What do you think about Joe Johnston?

How are you feeling about the next Narnia director, Joe Johnston? Comment below, post your thoughts in the discussion forum, vote on our homepage poll (scroll down, bottom right) and watch our live reaction…

UPDATE: Our livestrem has ended. Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast about the news!

17 Responses

  1. Prof. Kirk says:

    This is great news! Been waiting, what 3+ years for this announcement! Looking at Johnston's IMDB page gets me pumped. Great directing work, visual effects work, art director, production designed, animation designer, and the list goes on! Hopefully casting and release date info will come soon!

  2. ChristianMan17 says:

    What ever this man does, had better not do 3 things.
    1- DO NOT mess up the characters, they did that with peter and Susan in PC and Especially Edmund and Reepicheep in VDT and i really hope do that with SC, especially Puddleglum.
    2- DO NOT have them tell whats right in front of us! they did that in VDT, let the Audience do the talking on some scenes, please.
    3- Most importantly, DO NOT, i Repeat, DO NOt make the story about 'Saving the World' thats the biggest mistake theyve done with VDT, if they do that with SC, that would Completely ruin the story. im really hoping that SC becomes a Video Game, because if it does, they could probably add that in it.

  3. Michael Leaser says:

    "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Rocketeer" are two of my all-time favorite films. "October Sky" is also very good and shows Johnston's range. Plus he has a background in visual effects, cutting his teeth on the original Star Wars films. Excellent choice!

  4. Arturo Pena says:

    Sooo happy for this news, been waiting for it since the last movie, and Joe is a great director. Can´t wait!!!

  5. Eustace says:

    They are all really good films, I am really hopeful and encouraged.

  6. Just Queen, not High Queen says:

    So glad there's more news. I still hope they keep the original cast, even if they can't bring back Will Poulter (which I still think they should do).

  7. TameLion says:

    So what comes after director? Does casting begin now?

  8. TameLion says:

    Can someone list me some low-budget films with fantasy elements, battles and fictional countries? It seems impossible. i feel like these kind of movies require the most funding.

  9. shastastwin says:

    I've enjoyed several of his films before (Jumanji, Captain America, Hidalgo, The Pagemaster) so I'm pleased we have someone who can do character-driven stories and fantasy films.

  10. Hermitess of Narnia says:

    SC is about saving Narnia, not quite as dramatically as in LWW or PC, though, because Narnia hasn't been conquered yet. But they do indirectly save the land of Bism, although, that /has/ been conquered.
    I think there might be a temptation from a filmmaking standpoint to have them fight the giants of Ettinsmoor, but I think that would detract from the story.

  11. jml says:

    Stardust was a big fantasy film released in 2007 with a $70 million budget, which is not cheap exactly, but cheap for that type of production, and it did not look cheap at all. Matthew Vaughn knew how to direct it effectively for a price. I've always said Narnia should look to this model in order to get the ret of the movies done, because the overindulgent budgets of the previous sequels just wouldn't work with LWW being the most famous book (outside of the core fan base, of course.) As far as Mr. Johnston is concerned, he's made some very good movies before, and good luck to him.

  12. ChristianMan17 says:

    Well, yes, that's true. But it's not puerile about it. It's mainly about Jill learning trust! That's what I want to see in the film. Glumpuddle mentioned it and I 100% agree with him. But I can see it coming, they're gonna take the Green Lady building up her army of gnomes, they finally break through to Narnia and have a huge fight at Cair Paravel. I don't want that to happen in the film!!

  13. Aslan#1Fan says:

    A lot of these movies, I grew up with. I'm very optimistic on Joe's strong directorial style. Very excited.

  14. Narnian1 says:

    I am excited. I grew up with some of his other projects and think he is more than capable of handling Narnia. Praying he doesn't disappoint.

  15. Jnarnia 2 says:

    I definitely agree with you! It will help with the fact that it's been so long. I feel like audiences will definitely recognise Will Poulter, as he's been in the maze runner and various projects and it would help Narnia transition smoothly to the next sequel!

  16. Son of Adam says:

    I feel satisfy. =)

  17. Son of Adam says:

    Hidalgo, Captain America! ^^