02.05.07
Posted in Narnia Films, Voyage of the Dawn Treader
at 1:16 am
by Paul Martin
We’ve just received word that Andrew Adamson expects to still be working on Prince Caspian when shooting starts on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We expect that he’ll be heavy into post-production on that film, and will be acting as a producer on Dawn Treader. This is much like the role of Chris Columbus on the Harry Potter series of films. After directing the first two, he’s been acting as a producer, ensuring that the sequels maintain the overall look of the first films. The capable directing hands of director Alfonso Cuarón took the reigns and delivered what I feel is the best film in the series thus far: Prisoner of Azkaban. It was the first time that I felt the “magic” of the Harry Potter world as I watched it. Also, having never read a single Harry Potter novel, I didn’t know what I was missing, and while others complained, I admired. I look at all of the artistic shots, the fluid camera movements and the editing. The story is entertaining and dark, and the world seemed more real, more alive.
When it comes to other directors shooting the other Narnia films, it isn’t quite the same thing. Sure, the other Narnia books follow a lot of the same characters, but each book is almost mutually exclusive. They simply take place in the same world, on the same timeline. The one thread that connects them all is Aslan. This makes it very easy for another director to shoot a film in the Narnia series and get away with being a bit different from the style that Andrew Adamson has set in place. Each book even calls for a different style, as the stories are so varied.
The biggest question is not whether or not another director should fill Andrew Adamson’s shoes. We know that it’s going to happen now. The biggest question is: Who will it be?
I am sure that Walden Media and Disney are looking at prospects to direct Dawn Treader, and am really curious as to who they will select. Because it takes place mostly on the sea, and is being produced by Disney, would Gore Verbinski be open to shooting another film with a lot of water? Or would he be waterlogged from directing the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy? What about Peter Jackson? Well, he’s working hard on adapting The Lovely Bones, at the moment. Perhaps director Jay Russell. He’s directed Tuck Everlasting, Ladder 49, and the a very good film called My Dog Skip (a film that I’d recommend to anyone). He’s also the director of Walden Media’s The WaterHorse. He seems to work well with young actors, and after this film would have the experience to tackle an epic that takes place mostly at sea.
Who do you think would make a good director for Voyage of the Dawn Treader?
Permalink
02.04.07
Posted in Misc.
at 12:37 am
by Paul Martin
Well, this is something that’s kept me and many others stuck in our homes for all of Saturday, February 3rd. A blizzard has hit the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and while it’s let up for the night, it’s going to pick back up again tomorrow. Nearly 400 churches and businesses closed early or cancelled events and services. The picture to the right is in Wayland, MI. I found it on our news website’s photo gallery at woodtv.com.
Here’s another picture of the blizzard in action. This was taken at Grand Valley State University. For those that don’t know, I live in Grand Rapids, MI. It’s the second largest city in the state of Michigan. Grand Valley is near by, in a city called Allegan. I can tell you, the view out of my window was the about the same. We’re expected to get another 3″ to 11″ of snow before 7pm on the 4th.
Welcome to Narnia, ladies and gentlemen!
Permalink
02.03.07
Posted in C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters
at 4:33 pm
by Paul Martin
Walden Media has announced that they’re going to be creating a film version of C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters. Now, this is a very interesting idea, as my friends and I have talked about. You see, this book could be filmed in many many different ways. Give this book to Steven Spielberg, and his film will be different from Darren Arnofsky’s film. Give it to Peter Jackson, and it’ll be different from Hayao Miyazaki’s. It seems that there is almost an infinite number of directions that a director/writer could take. It could even be a director’s series, like a mini-series of short stories, all told by different directors. Not only that, but Lewis points out that the book isn’t necessarily in chronological order, so each could start and end anywhere. It is, afterall, a collection of letters.
The only question is, who will the filmmakers be that tell us this story, and will it fulfill our own imaginations? I don’t believe that any one film based on this book could be accurate to our own vision of it. I also believe that when you read it in life also has an effect on how you interpret it. Sure the ideas are always going to be the same, but for every person, some things weigh more heavily than others. It gives great insight into ourselves, and no one film could cover everyone.
Either way, I’m definitely looking forward to the film version that we’re going to have. It should be an interesting film. Let’s hope that it can capture the spirit of the novel in a personal way.
The film is planned for a 2008 release.
Permalink
01.06.07
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 11:51 pm
by Paul Martin
Get ready to join a new social network! As I said last week, Disney.com has been hard at work creating a new website re-design. Taking inspiration from MySpace and Xbox Live, they have created a very large site that will allow for social networking.
Just as Walt Disney did with the entrance to the theme parks, Mr. Iger says, they wanted to create a “wow factor” when users first enter the site. Mr. Yanover’s team organized the home page by subject for adults and by character for kids. They also created six categories covering preschool; boys; girls; older kids and teens; families; and older Disney fans.
With this, Narnia fans will have yet another, albeit official Disney website, way to communicate. Rest assured, we’ll be there as soon as it’s ready to go! Watch for it! See also the Wall Street Journal for more on the new Disney.com!
Permalink
01.02.07
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 3:49 am
by Paul Martin
Walden Media’s new website is currently online, and is a much improved design over the previous one, with a nicer forum software running on the site. It displays easier navigation, and is now up to date with most of their projects that are in the works. See their new site at walden.com
Disney is also going to be launching a completely new website design on January 8th at the Consumer Electronics Show. It will represent more than a year of work in designing a newer, more interactive website for Disney fans, that should make Disney.com a great place to be. Let’s hope that the navigation is much improved and that the site can bridge the gap between Disney and their fans even more than ever. When the site launches it will replace the current one at disney.com
Perhaps some Prince Caspian info will be available on each of these sites as production ramps up!
Permalink
01.01.07
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 2:28 am
by Paul Martin
This year marks the filming of the second of potentially seven films in the Narnia series. Prince Caspian will be filming this year, and we’re going to be covering it as the news is released. We’re very excited about what this year will bring. Here’s what we’re expecting to happen throughout 2007:
The completion of filming for Prince Caspian.
Prince Caspian Teaser Posters/Artwork
Prince Caspian Teaser Trailer
Prince Caspian Video Blog from the set
New design layout for NarniaFans.com (possibly more with that)
And above all, more Narnia movie news than you can shake a stick at. We’ll be here to cover everything for you, in the news, this blog and the podcast.
You’ll love everything that we have planned for you, and we’re excited to share every discovery that we make with you!
Permalink
12.31.06
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 3:15 pm
by Paul Martin
May 2008 is beginning to get very crowded, in terms of movies that are springing up to entice viewers. On the slate for the month are Iron Man (May 2, 2008), Speed Racer (May 23, 2008) and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May 16, 2008). Recently another film has been added to an already crowded month: Indiana Jones 4.
Iron Man is going to be a live action superhero film featuring Robert Downey Jr. in the title role of Tony Stark/Iron Man. It is being directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura). This is a Marvel Comics character that is inflicted with very real problems. If done well, it could be the next Spider-Man.
Speed Racer is being written and directed by visionary directors The Wachowski Brothers. Now much is known about the film, but rumor has it that they’re going to use new technology to bring the cars to life, and new filming techniques that we’ve not yet seen (perhaps more advanced than the Bullet Time seen in the Matrix Trilogy). Based on the anime, it has the potential to be visually stunning.
Indiana Jones 4 is the long in development fourth film from legendary filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Featuring Harrison Ford returning to the title role, it looks like this winning team is actually going to come back together in 2007 to finally create the next and final chapter in the Indiana Jones saga. This project has had many writers attached over the years, including a favorite of mine: Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile); but the only recently finalized the script that they’re going to use.
Iron Man and Speed Racer aren’t really threats to Prince Caspian’s potential box office take (they’re all pretty spread out, and Speed Racer has a different audience, and even that is currently an unknown quantity). But Indiana Jones could pose a direct threat. The audience for Indiana Jones has grown up, and now has children about the same age that they were when the originals were released, if not a bit younger. If the filming plans go as they were saying a few years ago, Spielberg is going to capture this one in the same way that the first three were filmed: no digital computer effects. That would make this a breath of fresh air, and it’s one that holds quite a history of adventure.
However, Prince Caspian is following up one of the largest grossing films of 2005. It is also the next in a seven book series that is widely known throughout the world. However, it’s not the most well known of the Narnia books. It does have the promotional might of Disney again, plus another film leading into it, it is sure to hit the box office hard. But will it be enough? Only time will tell, and 2007 is bringing us the filming of Prince Caspian, as well as a teaser or so for the film. We’ll know soon enough.
Permalink
12.29.06
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 6:10 pm
by Paul Martin
It has recently been reported the director Guillermo del Toro turned down the opportunity to direct The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. According to Yahoo News:
[He] was asked to direct “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” but he turned it down because, as a lapsed Catholic, he couldn’t see himself bringing Aslan the lion back to life.
Instead, he put his dark, fervid imagination to work on an original story, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” a bloody and harrowing fairy tale that incorporates elements from C.S. Lewis’ beloved Christian allegory and various other classics of children’s literature.
Set during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, “Pan’s Labyrinth” shows why del Toro’s sensibility is somehow both perfectly suited and utterly alien to the gentle “Narnia.” He subjects his hero, an 11-year-old girl whose mother has married a captain in Gen. Francisco Franco’s army, to shocking violence and vexing moral quandaries.
“I’m not proselytizing anything about a lion resurrecting. I’m not trying to sell you into a point. I’m just doing a little parable about disobedience and choice,” del Toro said. “This is my version of that universe, not only `Narnia,’ but that universe of children’s literature.”
Guillermo del Toro certainly has a creative vision, having brought to life such comic book characters as “Hellboy” which is about a demon that was conjured up by Nazis, and then rescued from them, and who fights against the forces of darkness. He also directed “Blade II” and the aforementioned “Pan’s Layrinth.”
This leads us to wonder what del Toro’s Narnia would be like. How would the characters have been different? We’ll never really know, and having seen none of del Toro’s films, I have to ask, would he have been the right man for the job? Would it have been a film of fantastical wonder? After all, he has “never been interested in working in the real world or with real characters.”
What do you think? If you’ve seen any of his films, how would his Narnia have been in comparison to Adamson’s Narnia?
Permalink
12.25.06
Posted in NarniaFans.com
at 1:23 pm
by Andy Filipowich
I would like to wish everyone on Narniafans.com a Merry Christmas! Remember to spend the day with your family and friends, and keep safe.
With that said, I would like to tell you a little Christmas story. When shopping on Friday for my sister’s gift, I phoned home to ask her what she wanted. She, being a self-proclaimed bookworm, asked for two novels. When wrapping the Christmas gifts I did not want her to guess my present, so I wrapped the novels in such a way that it looked like a box for a mini baseball bat. I also asked my brother if I could borrow his belt, so when she picked up the “box” it would have irregular edges. Although she knew I bought her two books, she had doubts as to what the present was.
When she opened the gift, however, she was pleasantly surprised. Although she had the two books she wanted, she was disappointed that she had to give the belt back to my brother. Overall, it was a great Christmas.
Permalink
12.22.06
Posted in Misc., Narnia Films
at 11:56 pm
by Andy Filipowich
J. K. Rowling started an international buzz when she released the seventh title of the Harry Potter series. People were analysing the new name to death, coming up with theories on who is going to live, who is going to die, and everything in between.
At the forefront of these discussions were the various Harry Potter fan sites. Within hours of the title’s release, Mugglenet.com’s staff member Ciaran posted an editorial of possible book release dates. Pottercast, a Harry Potter podcast, rushed to release an analysis of the title. Forums everywhere, including our own Dancing Lawn were discussing the new name.
With all of this happening, one has to wonder if news from the Narnia world will achieve the same reaction.
Unfortunately, the author of the beloved Narnia series has deceased and we cannot expect a new title for a book. However, there are many other news stories that the Narnia community is waiting to know, like who will play Prince Caspian in the next Narnia movie.
However, the question remains; Will the release of Prince Caspian create as much of a buzz as the new Harry Potter book title?
Probably not. The Harry Potter series has been a defining moment of the upcoming generation, along with the Internet. Many Harry Potter fan sites have been posting their thoughts on the books for years, while the Narnia fan sites have only begun a short time ago.
Furthermore, while the new actor will be a big topic in the Narnia forums, the series is not as popular as the Harry Potter books. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first Narnia movie, was released the same time as the fourth Harry Potter movie The Goblet of Fire. While the Narnia movie made 744.8 million last year, the Harry Potter movie grossed 892.2 million dollars, a 147.4 million dollar difference. (Source: Boxofficemojo.com) Furthermore, many of the Harry Potter fans are teens and more likely to be technologically inclined. Meanwhile, many Narnia fans have loved the books for their whole lives, or are in their first years of their life, and are less likely to know how to discuss our passion on the Internet.
So what do we do about it? How do we create hype for the new Prince Caspian?
The best thing we can do is talk about it. When the name of the actor is released, tell as many people as you can. Post on as many different forums as you can. Talk to your friends, your family, and your peers.
Let us show the world that Narnia is just as good as Harry Potter. Let us create the hype that the movies deserve.
Permalink
