Why is Walden Making ‘Magician’s Nephew’ Next?
The Christian Post caught up with Micheal Flaherty to talk to him about the future of the Narnia films. Flaherty confirmed that Walden plans to make The Magician’s Nephew as the fourth Narnia movie (which we already knew) and that they’re currently in talks with Fox and the C.S. Lewis Estate about it.
But what was interesting was one of the reasons he listed as to why they were making The Magician’s Nephew next instead of The Silver Chair.
Looking ahead, Walden Media believes The Magician’s Nephew has the potential to be a blockbuster hit like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because it is the second most popular book in the Narnia series.
Flaherty explained that box office performance for Narnia films appears to mimic the amount of people’s interest in the books.
“What’s interesting is that the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe over this period of time sold twice as many books as Prince Caspian and it did twice as much at the box office. Prince Caspian sold a third of the books as Dawn Treader and did a third at the box office,” he noted.
“So while it’s not always a correlation between books to film, so far with these first three films, it has been.”
The full story is available here.
no, biscotti! 😉
just leaked: it has been revealed the white witch was just TASH IN DRAG. therefore, the part of Tash in LB will be portrayed by-TILDA SWINTON
thank you, i can swallow the green mist plot better by keeping this in mind.
they make adults look young for flashbacks in movies all the time. it's not hard at all. everybody relax.
maybe they can hire some writers that actually LIKE the chronicles, what a concept.
🙂
Anhun, youre hired!
Man, I like that idea!
Ha Ha 😀
I think they'll call her Jadis. If you remember in LWW in the note Morgrum left behind he calls her Jadis.
I really would prefer SC be next, but at least they're not stopping with VDT, and with any luck they'll get around to the other books eventually especially if this one is a success. I am looking foreword to seeing how they will portray the creation of Narnia on film
Down, boy…
Well, I am glad that they ARE actually going to make another film, I was heartbroken for a while, thinking they wouldnt.
SC would make more sense to make next, if not for Will poulter's age, for the casual fans (some of them being my own deprived friends) That won't get Magicians nephew. I can see it now, me having to explain MN to them…
And I do hope they wont use the same director…I wish Andrew Adamson would come back.
But I will support the next movie no matter what they do!
Agreed! Hooray for optimism.
If Walden are looking for a potential blockbuster from the Narnia Franchise then it may well pay for them to start looking at a production team with vision and a fresh approach to stop the story and artistry from becoming stale and familiar.
You will need to keep the story fresh
You have to take some of this on face value, I'm afraid. The thing is, I don't have all the answers here. The mist is largely a mystery. Heh. That sounds kinda funny. 😛 It's a mist mystery. 😛 Anyhow…
I believe that the goal of The Green Mist was really to have everyone submit to temptation and become corrupt. Its goal is probably similar to one of Satan's goals. And that's turning people away from God (or Aslan in this instance). Temptation is one of Satan's primary weapons and he has a talent for it. Though is he always successful on earth? Not at all.
You have to understand that I believe the mist is Satan. Or at least it is an indicator of his presence. When I say that, I actually mean it is the same Satan of earth, only in Narnia. I'm not saying it's "like Satan." Narnia is lucky because it has this visual indicator (because evil is so foreign to Narnia that the world itself actually reacts by producing this misty substance when the evil presence is around–see Douglas Gresham's interview) of Satan's presence.
So essentially, the motives of the Green Mist are the same as The Devil's because it is The Devil. What kind of evil is it? Well, it's an evil that evidently feeds on the corruption of innocence. It's an evil that feeds on chaos and fear.
Consider what would have happened had the temptations worked. It's not that the temptations were evil necessarily. It's what would have happened if the people gave in. Take Edmund for instance. Imagine the loss of innocence and the corruption that would result if he took the mist up on its offer of complete kingship.
I like this. 😀 I like the idea of using the "red clay" of Charn. Nice. And you know that they'll do something special with Tilda's look throughout the film. 😉 Especially if Isis returns to do the costumes.
We really need to make a list of our good ideas (like this one for example) and send it to the movie people. You never know. Maybe if we show some maturity (instead of "Whaaa Silver Chair, Will Poulter will be 30!!") they MIGHT listen to SOME of our suggestions. I could actually see Isis doing something like this anyway. 😉
Nooooo…Brownies! 🙂 Yum
Please take a look at my Youtube channel:Lemondrop02, I'll add more videos soon!
why what is on it??
Yup! 😀
First you've got Tash Witch, now your talking about writers who give a crap about the subject matter?! Where do you get these bizzar-o ideas? 😛
That's half of my concern about a film of MN. It's not very accessible to people who haven't read the book and who don't have a strong interest in anything Narnia to begin with. And, inspite of what the folks at Walden might say, MN is nowhere near as popular as LWW, none of the other books are. SC and HHB, on the other hand, can be read as stand-alone books, which means that the movies could be viewed as stand-alone movies. With proper handling and a creative artistic vision, they could be made into exciting films that could engage most movie-goers, while still remaining largely faithful to the books. Some of us on the forum were talking about whether or not they should drop the "Chronicles of Narnia" from the title of SC, and market it as a unique adventure/coming-of-age story. Granted, the growth is spiritual rather than psycho-social/sexual, but I still felt that the characters and their struggles are extremely relatable.
My other concern about a film of MN is that it'll be an utter mess, and a waste of time and ticket cost.
@Reep: Do you mean you'd rather see The Hobbit than a Narnia movie, or you'd rather see The Hobbit than MN?
@Moonwood: For some people it is a choice. Film tickets are expensive.
Actually, I've made that point about the books being stand-alone a couple of times, usually in defense of my position that Narnia 4 should be HHB.
The people who are against MN as Narnia 4 feel that way for a number of different reasons. You would know that if you weren't too busy building straw men to actually read the comments.
Wilkins, how is it immature to want a talented actor to reprise his role as a beloved character? Now that isn't my personal reason for refusing to support MN as Narnia 4, it is a point that merits discussion. I'm disappointed that you're starting to use put-downs instead of counter-arguments. I don't expect any better of Moonwood, but I thought you were above that.
I doubt it. 😛
But she might appear along with Tash.
You sound like someone trying to pick a fight anhun, why not stay mature, and cooperative ? mayor is right, and I think the moaners have already ruined our chances for credibility.
Uh oh, think I just hit a nerve !
Don't worry anhun, when you grow up, people may take you more seriously ( well, of course that depends LOL )
Furthermore, An., Mayor was not referring to you specifically ( your defensiveness says a lot ).
Half of what you wrote was in fact Mayor's idea ( past posts ) but we were too polite to tell you this, as It was so nice to see you write something positive.
Oh well…
I Ifriggin can't wait until we finally get a trailer!!!!
where's the Mayor when you need him? 🙂
I know that Wilkins wasn't talking about me specifically, I was clarifying the fact that my objection was to his/her use of dismissive insults, not their position on Will Poulter's aging.
I'm just used to reading more courteous and interesting comments from Wilkins, whether I ultimately agree with them or not.
And I have no problem with the fact that we're coming up with some of the same visualizations. It would be surprising if their wasn't occasional overlap. We're reading the same books after all.
haha, i know it's a pipe dream to see a faithful adaptation in this evil age. forgive me for that foolish thought-
sorry Mayor, for legal reasons they wouldn't use,consider/read our suggestions, they are not allowed to for fear of being sued.
how about a director who appreciates the chronicles, unlike Apted?
Very, very interesting point, High Queene Shelly Belly, though I suspect some must read our comments ( as they have communicated with the moderators of this site ) you must be right about them not being able to use our ideas.
Can you imagine the legal trouble they could get in ? After all, this is all written for the world to see…
With Star Wars, they did 4, 5, 6 and then 1, 2, 3. They didn't go 4, 6, 5, 1, 3, 2. So there was an order. I realize with Narnia there's no problem with book order, but when they are going book order, then throw in a random book, that will mess up people that havn't read the books. That's one of my two concerns with them doing MN next. But I trust God's will will be done as the movie He wants made next.
Tilda Swinton was great in LWW, but seriously, they need to get a new villain. I'm sick of seeing the same picture of her on all the movie posters. :-S
Shelly Belly is right. Fox would only consider ideas from people who had a writer's guild agent going through proper channels to pitch script ideas. Not amateur public fans like us sad to say.
The production team didn't follow the published order of the chronicles. I think their main intention in doing the "Magician's Nephew" next is that they believe that the film will be a box-office hit just like the "Lion, the witch, and wardrobe". As we see it, LWW made a box-office hit of 2005, PC didn'y make it to be a box-office hit, as well as VDT, though it was released in 3d and in 2d. If they will make SC next, it is better cause it's the next story after VDT but they must make the series be box-office again so that they can make the remaining(HHB,SC,and LB) in the big screen too. Let's just hope that MN will be a box-office hit so they can complete the series in the big-screen. For instance, is MN be the first greenlit NARNIA film? And Mn is going to be the first creation movie. FURTHER UP and FURTHER IN.
She has only been used on posters for two of the movies.
And for each of those movies, the picture was different. 😛
People, The White Witch was a form of The Green Mist.
Maybe they could have used a picture of the sea serpent instead, but since temptation is such a big deal, they went with what the mist used to personify that.
Wrong comment. Sorry. 🙁
Not sure what reason the book gives….
But perhaps its the same situation you have with gargoyles.
Ugly figures used to ward off evil.
In this case, perhaps they felt shaping it like a dragon would scare off other dragons (dragons love to eat other dragons) or perhaps sea serpents or something.
Different narnia videos, i might also add twilight
Potato Chips! (Sorry to ruin the whole "sweets" thing) 🙂
Hmmm….
Anhun, I seriously had no direct intention of offending anyone with the above comment.
I'm sorry if it has offended you.
Please don't misunderstand me on the point of casting.
If they EVER recast anyone in these movies, I'm sure I would be hurt.
Will Poulter was a fantastic Eustace. If they recast him, oh gosh I would be so upset.
And as I've posted so many times until I'm blue in the face…
Tilda MUST return to the role of Jadis for "MN."
Trust me, I know all about fears of recasting and such.
Tilda must come back, or one of my dreams will be crushed.
The point of my comment was really to compliment your idea. 😉
Because it really was a good one.
I agree, HHB and SC would definately work as stand alone movies, permitted they're handled the right way, a way that wont seem too gimicky or sequel-ly…
That's what I'd like to see. Someone who genuinely enjoys the chronicles and knows how much fun they can be, but at the same time doesn't lose sight of broad audiences. Casual fans generally need more context and sense of perspective.
I think the MN will be cheaper to make than the silver chair, and i wouldn't worry about will poulter growing up too fast because Hollywood can make him look 18 again 5 years from now
I just hope that they don't eliminate the possibility of doing the silver chair and the last battle. They did put in the easter egg of mentioning Jill Pole. I just think that people's reactions to the films are directly correlational to the storyline. Dawn Treader isn't doing as well as they would hope because the end is HORRIBLE. C.S. Lewis, for some reason, thought that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were boring, and Jill and Eustace are incredible. But enough ranting. I just think that if they're not careful, the wonderful kid they got to play Eustace will be drastically older.
In fact, now that I think about it, why don't they just skip Silver Chair entirely and just do the last battle? SC is probably the least popular, and nothing really happens. I don't think anyone will miss it.
I CAN'T wait for MN to be on the screen. I LOVE Polly and Digger. I want to see how they use CGI for the different pools. This was probably my FAVORITE of all the Chronicles.
Actually MN could easily prove to be more expensive than LWW. The creation of Narnia, and most of the part of the story set in Narnia, will be extremely CGI-intensive. CGI costs a lot of money. Also the transition between worlds, and possibly the wood between the world could involve a lot of CGI as well.
SC, on the other hand, has the 2 kids and Puddleglum wandering through the mountains for much of the movie. If Puddleglum and the gnomes are make-up and costume characters, rather than CGI characters, the only intensive scenes will be the conversation with Aslan (which doesn't have to take as long as it does in the book), the battle with the snake/witch, and possibly Bism, if they decide to keep it as written.
Mrs. Pole: So, what have you been up to this term?
Jill: Well, I flew off a cliff, escaped a castle on the back of a talking owl, shared a wigwam with one of the cookiest creatures in existance, dodged giant boulders, navigated a perilous bridge, saw some jolly festivities at a giant castle, found out that I was going to be the main course, so I had to dash, fell down a long tunnel, was captured by a tribe of gnomes, was marched through a gorgeous glowing forest, was hypnotized by a witch who turned into a snake, saw my friends hack her to bits, saw her whole kingdom get engulfed in a flood, climbed out from underground, met some Narnians dancing a snow dance, rode on a centaur, and saw a king come back from the dead.
Mrs. Pole: Huh . . . same old, same old. I know, nothing ever happens in boarding school.
oh get over it. just be happy they're making another movie!
So ironic. (and I'm selfish lol) MN was actually my least favorite book (not that I didn't like it, just compared with the rest of the Chronicles I liked it the lease) And SC is one of my faves (top 3 at least!) But nobody cares what I like…they only care that MN is everybody ELSE'S favorite book…so rude…
lol just being sarcastic of course, (although what I said about MN being my least fave and SC being in my top 3 was true) and that was supposed to say "least" up there, not "lease".
Bite your tongue, I would miss it! SC is one of my faves! And tons happens! I'm gonna sic puddleglum on you…;)
Narnia Fans is reporting that it's official that MN is next. Greenlighting ahoy! 🙂