’t.

JS: I know that both Jack and Tolkien had very low opinions of what Disney had done with various fairy tales. … How do you think Jack would have felt about Disney releasing the new films?

DG: To straighten things out, Disney is the Distributor of the films, and they have actually (so far anyway) been extraordinarily good to work with. Disney have the best distribution network in the world and they are good at it, so I hope Jack would have no qualms about them distributing the movies.

JS: On the note of Disney, what are your feelings on seeing Aslan next to such characters as Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog on Disney websites and at stores?

DG: I don’t really feel anything about it as I have never seen it. I think Jack would have rather like Kermit, I know I do.

JS:I know a lot of fans were concerned about Disney releasing the films, primarily that the themes would stay intact, do you think their concerns were valid?

DG: As I said above Disney only distribute the films. A lot of people got their knickers in a knot over it all but you tell me, were their concerns valid (I am presuming that you have seen the movie)?

JS: I did see the movie of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I don’t think the concerns were valid. Just a case of reading way to much on the internet. I had the feeling though that the films would be accurate to the books and contain the same imagery and themes simply because it would have been impossible to tell the Narnia stories with out those aspects. ( That and you were co-producing and serving as creative consultant. I didn’t think you’d let them work around those parts).

DG: Part of my responsibility is to try to ensure that no matter how much the stories are changed to fit into film format (and major changes can be vital) the essential theme of the original book always remains the theme of the movie.

JS: How did you feel about Disney releasing them? Were you concerned at all about it?

DG: I had a good talk with Dick Cook and Mark Zoradi about it and decided that it was the right thing to do.

JS: What did you think about the merchandise?

DG: Well as co-producer it was (and is) one of the things I am in charge of so I really had better not comment other than to say that I think our team did a pretty good job.

JS: I do think the merchandising was handled well. Not too much, and not to little. I was quiet glad to finally have Narnia action figures to reenact my favorite parts with (or just to display Aslan next to my Gandalf from LOTR on the top of my book shelf where I keep my books by JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis.) I must commend you all for handling it so well.

DG: Thank you, but I was disappointed at how the merchandise was distributed and marketed and have to accept that I was something of a neophyte at that stage (to be perfectly honest I had very little knowledge of what I was doing) but I have learnt a lot and I hope to do better with Prince Caspian.

JS: What’s your opinion of having Narnia characters and various things about the world at Disney theme parks?

DG: As that is another of my areas of responsibility I am obviously for it.

JS: Filmgoers and fans compared the Narnia films with the Lord of the Rings adaptations in terms of quality, do you think this was a fair comparison?

DG: I think we did better than they did—obviously. But really that is a bit like comparing bulldogs with ballerinas.

JS: It’s been confirmed that all seven books will become films. What’s your opinion on this?

DG: That really is a silly question, almost everybody knows that my ambition has been for a long time to make all seven Narnian Chronicles, Jack’s Science Fiction Trilogy and Till we Have Faces into great movies.

JS: I knew full well you wanted to do all seven Narnian Chronicles as films, I’ve only just heard about Screwtape, but I never knew anything about wanting to do the Space Trilogy or Till We Have Faces as movies! ( Note to readers: this is what happens when you trust in WIKIPEDIA.) That’s awesome! I take it you have no word on how those projects are going yet?

DG: Screwtape is in pre-production and we have a very talented young writer wrestling manfully with the screenplay (a very difficult one to write). We have the core of the team in place and are progressing slowly. The Cosmic Trilogy and Till We Have Faces are as yet merely dreams and hopes in my mind, but if you know anybody who has a few hundred million dollars to spare and a real desire to make some great films, please give him or her my email address.

JS: Wait. What about The Great Divorce or Pilgrim’s Regress. Are there any intentions with those ones for film adaptations?

DG: I have had some talks about The Great Divorce, but nothing has come of that yet, and Pilgrim’s Regress is way down on the priority list.

JS: I guess I (and some other NarniaFans as well) will have to reserve spaces on DVD shelves to put the films inspired by Jack’s novels next to the LOTR Extended Editions!

DG: Its a nice thought.

Come back next week when we discuss the film of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe!

David J. Theroux, the Founder and President of the C. S. Lewis Society of California has e-mailed us with the latest updates on many upcoming events that you’re all invited to attend! Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (8/29/07):

1. More on Harry Potter and Christianity
2. Film News
3. New Publications
4. Next meeting of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: Studies in Words
5. Other Events

1. More on Harry Potter and Christianity:

In agreement with a recent Wall Street Journal review by Mechan Cox Gurdon of the new book, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, Newsday columnist Raymond Keating discusses the Christian imagery in J.K. Rowling’s new and final book in her Potter series.

“Harry Potter and the Christian allegory,” by Raymond Keating

2. Film News:

A. A number of the fantasy novels by novelist, playwright, poet, biographer, and theologian Charles Williams, starting with his ALL HALLOW’S EVE, will be made into major films by renowned producer Ralph Winter. Mr. Winter is also producing the film version of C.S. Lewis’s best-selling book, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which is scheduled for release in late 2008. Among his many other film credits are the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Star Trek III-VI films as well as “Planet of the Apes,” “Mighty Joe Young,” and “Flight of the Intruder,” as well as the ABC TV series, “Lost.”

Charles Williams was a member of The Inklings literary circle at Oxford, which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and Lewis’s acclaimed dystopian novel of a scientistic totalitarianism, THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH, was heavily influenced by the work of Williams.

Web site for The Charles Williams Society

B. At the recent German Games Convention, Disney Interactive featured portions of a new video game based on Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia book, PRINCE CASPIAN, which will be released in conjunction with the forthcoming film in May 2008. Here incidentally is the official web site for the Narnia films:

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/

3. New Publications:

A. BOOK: For those interested in using Lewis’s books in schools and colleges, study groups, book clubs, churches, and seminars, the following new book is recommended. The book provides summaries, questions, references, and insights into how to teach Lewis’s books.

TEACHING C.S. LEWIS: A Handbook for Professors, Church Leaders, and Lewis Enthusiasts, by Richard A. Hill and Lyle Smith (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007)

B. JOURNAL: The Arizona C.S. Lewis Society has recently launched SEHNSUCHT: The C. S. Lewis Journal, with the first issue featuring articles by Walter Hooper, Victor Reppert, and others. (“Sehnsucht” means longing.)

4. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:

Book for Discussion:

STUDIES IN WORDS, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, September 5th, 7:30 p.m.;
Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa

Wednesday, September 12th, 7:30 p.m.;
Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa

Man is unique among all creatures in his use of words, and words affect us directly in most every aspect of our lives. In this absorbing, breathtaking and entertaining book, Lewis examines eleven selected words and teases out their connotations from a vast range of English literature in which their meaning has changed through the centuries. The selected words are Nature, Sad, Wit, Free, Sense, Simple, Conscience and Conscious, World, and Life, plus the phrase, “I dare say!” Lewis reveals the “dangerous sense” of assuming a word’s current meaning in reading earlier literature, which can produce a complete misunderstanding of an author’s intent.

In STUDIES IN WORDS, Lewis invokes the mysteries of G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, quotes the deepest yearnings expressed by such writers as Homer, Dante, Chaucer, Lucretius, Seneca, and Coleridge, and traces shadows upon the Hellenic cave while juggling Anglo-Saxon monosyllables. He does this without a trace of the pointless and contradictory “deconstructionism” which, in the hands of contemporary writers more interested in condemnation than description, has cast an affliction upon modern literature. Far from leaving readers gasping for air, Lewis opens the layers of linguistics, “driving words from different languages abreast” in order to bring out the wonderful meanings of words.

“Rarely is so much learning displayed with so much grace and charm. My only regret is that the book was not twice as long.” –New York Times Book Review

“…a brilliant book addresses to students and lay people alike, unbaffling, deeply informative, and timelessly persuasive.” –Robert Burchfield, Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are a couple short articles that discuss STUDIES IN WORDS and related issues:

“Studies in Words,” review by Michael Jose

“Studies in Words,” by Wikipedia

STUDIES IN WORDS in available in paperback

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings.

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

5. Other Events:

“The Crisis of the University: Freedom, Tolerance and the Pursuit of Truth”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
October 5-6, 2007

http://www.cslewis.org/programs/ff/2007/index.html

“C.S. Lewis: Man and His Work: A 21st Century Legacy”
Sponsored by L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC
October 26-27, 2007

http://www.sebts.edu/CSLewis/

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
(More details to follow)

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008

http://www.taylor.edu/academics/supportservices/cslewis/colloquium/

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2007

http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/events.html

David J. Theroux, the Founder and President of the C. S. Lewis Society of California has e-mailed us with the latest updates on many upcoming events that you’re all invited to attend! I hope that some of you have the chance to visit these events and join Lewis Societies, or even have the opportunity to start one in your own area if one does not exist. Here’s the update:

In this Issue of C.S. Lewis Society Update:
1. Upcoming Films
2. Important New Books
3. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club
4. Other Upcoming Events

1. Upcoming Films:

With the enormous film success of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” based on the first volume of C.S. Lewis’s beloved 7-volume series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” plans are underway at Walden Media to produce the following films based on other Lewis novels, for public release as follows:

“Prince Caspian” — mid-2008
“The Screwtape Letters” — Christmas 2008
“Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’” — mid-2009
“The Silver Chair” — mid-2010

In addition, the Duncan Group is in post-production for the forthcoming program for PBS:

“Myth, Imagination & Faith: A Spiritual Journey through Literature”

Featuring the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis, this new documentary will explore the central theme of “the true myth” with experts and scholars weighing in from various perspectives. The show plans to follow in the traditions of both the acclaimed programs, “The Magic Never Ends” and the PBS special “The Question of God.”

2. Important new books:

* The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963
Edited by Walter Hooper
HarperSanFrancisco, 2007

The final installment of the three-volume collected letters of C. S. Lewis, this volume contains the letters Lewis wrote during the last part of his life, spanning his time at Cambridge, his brilliant creation of the land of Narnia and the children’s series that followed, and his struggle with his wife Joy’s serious illness and death. Editor and friend Walter Hooper calls him “one of the last great letter-writers” — the last of a generation who did not lift a telephone receiver when he had something to say or tap out e-mails on a computer keyboard. Some of the recipients richly merited his ink: the detective novelist, theologian and Dante translator Dorothy Sayers; St. Giovanni Calabria of Verona (correspondence in Latin); T.S. Eliot; the sci-fi maestro Arthur C. Clarke; and the American writer Robert Penn Warren. In these letters, Lewis swaps quips in Latin and Greek and quotes Spenser, Statius, Beowulf, Horace, Wordsworth, Terence and Augustus. Other letters were from cranks, whiners and down-and-out charity cases; he answered them all.

* The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community
By Diana Glyer (Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University)
Kent State University Press, 2007

The creators of Narnia and Middle Earth, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends and professional colleagues. They met frequently with a community of fellow Christian writers at Oxford in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, all sharing their works-in-progress. The group became known as the Inklings. Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of the group, examining diary entries, personal letters and manuscripts.

* C.S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy (4 volumes)
Edited by Bruce L. Edwards (Professor and Associate Dean, Bowling Green State University)
Praeger Publishers, 2007

This splendid, four-volume reference set on the life and works of C. S. Lewis includes such contributors as Devin Brown, Wayne Martindale, Victor Reppert, Lyle Dorsett, Perry Bramlett, Diana Glyer, Marjorie Lamp Mead, Colin Duriez, and many other Lewis scholars.

3. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:

Book for Discussion:

PERELANDRA, by C.S. Lewis (from his acclaimed Space Trilogy)

“Mr. Lewis has a genius for making his fantasies livable.”
–NEW YORK TIMES

“Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions.”
–LOS ANGELES TIMES

“If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.”
–NEW YORKER

“Writing of the highest order. PERELANDRA is, from all standpoints, far superior to other tales of interplanetary adventures.”
–COMMONWEAL

Meeting moderator/leader: Tom Price
Wednesday, May 30th, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 13th, 7:30 p.m.

The second in C.S. Lewis’s acclaimed Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, PERELANDRA continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Elwin Ransom as he journeys to a new world, Perelandra, and meets a human native, a glamorously beautiful woman who is the equivalent of Eve. The book is a a truly magical tale, completely unique in the science fiction genre. Pitted against the greatest of human weaknesses, temptation, Ransom must battle for good on Perelandra when it is invaded by pure evil. Will Perelandra succumb or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom’s mighty struggle will alone determine its fate.

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are articles that discuss PERELANDRA:

“PERELANDRA,” Wikipedia

“PERELANDRA, by C.S. Lewis,” reviewed by Peter Schakel, The Literary Encyclopedia

“C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism,” by Henry F. Schaefer III

PERELANDRA is available in paperback and on CD.

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings:

http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:

http://www.lewissociety.org/aboutlewis.php

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

4. Other Upcoming Events:

http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php

Dorothy L. Sayers Society Annual Convention
Sponsored by the Marion E. Wade Center
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
June 13-17, 2007

http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/news/news.html

The 26th Annual Chesterton Conference: “The Man Who Was Today”
Sponsored by the American Chesterton Society
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
June 14-16, 2007

http://www.chesterton.org/rediscover/conference.html

“Opposition Is True Friendship: Love, Friendship and Philosophy in C.S. Lewis’s World”
Sponsored by the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Monrovia, CA
June 16, 2007

C.S. Lewis Summer Conference: “Finding the Way: C.S. Lewis as Pilgrim Guide in an Age of Pluralism”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
San Diego, CA
June 28-July 1, 2007

http://www.cslewis.org/programs/sumconference/2007/index.html

The 38th Annual Mythopoeic Conference (Mythcon XXXVIII), “Becoming Adept: The Journey to Mastery”
Sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society
University of California, Berkeley, CA
August 3-6, 2007

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon38.html

“The Crisis of the University: Freedom, Tolerance and the Pursuit of Truth”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
October 5-6, 2007

http://www.cslewis.org/programs/ff/2007/index.html

“C.S. Lewis: Man and His Work: A 21st Century Legacy”
Sponsored by L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture
Southeastern College at Wake Forest, Wake Forest, NC
October 26-27, 2007

http://www.sebts.edu/CSLewis/

Producer Ralph Winter was recently interviewed by Infuze Magazine and they asked him about the status of The Screwtape Letters.

What’s happening with C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters?

It’s in development with Fox and Walden Media. Fox has owned the property for decades. They bought it in the 50s. There was management at Fox that wanted it and bought it, and they’ve owned it for decades.

So what’s the current status?

We’re signing deals right now. We’re finishing the Fox option deal, we’re finishing my deal with Walden. Doug Gresham’s deal is done.

Does the movie have a green light?

Not yet. We’ve been talking to Randall Wallace about writing and directing. We need to have more discussions with Fox and Walden about that, and make sure that Randy’s still available. Everybody wants to make this movie; I think it’s going to happen, I just don’t know what the timetable is right now.

We’re very excited about that. With the right script, dealing with temptation and that whole upside down world, it could be a very, very interesting movie. And it’s going to be dark. This isn’t a light, happy, Narnia piece.

The C.S. Lewis name alone should be enough to draw people into the theaters.

We’ve been telling people that for years, and they wouldn’t believe it. And now that Narnia has happened, they’re a lot more open to it. (Laughs.)

Ralph Winter Prods. is producing a bigscreen adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel “The Screwtape Letters” with Philip Anschutz’s Walden Media.

Pic will be produced via Walden’s Bristol Bay Prods. banner (“Ray,” “Sahara”).

Pic, which Walden hopes to release in 2008, is the company’s second Lewis collaboration following “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which grossed $744 million worldwide. The sequel to that pic, “Prince Caspian,” is due out next year.

Like “Narnia,” “The Screwtape Letters” — which is described as a midbudget, primarily live-action pic — embodies Christian themes.

First published in 1942, “The Screwtape Letters” takes the form of a series of missives from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his wannabe diabolical nephew, Wormwood. As a mentor, Screwtape advises his protege on the finer points of undermining faith and promoting sin. His instructions are interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine.

Since taking over the publishing of “The Screwtape Letters” in 2001, HarperSanFrancisco has sold almost 1 million copies of the trade paperback alone.

Producing are Ralph Winter, Randy Argue and Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham.

Susana Zepeda, prexy of Ralph Winter Prods., is co-producing and shepherding the project for the company.

Walden execs on the project are exec VP of production Alex Schwartz, senior VP of production Jackie Levine and creative exec Bonnie Solomon.

ICM negotiated the deal on behalf of Winter and Argue.

Adam Erickson tells us that in a recent interview with Refocus and Adam Erickson (myself), Ralph Winter revealed that they are currently in talks with Randall Wallace (writer of Braveheart) to write/direct “The Screwtape Letters” movie and for Walden Media to distribute. Exact details have not been worked out with the C.S. Lewis estate as of yet.

Producer Ralph Winter (X-Men, Fantastic Four) is in talks with the C.S. Lewis estate about bringing The Screwtape Letters to the big screen.

Infuze Mag spoke with Winter briefly one-on-one and learned that The Screwtape Letters is officially on-hold pending the release of The Chronicles of Narnia, to see how that film is received. He also could not confirm whether Randy Argue would still be attached to the film’s direction.