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Running time: 31: 21

One more year to go! And Fantasia Kitty joins the Council for the first time as she, Rilian and glumPuddle give their overall assessments of where the film is going and what expectations they have for the film itself and for its box office performance.

Also, see the corresponding article where other NarniaWeb staff have their thoughts.

And in the comments, say A, whether you like Rilian’s impression of Peter Jackson and B, who you want him to try and slip in next.

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We are officially one year away from the USA release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Yay! In honor of hitting the 365-days-to-go mark, we thought we’d take a look at Dawn Treader‘s competition next year.

As everybody knows, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will probably make or break the rest of the Narnia film series due to Prince Caspian not performing as well as the production had hoped and budgeted for. If Dawn Treader does well, the series will continue; if not, the production may call it quits.

After Prince Caspian only made half of its predicted box office profit, most people blamed its summer release date and the tough competition surrounding it (like Iron Man and Indiana Jones). Even though Dawn Treader is back to a Christmas release, it will still face some competition. Here’s what we’re looking at:

November 19, 2010 — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (three weeks prior to Dawn Treader)
Love it or hate it, everybody knows that the Harry Potter series has grown into monster franchise. In fact, it is one of the most profitable movie franchises in the world (unadjusted, it’s number one worldwide). There is no doubt this movie will do well at the box office as the series is drawing to a close. Of course the big question for Narnia fans everywhere is will this movie affect Dawn Treader‘s box office? Most movies will have one, maybe two, large grossing weekends. The Harry Potter movies are no exception. By the time week three rolls around it shouldn’t affect Dawn Treader‘s opening weekend. Remember too that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came out three weeks after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

November 24, 2010 — Rapunzel 3-D (the Thanksgiving release two and a half weeks prior to Dawn Treader)
This is Disney’s next big animated movie they’ve been hyping for the past year or two. (I heard about this movie long before The Princess and the Frog that comes out tomorrow.) Rapunzel”s big selling point is its new style of animation. It’s a 3-D movie, but with the old hand-painted animation look. Will it affect Dawn Treader? Well, unless its story ends up being on par with Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, I think Harry Potter is going to swallow this movie whole.

December 10, 2010 — The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
In the words of Doug Gresham, go see it with your friends, take your friends’ friends, and take your enemies because you’re supposed to love them too. Hopefully this movie will be a huge success!

December 17, 2010 – Tron: Legacy (one week after Dawn Treader)
When Tron came out in 1982, it was much like Star Wars with its groundbreaking special effects. Nobody had seen anything like it before. Though it certainly wasn’t as popular as Star Wars, the original Tron has a significant group of hard-core followers. Series reboots are “in” right now, with a lot of movies from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s being remade with mixed results. The good ones (like Batman Begins and Star Trek) are making huge profits. It remains to be seen whether or not Tron will fall into this category, but I think its real threat to Dawn Treader is the fact it releases only one week later. It could go either way… King Kong failed to bring down The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but Indiana Jones did much better than Prince Caspian.

December 22, 2010 — The Green Hornet (the Christmas release one and a half weeks after Dawn Treader)
This may be the dark horse of the Holiday 2010 movie season. Actor Seth Rogan’s adaptation is based on the ’40s radio show and the later ’60s TV show about a masked superhero called the Green Hornet. Not much is known about this movie yet, aside from the fact that Rogan has stated it will be an old-fashioned-type superhero movie. This movie will be opening the same day as Jack Black’s Gulliver’s Travels, which will definitely help out Dawn Treader as The Green Hornet will have direct competition for its opening day release. Time will tell if it will be a serious contender with Dawn Treader.

In conclusion, when we compare this line-up to what the two previous Narnia movies had to face, this is about as good of a schedule as we could hope for. None of these films really seems to offer serious competition (provided that Dawn Treader is a good movie that everybody wants to go see). However, keep in mind that all of these release dates are subject to change, and more studios may squeeze their movies in around this time as well.

Thus far, the anticipation for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has been characterized by uncertainty. For a long time, we were not even sure if the movie would get made. But, one thing is certain: If the third film in the series suffers the same fate as the second, it is very possible we will not see a fourth.

Does Prince Caspian’s disappointing box office indicate that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was merely a one-hit wonder? Or was Prince Caspian just a one-time hiccup? What will happen to the franchise without Disney? What approach will Fox take to marketing? Will a December release date give the film a box office boost? Will the film be able to overcome its competition? Will The Silver Chair be green-lit?

In addition to those questions regarding the commercial state of the franchise, there has been plenty of discussion, speculation, and controversy about the script. What is this “unfathomable fate” mentioned in the synopsis? How many creatures will be on board the ship? Did Ben Barnes really mean there will be “pitched battles”? How big of a role will the Mysterious Little Girl (Gael) have? What kind of vision of Narnia will Michael Apted bring, and how will it differ from Andrew Adamson’s?

As of today, we only have one more year of anticipation before these questions are answered. To mark this occasion, we decided to ask a handful of NarniaWebbers how they feel about the state of the franchise, and their general expectations for the third film in the series. First up, we have a special edition podcast in which Rilian (Podcaster), GlumPuddle (News Poster), and first-time guest Fantasia_Kitty (Admin) share how they are feeling with one year to go. Listen below:

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We also asked some of the forum moderators to type up their thoughts:

AJAiken: (Moderator: Cast and Character Discussion)

I adore the 2005 and 2008 adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Though there are moments which make the purist in me cringe, these films are two of my favorites. Besides being truly gorgeous pieces of work – have you seen the costumes, the sets, the cinematography? – they are quality movies. People who really love the books have worked hard to show their vision – yes, anyone who puts so much work into films such as these will show something of themselves that perhaps is not canonical. I’d much rather watch Susaspian than the planned adaption of LWW that set the story in San Francisco and had hamburgers instead of Turkish Delight. So I can’t wait to find out who Gael is and where she ties in to the story, and whether the production has finally stuck to character traits from the books. I’m hoping The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is as exciting and well-made as the first two films, and from what I’ve seen and heard that’s going to be so..

DiGoRyKiRkE (Moderator: Narnia Fan Art)

My biggest concern for Voyage, and, by extension, the whole Narnia franchise, resides with Eustace.

At this point in the story, the Pevensie story line is coming to an end, and a new exciting chapter is set to begin. As a book, it works quite well, because people fall in love with the land of Narnia itself, rather than with the characters (at least I did). I’m not sure the same thing can be said of these films, in which I think the emphasis has been placed too heavily on the Pevensies, and the actors/actresses portraying them.

In an ideal world (at least for me) the crew of voyage would start to focus more on the land itself, rather than the individual characters. However, if the Narnia films to date are any example, this is nothing more than a pipe dream. It is for that reason that my biggest concern lies with Eustace.

If the filmmakers cannot sell him as a truly endearing character, which will be difficult due to his indifferent attitude at the beginning of the film/book, they may find themselves in hot water. It is my biggest fear that people will go along with their first impression of Eustace, and that movie-goers will not invest two hours of their lives in Silver Chair, if they know that the Pevensies aren’t going to be in it.

So, in closing, the filmmakers of Voyage need to shift away from Lucy and Edmund. Yes, they have interesting story lines, but Eustace is the future of this franchise, and if they alienate him as a character to placate the movie fans, rather than the book fans, I’m afraid that this franchise may sink.

GlimGlum (Moderator: Cast and Character Discussion)

I believe that one of the strengths VDT possesses is its great contrasts and balance of light and dark story elements. Some examples:

• Eustace’s early “record stinker” character – After being “undragoned” mostly positive changes
• Slave trade and Gumpas – Slaves freed by Caspian & crew and Lord Bern
• Dufflepuds menacing at first – Funny and cute after Lucy’s enchantment removal efforts
• The Dark Island and Lord Rhoop’s tormented character – Ramandu’s Island with bigger and brighter sun, singing birds, and of course Ramandu’s lovely daughter

I think that the overall audience appeal will be higher than PC because of the adventure, action (not too much we hope), real magic with a magician/wizard (Coriakin) and his house and book, fun for kids with the Dufflepuds(after becoming visible again), some scares(Dark Island), discovery(underwater Kingdom), and a wee bit of romance(I wonder who?), and the spiritual aspects of the ending.

With a better story and greater appeal, I think VDT has a really good chance of setting things right again for the Narnia film series. The new film crew and director Michael Apted are experienced and professional filmmakers. I am optimistic.

Starkat (Moderator: Cast and Character Discussion)

In my opinion, Prince Caspian was a good movie, but not a good adaptation of the book. It missed one key thing that made the book so special to me. Peter was arrogant and did not bother to take Caspian seriously. By shifting the focus to “We haven’t come to take your place, but to put you into it,” the movie would have been a much better adaptation.

Marketing was another problem. Too much too fast was offered up and there was no way for the public to absorb the release and share their excitement with their friends. Word of mouth was one of LWW’s greatest strengths.

With some of the early reports from the set, I wonder if we are going to have the same problem with VDT. The BBC turned out a faithful adaptation that was also a good serial. I would hope that the writers have learned their lesson and minimize the changes. The marketing seems much more sound. It remains to be seen what the adaptation will be like. I would like to repeat my LWW experience with the wonder and excitement that I felt when reading the book instead of having to see the movie several times just to get pulled into the story like with PC.

GymFan15 (Moderator: Narnia Fan Art)

I’m still not really sure what to think about VDT. So much depends on this movie doing well, and we already know that movie-going audiences can be very fickle when it comes to likes and dislikes. Some parts about the new movie that I’ve been able to see so far really excite me, like the production design, Will Poulter as Eustace, and a care for detail. Other parts leave me perplexed, a bit confused, and a little worried, like various plot and story changes that we know have taken place, and could change the success of the movie drastically, for better or for worse.

I think that either VDT will be a big success, going far and beyond what PC and perhaps even LWW took in, or it will crash and burn, making less than PC and putting the final nail in the coffin for the Narnia franchise. I don’t think there’s a middle ground.

So for us Narnia fans, we can only sit back and wait, hoping that the filmmakers know what they are doing and that everything will turn out all right. It’s far too early to make any kind of prediction either way.

What will happen? Find out this time next year! (In the meantime, isn’t it time you re-read the series?)

Now, we want to know what YOU think. Post your thoughts below or in the forum.

From the DailyMail.co.uk: “White stags have long been associated with mythology and legend, an elusive yet magnificent beast. King Arthur was left frustrated by his attempts to capture one, as were the Kings and Queens of Narnia, who chased the creature through the woods and found themselves tumbling out of a wardrobe. But photographer Ken Grindle has managed to get a little bit closer, taking a picture of the animal in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.” You can check out the picture of the white stag on Daily Mail’s website here.

A gentleman by the name of Ian Kath (who worked on the set of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as a prop maker) interviewed Doug Gresham a few weeks ago about the Narnia movies. Doug Gresham also talks a good deal about his own life and Christian beliefs. It’s a very long podcast, about an hour long, but here are the highlights that icarus has already transcribed from it (see more on his forum post).

Ian Kath: These movies, how well are they sticking to the originals, the books?

Douglas Gresham: Well, The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe was very close to the original book because the book was written in such a way that lent itself to being transcribed into the film medium. Prince Caspian we had to make some fairly major changes because the book isn’t written that way. In this movie there are a lot of differences in it also to, as Hollywood says, “derive the plot”. I’m ambivalent as to whether they’re necessary or not, I don’t really think so. But thats the way they wanted to do it, and it was either that or not make a movie, so I said “well go ahead and do it”. It will be very interesting to see the audiences reactions.

…..

Ian Kath: It’s an amazing amount of work that we’ve put into this, and I just love what we’ve done, and if the story is as good as the work and the passion that we’ve put into it..

Douglas Gresham: I think the story in the book is better but it’s still a great story.

Ian Kath: I don’t know the story.

Douglas Gresham: You should read it, you should read all of the Narnian chronicles, but yeah I think it’s going to be a great movie. It’s a fabulous movie.

…..

Ian Kath: Is the next one scripted yet?

Douglas Gresham: Oh no no. We haven’t got that far yet. We haven’t even decided exactly which one we are going to do yet. There are several reasons why we would go with The Silver Chair, but then there are other reasons why we might go with something else. One of the reasons for Silver Chair, I’m voting for going with Silver Chair, one of the reasons is that we have found an absolutely fabulous young actor to play Eustace.

There are several more transcribed bits that you can see in icarus’ first post just below this news story. But of course, you’ll want to listen to the whole podcast which can be downloaded on Ian Kath’s website here.

Edited to add: We cannot stress enough the importance of actually listening to the interview. While it may sound like Doug Gresham is unhappy with the way this movie is headed in writing, he sounds VERY excited about the movie when you actually listen to him talking about it.

Huge thanks to icarus for the find!

Cyclops from AslansCountry.com had the opportunty to interview Ernie Malik, the Dawn Treader film’s publicist. The most interesting bit is Ernie giving us further confirmation that the Lady of the Green Kirtle will not be appearing in the film, as many fans feared. Read it here.

NarniaFans.com has the first picture of the Dawn Treader inside a studio. View it here.