The Next Narnia Film: Where We Are Now
For quite some time now, Narnia fans have been waiting patiently for news on whether or not there will be another Narnia movie. But in the past few days, many rumors and bits of news have started circulating over the internet and our forums–both that more films are actively being scripted and that work on the Narnia films has ceased entirely. We were hoping for an official statement before posting any more news on the situation, but now we feel that things need to be cleared up immediately.
During the negotiations between Fox, Walden, and the C.S. Lewis Estate, the film option that Walden Media owned was allowed to expire and Walden Media no longer has exclusive purchasing rights to any further Narnia films. (What’s the difference between a film option and the film rights? Check out Wikipedia’s article here.) This has been confirmed to us by representatives of the C.S. Lewis Estate.
And while Walden and Fox have confirmed they are both interested in making more Narnia films, our understanding is that, by law, the C.S. Lewis Estate must wait a certain period of time (called a moratorium) before they can sell the film option for the Narnia books again. And when they do, it will be available to any film company out there interested in bidding on it, not just Walden and Fox.
So what does this mean? It means that the ball is entirely in the C.S. Lewis Estate’s court at this point, and they have to wait this mandatory period of time until they can sell the film option again. We here at NarniaWeb don’t know exactly how long this moratorium is, though it is likely several years. What we do know, however, is that Doug Gresham has mentioned many times that it’s his dream to make all seven Narnia books into movies so he probably won’t rest until he’s done that. This is not the end of the Narnia movies! We’re only going to have to wait a while before we see another one.
Well, whatever they did they best not do it again the result's where not the best.Although I agree, she did somehow manage to get a few very well done scenes in. Bless her for trying to act with people around her doing too much coaching.Like I said she will be fine…cannot wait for guest appearances!!!;)
I love Narnia, I'm might be going to uni. to study film, screenplay, script, drama etc – I wouldn't mind a reboot if I was in charge.
^In a few years, obvo.
I* haha!
I don't think you should get smoked for that. I know exactly what you mean. Poulter was great, considering what he was given to work with, but, like every other noteworthy aspect of the story, Eustace was underutilized, muted, and just not what he should have been in the film.
High Queen: I blame Walden, not the Estate. Yet we don't know what was going on behind the scenes for each film. Maybe Walden wanted to make them more Christian and maybe they didn't.
FYI: I think Gresham is the executor of the Lewis Estate, or at least he's on the board.
I say this with completely sincerity, and I hope you believe it: I'm really glad you liked it. Knowing what you love is a great gift. Enjoy it. Conversely, you have to understand, that all those things you mentioned are, to many of us, superficial, aesthetic aspects of the film that served as pretty packaging to an otherwise empty box. The film was a very shallow, soulless attempt to mimic something wondrous and beautiful. It had tastes of this, and snippets of that, but… it was dead inside. I probably won't ever convince you of that, but it's what I believe, and it's not because I'm trying to make you, or anyone else, love the film less. Over the last ten months, those of us with problems with the film have stated, ad infinitum, our reasoning behind our opinions. You don't have to agree with them, or even read them. But, I hope you understand that all of us love Narnia as much as the next person. We don't critique the films to make anyone else feel bad. We do it (well, *I* do it) because I'm trying to encourage the community to not just be grateful that we have *ANYTHING* with "Narnia" stamped on it at our local theatres. These books are incredibly special to us, and we want to see them treated with more respect, and represented, cinematically, in a more intelligent, caring manner.
So, if you're happy with them, then your journey is complete. Be satisfied, and don't let me, or anyone else, ruin your enjoyment of them. Others of us feel like we have a duty to demand more from these films. That's why we point out what we see as unacceptable deficiencies in the product.
Yah, the books are pretty awesome.
That swhat I loved about LWW so much, that epic struggle for power between Jadis and the Narnians. PC was great, but LWW had that real sense of a this is it feel.
In a sense I agree with you and I agree with what you said,, and in another I kinda dont. The scenes you pointed out were some of my fav parts of the movie. Espescially the Reepicheep scene. But on the other hand, I didnt like the movie that much.
True…but it doesn't seem very soon. The actors are already (to old) and the mass public would have forgotten by then. Why not start a remake with MN and do it with the other order? I just see little hope in the next movie being SC or MN in this original franchise even though I would prefer it to be that way.
I think I agree with you except about the franchise is doomed to fail. If the right things happen (like the makers of Courageous and Fireproof become huge, they could possibly do it with quality spiritually and story. You never know.
I loved it too! Even though it had it's issues (like not going with the book). I still love watching it once and a while!!!!
No it wasn't but I guess you have to be thankful, huh?
I agree, the only hope of making Narnia movies is to reboot about five to ten years from now.
I agree with Dylan. I think Will Poulter was perfect. He was the best actor (in my miniscule perspective) of all of them. Well, except for Liam Neeson, but, hey. Will was just bratty enough, I think, and he looked like the Eustace I would imagine, only thinner.
Yes….I do love the movie as a movie by itself, but certainly not as a sequel to PC. The music had such a different feel. They used brass and woodwinds too much, so it sounded cheesy. More strings, you get a more magical feel. (with flutes and other woodwinds on the side, or even as a melody)
But…The only music I really love, that sends chills down my spine, was the Dragon Treasure scene. Oh! Can't you guys imagine how fun that would be to play on handbells or chimes?
I really don't understand what you said. (But, hey, getting that degree sounds really cool)
I liked the whole Peter Caspian conflict thing. These movies aren't to go with the books, they're to make money. (I think)
MN is my favorite book of the series. Hands down. I reread it all the time. I think it would make a fabulous movie. Am I all alone on this, or is there anyone out in cyberspace that agrees with me?
Hey, I think I replied to the wrong comment. I had just woken up when I wrote that….
What's Redwall?????
Just google it. Its a fantasy series written by Brian Jacques. they made a cartoon for it some time ago, and it was kind of little kidish.
I know right. That would be fun to work on a movie off of a series of books i love so much. Ive always wanted to be a concept artist.
I really wanna be jill pole or polly!!!!!!!!!!! but that is now VERY unlikely! seeeing as i have to wait for ages and ages!!!!!
sorry if i seem a little overwhelmed…
Oh no, you were rightfully to be first. So don't say you're sorry! But thanks for the congrats. 🙂 But, don't worry about it. Besides, it's not that big of a deal to be the first commenter! haha
I'm not blaming Walden Media who made the the last two Narnia movies disappointing, I think the directors are responsible of how a movie turns out. So, that's why I think Peter Jackson and whatever a good company for Narnia should make the rest of the movies. I can trust Peter Jackson. Walden Media actually seemed to be a good company for Narnia. 🙂
There are lots of good bits in the film.
One of those being the entire Magician's Island sequence being just right i thought, & i'm sure i read Michael Apted had quite abit to do with that in making sure the we got the Dufflepods too as well as this part also having Georgia Henley in the forefront of the plot on her 'potential' magical quest/journey type character arc ala the book; all added to make it a pretty great & seamless VODT continuation of the Narnia series there (of both the book & film) if you like this entire sequence too.
I liked alot of other well done bits also, but if it built up it's themes from the tonality of this sequence, would have been more moving book illustration cinematic experience of the Narnia books with other two in this way to me. Still good though, but decent part of that can be fandom of previous two films & the books.
This is indeed good news to me.
I say that because this means Walden isn't going to be rushing to push out another Narnia film just to make some more cheap profit. And now maybe a company that really understands Narnia will take up the rights and do the books justice when the time comes. 😀
Hopefully the waiting period won't be too long. When it is over, and if a new Narnia movie is made, it should give Narnia a breath of fresh air. Sort of like the time length between Toy Story 2 and 3.
Sad to think that most likely the continuity of the past three films will not be carried over into the next film… Wait, what am I saying?!?! I only liked the first one. The last two were "bleh"! lol
I would hate to think also that someone might reboot the series. Meaning MORE waiting to see the other books that haven't been made into film yet. Then again, I'd love to see PC and VDT done again, the right way.
There's also the option of a TV or web series. There would be a huge drop in budget most likely, but that just means people will have to be more creative and not just make everything out of CGI. 😛
1) Gee, from the comments I'm reading it seems like this is NarniaHaters.com. Please don't kill me for saying this, but I just love, love, LOVE all the movies. Yes, all. What people need to realize, is that the movies are simply not going to be the books. We need to be more open to change. Also, these movies aren't just being made for NarniaWebbers like us, it's not like the people making the movies are thinking, "hey, let's change a really important part of the book just to make the fans angry!", they're just trying to make it more appealing to a broader audience. Oh and why are people getting so worked up about the Green Mist, I mean, it hardly changes anything in the story. I personally enjoyed all the temptation scenes (actually, I just think that Skandar looks really hot when he's angry).
2) I don't know who it was that posted something against the VDT soundtrack, but I would just like to say to them that Harry Gregson-Williams did NOT do the music for that movie. That's why they only used the main theme like once, it's like when John Williams stopped doing the music for Harry Potter, they didn't use Hedwig's Theme as much.
3) I'm kind of happy they're continuing the movies a little later so it gives me a chance to improve my acting skills and maybe audition for one of these movies.
I am a Christian as well and I agree with you. However, I doubt that is the only reason.
You also have to consider the following…
Harry Potter is a modern book series and is more popular right now and a lot more people have actually read the entire series. So, it's natural for people to want to make Harry Potter films right away. Harry Potter also fits well with the other kinds of films we have right now.
Narnia doesn't fit that "mold". That's why PC and VDT probably felt weird to a lot of us. They tried to fit it into the dark and "realistic" mold that most live action movies go for right now.
And just because something isn't "dark", doesn't mean it's unrealistic. I believe it comes down to implementation. I've noticed how the past ten years or so movies have really changed, in a bad way. There is so much "darkness" in movies today. THAT to me is more unrealistic than a film that does not have a dark tone. Because it depicts a world that is without God's goodness working in it.
I'm not saying dark movies don't feel unrealistic or that they're all bad. I'm just saying that darkness is not necessary for a movie to be a good movie. 😉
Does anyone know the difference between the C.S. Lewis Estate, the C.S. Lewis Company, and the C.S. Lewis Foundation???
I totally agree with you! I love the movies, even a little more than the books, because it was the movies that made me a fan, so they are more special to me(I saw LWW before I read the book).
I also didn't think the VDT score was that bad! It's very beautiful, and it works that it's different since they're technically not in Narnia, but rather covering new territory in the Eastern Ocean.
I agree! I absolutely LOVED VDT!!!!! I think that they did an awesome job portraying the book on the big screen! I am happy to find somebody that has positive things to say about VDT. 🙂
I think most Narnia fans are way off-base in believing that the diminishing success of the franchise has to do with the quality of the PC and VOTDT. Those little nits (Suspian, green mist, etc.) were picked by purist fans of the books on sites like this one. The majority of the audience — namely, non-book purists, however, didn't even bother going to see PC and VOTDT, which is what the numbers actually reflect.
And the reason for that is what most of you refuse to see: Many people DIDN'T like TLTWATW! Most of those who I discussed the film with thought it was tepid, safe, geared at little kids, and plastic-looking. Readers of the book spoke of it as a poor adaptation of a great book, without characters or a world engaging enough to draw them back for a second film.
So, no, all the purists and church-groups in the world wasn't going to bring back the numbers for a film that general audiences found ok to mediocre.
That's not to say the ball wasn't dropped by the studios. PC was not as well marketed as it should've been, and was released during a period when other high-profile films were vying for the same age demographic. Fox did even worse, barely marketing the film at all. And in both cases, the purists were busy whinging over minor perceived flaws in the adaptations, which didn't exactly create a positive buzz for casual fans and non-readers.
From a purely financial perspective, this franchise needs (and will likely get) a reboot in a few years by a studio willing to put the time/money/effort into the kind of marketing that made Harry Potter successful. Many of the HP films are mediocre and serviceable at best, and far from satisfying as book adaptations, and yet they did well because of the heavy marketing and buzz created by the studios: TV ads, trailers, cast interviews on talk shows, marketing tie-ins, etc. It helped that the casting was near-perfect, and the actors and world were engaging (even if the scripts were poor in some cases).
Adamson was too inexperienced a director to kick off a major franchise with, and it shows in several decisions made in that production. Young-readers books can be sold to a wider demographic (e.g., The Hobbit) if handled right, and that's what's needed for a franchise to maintain an audience over the course of a decade. Children, church-groups and difficult-to-please book-purists are not enough. And to lock in a wider audience, a) the film has to be great, and b) the film has to saturate the market enough that most people know it's out there and are interested enough to see it.
Why would they allow the rights to expire? Apparently Walden Media is braindead? And these people have really been given the ok to make a film adaptation of "The Screwtape Letters?" I hope that is a false rumor.
Hand it over to Guillmero Del Toro-he can get to it once he is done with Hellboy III. He certainly can get the fantasy aspects looking great, and without spending a ridicoulous amount of money at that. There were more special effects involved in Hellboy II than their probably would be in "The Magician's Nephew" or "The Horse And His Boy." But do "The Silver Chair" first.
He also alters little (maybe an extra romance here and there, but that's it).
No Peter Jackson-we don't need Narnia to look like Lord Of The Rings. The color aspect and story is in a completly different veign and tone-not to mention that LOTR is mostly green, brown, and black, and Narnia is practically every color imaginable (not unlike Hellboy).
i agree, the cost of PC was insane. but the market does demand blockbusters. that's why they are having a problem deciding what to do with this series. back in the days of the bbc adaptations, you could actually produce a heart warming, gentle story. today-no more.
yes, certain scenes felt like she was forced to act too childish. the snow falling spell scene was too fake and staged- "hey look, remember the magic of LWW?" she was good on the beach though.
yes, movies are so dark now i barely watch new ones. which is why i think they should have kept these narnia movies true and marketed them to christians. you dont have a huge fan base of dark hearts wanting cs lewis material. its too old fashioned for them and these times.
the estate is not necessarily christian anymore, and gresham isnt the head of it. walden has strong christians in it, and they seem more christian than the estate heads, at this point frrom what ive read.
yes, we need a new video about this , glumpuddle!
yeah, maybe they need to give it to the fireproof guys. the effects would be faker but the story would stay true.
s/he's young, and will see the flaws as they get older. oh, to be young still and to be able to gloss over the missed potential of this movie………….
I really liked David Thwaites. He was one of the highlights of BBC's SC and one of the very few things I enjoyed about PCVDT.
5 years is way too soon to reboot. 10 years is seriously pushing it.
The name rings a bell, and so I am thinking it's at my library…. Maybe. There are a LOT of books if indeed it is what I am thinking of.
Oh, no! I totally love the movies, and I'm not trying to be a Narnia hater! I am just saying my perspective on the not so good differences between Lww to Vdt. That's all.
What??????? The Screwtape letters!!!!!!!!! Are you serious? I can't believe they would make that. Narnia would bring in so much more cash for the makers of the film! (plus Narnia is more interesting)
Sounds interesting…I should look into it. (that is, if I ever get time to go to the library)
That's REALLY cool! I would love to make movies! 🙂 I have fun making little videos as it is.
I know, I've said before "I'll make Narnia myself" because I get mad the way they are doing them.
But mostly I would probably like the acting part.
I like drawing but I don't know if I could handle millions of pictures like concept art or story boards.
Wow, I probably couldn't have said it better, Non-negotiable Comment. I agree with you.
The thing about the "Christian aspects" was they weren't what true Christianiy should be. The message was a "believe in yourself" type of message instead of Believe in Christ, he's the only way…
Which is what C.S. Lewis pointed out vividly in his books.
No, I TOTALLY AGREE. I thought Will Poulter was AWESOME for Eustace, but that he wasn't bratty enough.In the book it's more like "Ugh, I want to slap this kid." But he wasn't as bad in the movie. They should of done more with that so you could see how he was really CHNAGED by Aslan. (The thing is, I think Eustace is rather HILARIOUS in the books and in the movie…really, Eustace, Reepicheep, and the painting scene were the best things about the movie…and this is coming from an Edmund fan.)
Jill and Eustace will always be Camilla Power and David Thwaites in my heart. I know Will Poulter is a fine young actor, and I enjoyed him very much as Eustace (a different kind of Eustace, but…). And, Eustace, to me, is… incomplete… without Jill, so, it's like we've only seen one half of him, in a sense. I adore that BBC 'Silver Chair' adaptation.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
Yes, I totally agree with you Dylan. At least we're not thinking, "Oh, when's the next Narnia movie? This is probably the end of them!" I'm glad they gave us a warning that it might be a loooong time before they make a Narnia movie.
She can turn into a snake how is that not unigue? Not to mention she was born in the dark age and she may have been linked to the destruction of the giants great city. She killed the queen of narnia. She may be the sister of Jadis or even Jadis herself seeing as how Jadis ate an apple form the tree of protection in MN. I feel she is very unique.
I think it would be a great movie. Just not yet. I dont think Narnia has the fan base to produce that movie yet. I am most excited for the scene with fledge flying throughout narnia, that would be so amazing to watch.
High Queene Shelly Belly ive been a fan since I was four and am now twenty-one. If that makes me young than so be it but I think everyone had good things to say and i will take it all with an open mind. However i feel that those scenes i talked about with the music added were just what i had in mind when i was reading the book for the first time. They did add things and they did change a few things however i do look for those "magical" moments that bring my first loving memories of Narnia come to life. People say it was like an emptu cup and it just seemed like pretty gift wrap with nothing in the box. Narnia fans i would love to know what you would of added or changed about the movie? What would you add to make the cup full? Im not talking bad or trying to be negative im very curious at what you guys wanted differantly?
Queen Emily the Awesome- You are spot on! I think your perspective on the movies/ this website are perfect. I love the things you have said. It made me smile because I agree with you and this is the true Narnian spirit! Way to look at the positives like a true Narnian! You rock and god bless you!
Oops, I meant Secrets of Excalibur 😀
Anyways, that was funny, what you said about Caspian!
Those that DO NOT like the soundtrack. Listen to- High King and Queen of Narnia ( bringing in the origianal theme) Also the song Aslan Appears has the theme as well. As far as the other songs go listen to Reepicheep and The Calm Before the Storm. David Arnold did an amazing job of staying true to the Narnia theme song and then adding his own stuff. I think he did very well especially with the song Reepicheep, wow that sound gives me chills everytime!