I wanted to make this clear:
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is NOT a dead property. It is now being shopped around to other studios. Walden Media is still backing this series 150%. Thank you, Walden Media. You rock!
There has been more trouble getting The Voyage of the Dawn Treader going into production with rising violence in Mexico as of late. Scheduled to begin filming production at Baja Studios next month, presumably set building and pre-production, the drug war violence may have led Disney and Walden Media to begin a search for another location. Baja Studio is the home of the water tank that was used for Titanic and Master And Commander.
Word has it that the production may move down under, as film industry officials in NSW and Queensland are chasing the movie. The Sunshine State is favoured to win because of the water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. The Dawn Treader needs studios, beaches, jungles and other locations for a five-month shoot.
In the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel, Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace return to the magical land of Narnia through a painting then set sail with King Caspian to find seven lost lords.
Briton Michael Apted, who made Amazing Grace, The World Is Not Enough and the Seven Up documentary series, is directing with returning roles for young Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley. Also back will be Ben Barnes, who was Prince Caspian in the last instalment.
The producers are known to have investigated Australia as a location before they settled on Mexico.
Howard Berger, who has handled special effects and makeup for the Chronicle of Narnia movies, said that actors will have a chance to interact with more fantasy creatures in the expected second sequel, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
And that will mean more models and animatronic characters on set to stand in for complicated computer-generated visual effects that will be added in post-production, he said while giving reporters a tour of his shop this week. That will include a mix of animatronic animals and realistic costumes.
The interaction between the actors and the fantasy characters is a lot more involved than in the previous two movies, Berger said.
“In Dawn Treader there will be a lot of dialogue, and you can’t have the actors act against nothing,” Berger said.
Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is now in pre-production and casting directors are accepting photos and resumes from talent.
*** Please submit photos and resumes by mail only. No phone calls or personal drop-offs *** And please don’t contact us, here at NarniaFans.com, for any roles. We can’t give you a role in any film. Also, make note that they are only casting for Dawn Treader and not any of the other Narnia films at this time.
See the post titled Photo and Resume Information regarding how to submit for acting roles.
Principal Actor Casting:
Nina Gold Casting
66-68 Margaret St.
5th Floor
London W1W 8SR
UK
Extras Casting New Zealand:
Liz Mullane
Odd Management Ltd.
PO Box 90860
Auckland Mail Centre
New Zealand
Extras Casting Mexico:
Casting Valdés
Apartado Postal 1-281
Zona Centro CP
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 48300
Mexico
The information that we are casting for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is NOT CORRECT! Our company is listed as being in charge of extras casting and though of course we’d love to do it, we have NOT been contracted for it. I don’t know who is responsible for this misinformation but please help us get the word out that it is bogus, and that when we open casting for any production we announce it on our website www.mexicocasting.com/new and www.myspace.com/mexicocasting2
Production Company:
Walden Media
1888 Century Park East
14th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
in association with
Walt Disney Pictures
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521
Disney dropped the project on Christmas Eve. Fox 2000 has since picked it up. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
Producers:
Mark Johnson
Andrew Adamson
Philip Steuer
Director:
Michael Apted
Filming Locations:
New Zealand
Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico
Prague, Czech Republic
Australia
Cast:
Ben Barnes – Prince Caspian
Georgie Henley – Lucy Pevensie
Will Poulter – Eustace Clarence Scrubb
Skandar Keynes – Edmund Pevensie
Peter Dinklage – Trumpkin
Eddie Izzard – Reepicheep
Story:
Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.
Prince Caspian Official Illustrated Movie Companion
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion.
Author: Ernie Malik
Publisher: HarperOne
ISBN-10: 0061435600
ISBN-13: 978-0061435607
Summary of the book:
The film adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia are some of the most anticipated movies ever. Ernie Malik looks at the making of the second film in the series, “Prince Caspian”. From preproduction, to filming to post production this book goers every aspect of the filming of the movie, complete with exclusive behind the scenes photos from the movie.
Review of the book:
It was almost a given that with the success of the first film in the Narnia series, that a second would follow. This book looks at the making of the film and is great not only for film buffs interested in the process, but for fans of Narnia who want to know more about their new favorite movie.
The book begins with forwards from Andrew Adamson, Douglas Gresham and Mark Johnson. Appropriately it concludes with an afterward by newcomer Ben Barnes, who plays the titular prince. These forwards and afterwards are very inviting and welcoming and immerse you in the action of the film making process and make you eager for not only Prince Caspian, but for the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
As expected the book has many biographies on the cast and crew, complete with great photos. This includes some amazing shots of Will, Anna, Skander and Georgie, who, in my opinion are looking more and more like Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and less like a bunch of actors and actresses chosen to play them.
Readers discover that the four young stars didn’t let their success on the first film go to their heads. What’s more these kids are clearly very good friends with each other, which will help so much in their performances in the film.
The new cast member profiles as just as enjoyable as the ones on the returning cast members. Ben Barnes recounts how he became the “fifth Pevensie” and fit right into their already jelled group of friends. This is great news for us fans when we go to the movie. If he can’t fit into the mix, then the movie would be a bust, but if he seems natural with them, the magic can continue. He even recounts how he grew so close to them that at times Will grew angry at him as it seemed Ben was usurping his role as Georgie’s on set older brother.
Warwick Davis recounts his work on the BBC Narnia films and how much he enjoys being back working on Narnia. There’s even a humorous anecdote about how on his first day on set, Howard Berger, blasted the Ewok theme from Return of the Jedi ( Davis played Wicket, the main Ewok who befriends Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) over the speakers on set to welcome him.
The book goes into full detail about the whole production process from making the props and costumes to designing the creatures. They continually emphasis how everything in Prince Caspian should feel more “used” and “worn out” as opposed to how new and fresh it all felt in the first film.
Casting is described to be just as hard as it was with the first film. The hardest character to design and cast ended up being Reepicheep who was cast at the time the book was being finished. From what we’ve scene already in trailers and sneak peaks, when you read this book, you’ll be glad they did.
The behind the scenes photos are visually stunning and at times are funny to see. You’ll see things like tennis balls, or fake lion heads standing in for creatures like Reepicheep or Aslan. There’s even one of the four Pevensies standing on their marks at the ruins of Cair Paravel, with Anna and Georgie in very modern sandals. In the case of Georgie, they are a clearly oversized pair of sandals.
And of course, lest I forget, our own Paul Martin is mentioned in the Special Thanks section in the back of the book as he helped contribute some information for the book.
This books is nothing short of an exciting look at the magic behind the magic of the Prince Caspian film. It was well written, well researched, the photos were great and in short it had everything you need in a “behind the scenes book.”It is certainly well worth the read. However, when you buy it, make sure to read it after you see the film. There is plenty of juicy spoiler info inside. One thing becomes more sure after reading this book, you will want them to make the rest of the series.
Five out of five shields.
We’ve just posted the eighth edition of the NarniaFans Mailbag. We’ve answered ten letters this week, including such topics as casting, possible new director for Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and more!
The residents of Narnia live in an enchanted land of hope populated with talking bears, dwarfs, and fauns. But in 2001, The Chronicles of Narnia, the much-beloved seven-book series written by British author C.S. Lewis, was a lost cause to Hollywood studio executives.
Even as blockbuster hopefuls like Harry Potter, X-Men, and The Lord of the Rings were coming to life, Paramount Pictures dropped Narnia after five years of false starts and rising budgets. “It was a great project that couldn’t seem to get going,” recalls David Weil, CEO of Anschutz Film Group, the family-friendly movie unit owned by Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz that picked it up from Paramount. Anschutz, a onetime Sunday school teacher, was drawn by Narnia’s spiritual underpinnings. Holed-up in New York’s Four Seasons Hotel after months of negotiating, Weil made an offer to C.S. Lewis’ stepson that he couldn’t refuse. “We laid out a 15-year plan to create a franchise out of The Chronicles of Narnia,” recalls Weil, “and wouldn’t let him out until he agreed.”
When The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe hits theaters on Dec. 9, it will represent Hollywood’s latest venture — and one of its most costly yet — to create a franchise, which is, after all, the celluloid Holy Grail. The stakes are enormous not just for Anschutz but also for Walt Disney Co., the film’s distributor, which is paying half its production costs. “It was an expensive bet,” says Disney studio Chairman Richard Cook, who was first approached about the project by Anschutz executives two years ago. “But with books that have as many as 90 million readers, it was a bet worth taking.”
C.S. Lewis uses many characters to represent multiple things in his Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan represents God/Jesus. The White Witch as the devil or just the essence of evil. Now, I think Lucy, at least in my eyes, represents a child’s view of life, death, and eternity. Now when I was a kid myself I always wondered why Lucy always saw Aslan first, and was the most believing in all situations. Well let me take you through my own theory on this one.
Now first off, I’m a Christian and this is my warning to those who are not Christian and do not want to read something that is very driven by Christianity. Now that I have that through with, let me point out a little part of the New Testament. The bad thing is that I can’t remember exactly where, but one day while Jesus and the Disciples were traveling and Jesus was ministering and healing those in need. Some children came running up to Jesus and played with him, now the Disciples yelled at the children and told them to leave. Jesus told them to stop and that children have as much place in heaven as adults do. Now the point isn’t that, but the fact that children came running up to him to play with him. Do not Lucy and Susan see Aslan that way and just want to bury their faces in his Aslan’s mane? Remember the romp between the three of them after Aslan returned from the dead at the stone table? I think that scene represents this side of Jesus that Lewis saw. Which is a part of the reason why I think he wrote these books as allegories for his nephew and nieces. Lewis’s point is to connect them with the reality that Jesus loves you. He has a special place for children in his heart.
Lucy was the first one through the wardrobe, as we all know. She is the youngest of the Pevensie children. She is the most imaginative of the four and desires something more in her life. Now Lewis does not let Peter and Susan back in Narnia after Prince Caspian, this is due to their age being too old. Again, this is another example of why youth plays an important role in Lewis’s created Narnia. Now I would say that Lucy is the most innocent and loving of the four kids. She has the personality that wants to be right and just with all. She would not want to hurt a soul that is either human or beast. She represents the mind of a gentle child. It is her way of thinking that allows her to see Aslan first every time I believe. She so blindly believes that he is a good lion and will not hurt her. She has an intuition; nay I say a child-like intuition, in which she knows deep down that he is good. She is frightened of him, but even so she is not fearful of her own self.
Now why do I think it matters how old she is, and why she is the first always due to age? Well its quite simple Lewis makes it rather apparent in the books. Now remember that Peter and Susan were not able to come back due to age; well just think about the voyage of the Dawn Treader. Do you remember when she first encounters Aslan? It was after she reads the spell out of the Magicians book. He comes walking up besides her, and she asks him where has he been this whole time, and he said here, you just made me visible. She has become older, and like her older siblings, is unable to see him really. You might say it was the spell that the Dufflepods put on themselves that did it, but I truly believe he was not there and is above that. Now she was not able to see him due to age, but had to counter a spell to see him. She has become older and her heart is not as believing. She may love him as much as she always has, but as we all grow older it is harder for us to be as believing in what might seem the impossible.
We grow more cynical with age and we tend to think about things more until we almost disbelieve what we use to believe. That is why you will see so many Christians lose their faith once they reach the college years then regain it later. Another thing is that statistics show that if you are not saved as a Christian by your junior high years, chances are you won’t ever become one. It is sad, but as we grow older our view of the world changes and we lose what could be the greatest thing we have. We become bigger than ourselves. We lose our imaginations and our ability to believe in something greater than our own being. Now then why do people come back to being Christians after they left it? Well sometimes its circumstances that push them in that direction. I think there is also the possibility that they realize life isn’t all about them. In today’s society we are a very self-focused group of people. Therefore God is being pushed out of the equation. Now I was realizing this while I was in Germany and I wrote a song about it. So I will just end this with that.
Be My Father
Lord I ask that you
Remake me
A child in your midst
With a faithful heart
I have grown
And withered in this world
Rejuvenate me
Refresh my soul
Help me to let go
Of fear that binds me
Release my worldly cares
How I want to love you
Show me what worship is
That it’s more than just song
But the exaltations of my heart
That I may give you all of me
I want this fearless love
This childlike faith
To soar with heavenly doves
I wish to see Heavens Gate
May I walk the valley
With you by my side
Hold my hand
And be my father
Hope you enjoyed this song and editorial. Just a lost thought. If you are still young and young at heart, God bless you and do not wish your life away to adulthood. Cherish it for all that its worth, because its worth more than any old age is. Now for those of us that are aging, keep fighting your age. Do not become so cynical and just learn to love and enjoy life while you still have it.
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