‘Silver Chair’ Still a Possibility?
Inside Out has posted a a 32-minute podcast interview with Micheal Flahery (Walden Media president). The first five minutes are the most interesting for Narnia fans. Flaherty talks about why he thinks VDT’s box office started slow, the darkness in Prince Caspian, and finally gives an update on the status of the next film.
Last we heard, it sounded pretty certain that if they made another Narnia film, it would be The Magician’s Nephew. But here, Flaherty seems to indicate nothing has been finalized:
“We’re still in our conversations right now with 20th Century Fox, and the C.S. Lewis Estate who own the rights to all the books. We’re all trying to come to an agreement about which film to do next and how to film it. So, we’re waiting to see where that goes.”
Flaherty talked about book sales in his last update. Here, he gives another reason they are considering The Magician’s Nephew:
“But there are some elements in [the books] that are a little tough, and Caspian is the darkest, and Silver Chair is pretty dark too… physically and tonally. A lot of it takes place underground. That’s why, for the next one, we’re really hoping to go in the direction of The Magician’s Nephew.”
UPDATE 2: The clip is on our YouTube Channel. Listen below…
Transcript:
(1:50 – 5:14)
IO: [Dawn Treader] started out very slowly in the United States.
MF: “Yeah, very slow. Made for an agonizing opening weekend.”
IO: What do you think went on? Why do you think it was so slow?
MF: “People are just so busy at Christmas time. And we in Hollywood are so ego-centric. We feel like everyone can just drop everything they have, all their family commitments, all their Christmas commitments and dedicate themselves to seeing a movie on opening day. And we’re real impatient. But, eventually the movie stayed in the theaters and ended up doing really well. We were pleased with it.”
IO: It did much better overseas, didn’t it?
MF: “Three times what it did here. It’s quite a puzzle, and it’s fun because there’s so little research that’s done in Hollywood. You’re free to just forward as many theories as you want. And, I don’t really know why the disparity is. What’s interesting in the United States is, ticket sales almost exactly mirror the book sales. So the number of people who saw Prince Caspian was half the number of people who saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And the book sales are half. The people who saw Dawn Treader was about a third less than the people who saw Prince Caspian. And the book sales are about a third less.”
IO: Prince Caspian was a bit darker and grim and violent.
MF: “Yeah, and this is the paradox when you want to do faithful adaptations. That book is a dark war kind of novel. And we actually pulled back a little. In one scene, Peter beheads a couple of people [laughs]. At the end they run into some Greek gods who give everybody wine and they get drunk. So it’s amazing because I think a lot of us, in our minds, have this perfect image of these Narnia books because we grew up with them. But there are some elements in there that are a little tough, and Caspian is the darkest, and Silver Chair is pretty dark too… physically and tonally. A lot of it takes place underground. That’s why, for the next one, we’re really hoping to go in the direction of The Magician’s Nephew.”
IO: You talk about mirroring the book sales. The Magician’s Nephew was the second-highest seller of the series, wasn’t it?
MF: “Yes. And pretty close, sort of nipping at the heels of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s amazing and it’s a great origin story. And I like the way that Lewis did it and that’s what we’re trying to do with our film, which is: You actually start in the middle of the story, so then when you tell the origin it’s much more interesting. You can say to yourself ‘that’s where the lamp-post came from!’”
IO: Oh yeah, you can connect the dots on that which is always a lot of fun. What about production schedule and all of that? Do you have a script for this yet?
MF: “No, we don’t. We’re still in our conversations right now with 20th Century Fox, and the C.S. Lewis Estate who own the rights to all the books. So, we’re all trying to come to an agreement about which film to do next and how to film it. So, we’re waiting to see where that goes.”
Back in October, NarniaWeb posted a poll on the homepage asking which film should be made next. 86% voted for The Silver Chair (1,841 total votes).
UPDATE 1: We just added a new poll. Go back to the homepage and scroll down to the poll on the bottom-right.
Very good points. If they had (or have) the funds they should film Horse and His Boy while they're filming the next movie, or right after the profits from Narnia 4 come in. That way the ages aren't so off and Williams Moseley won't be like 40 in Last Battle.
the CS lewis estate decided back in 2001 to bring Narnia to the secular audience. They intentionally decided to defang the new movies of it's christian undertone to bring it to a wider audience. Now you see the results of trying to rewrite a series which is very christian at its core. Baffling decisions and twisted plots. It would not surprise me to find out that the CS Lewis estate handlers were not christians or against christianity. Douug Gresham has stated publicly he'd like to see Narnia dragged out of the christian ghetto, and enjoyed by everyone. That means he is willing, to a certain extent, to tolerate the dechistianizing of the series just to bring it "up to date"and more palatable to the supposedly more secular audiences of today. He has to pick his battles. I6t would have been nice to see a faithful adaptaion, I think it would have been more successsful, actually.
it;s just professional and good business sense to put a positive spin on things in your business. Ya gotta keep up an upbeat front in show biz or you get your crtics jumping on you more.
I completely agree. It's very sad the way they'd like to pull Christianity out of it. Thankfully, I think Lewis wrote the books in such a way as to make it difficult to completely pull it out. Guess that's why they keep feeling the need to re-write the stories for the movies.
the ugly, drab poster didn't help either. they corrected that with the beautiful dvd cover.
@not: i'll try to remember, i read so much it's hard to recall, probably under anti twilight type articles. i just now found my harry potter critiques way after the debate elsewhere ended. : (
that will be so weird seeing them all grown up for real. this series is taking so long they'll all be on medicare by the time it's done.
The Magician's Nephew or The Horse and His Boy is better to be next. For I think it's better if they make Slver Chair then Last Battle. But for instance, if they make either MN or HHB next, it's too far away from the chronology. But, it's better if they make SC and LB as their final 2 movies, I think it would be better. SC-dark and enchantment rules. Then LB-end of the chronicles. Just I said it's better if they make 2 movies in a same year.
It's fine HQSB, I found a site saying that. I'll post the link later 🙂
I think a rainbow is the way to go for SC. SC should have contrasting moments of darkness and light, like the interweaving themes of hope and despair (and not unlike the tone of LWW). The grimness of experiment house in a grey fall, contrasted with the sunny yellow, or yellow-green of Aslan's country, a land of indefinable joy especially compared to EH; then there's the brown of the court saying goodbye to their beloved king on an autumn day, then the fire-side red of a merry evening at Cair Paravel, and the children's delight in this newly discovered world (remember even Eustace is new to Cair Paravel); the dark blue mystery and suspense of the Parliament of Owls; the crisp, refreshing medium green of Marshwiggle country (I posted a picture of it on the forum) . . . the list goes on.
Basically, I don't think a uniform tone would do the book or it's complex themes justice.
All right here it is:
http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/screen/goodwyn-vampires-obsession.aspx
Didn't work. Serch on google: VAMPIRE and CHRISTIAN and click on the first website that comes up. Make sure it's CBN.com (Christian Broadcasting Network). Sorry about that!
they should make more narnia films, like i really want the orginal actors to play their roles, but they are growing up fast : )
I find it hard to pick a favorit book but i think they should make all the book into movies! that way u can have a set.
I just hope they make all the books into movies. I think the HHB would be a great one to release next or even the sc. Some of the darkness would be taken away with good old puddleglum!!
the best article i read was a literary analysis, had about 10 points it explained, another point was christ rose from the dead, vs dracula has his own demented form of resurection when he rises from the dead every night, something like that. i'm sure i archived the article somewhere………looking……not cbn but i do believe their articles are good
louisiana state university lecture notes on dracula – google it, also dracula and religion, googl it
it's ok to have evil characters, it's just that they should be defeated in the end. not like today where the evil characters are made to look cooler and more sympathetic, and then they can craftily slide their way into people's sympathies. That's the real danger, the creeping in of evil into people's hearts, catching them off guard.
I can't believe Harry Potter was done in 10 years- and they were making them while the books were still being written. Why are they going so slow with books that have been available for 50 years? there should have been a new movie every year like they originally planned. (Although i realize that writer's strike in 2008 really threw things off)
Use Wookiees!!! 🙂
I say-make them all, make them in CSL's preferred order AND THEN make the cosmic trilogy starting with Out of the Silent Planet, then Voyage to Venus, and finally That Hideous Strength.
Good point.
Absolutley, I thought that it should have been more cleverly planned, and they need to be made closer to the book. I mean seroisly, look at the last two movies and how they were not even CLOSE to the books. I think Lewis would be very dissapointed at how the franchise is doing lately, and how annoying Flahertys excuses are. I think they need a change in directing, they need Adamsom back for SC/MN. And I will be very very very angry if they mess up on this next one.
Kind of how LWW kept alternating the tone of the movie, even though it was mostly green. The refreshing medium green of the marshes, I thought it would be more like a yellowish grey color.
I love those books, and Out of the Silent Planet would make an amazing movie. I thought that Perelandra was a little boring, but I think it would be really good if they had the right special effects, and it was a very big budget movie. The only question though is who would be willing to take on a project like that, and who would direct it. I hope somebody does those books though.
Yellow-grey? What does that look like? It doesn't sound very invigorating, which is how Lewis described marshwiggle country.
Here's my pic of marshwiggle land:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frank-will/2344386320/lightbox/
At the very least, I know am happy the ones up for consideration are "The Silver Chair" and "The Magician's Nephew," being my next two favorites next to "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe" and "Voyage Of The Dawn Threader."
greenlight the movie already!!!!!!!!1 can't wait any-longer!!!!! 20 fox!!! what are u waiting!!!
narnian chronicles in facebook. pls like it. it's for us narnians!
i dont really see how the silver chair is all that dark as you all are making it out to be! i mean if you read the book or lissen to the ado it not that bad. It is just a adventure!
i think they should do the sc and lb now because they have to bring everyone (except susan) back in those two movies. in the horse and his boy and the magicians nephew they can use two new people.
It's better if they film two Narnia movies in a same year. Narnia is one of the GREATEST and BEST films ever made for it shows us the Love of God and His Light.
Silver Chair might be the darkest of the chronicles, but in the end of the story, they accomplished their mission and Aslan shows them the light.
Further Up and Further In! Let's all hope that the whole Chronicles of Narnia will be made into movies. They should start casting and producing Narnia 4. Let's not loose hope, Aslan's (Jesus') there and He will save Narnia films and one day the Film will be Box-office again!
I think if they made MN, it could be the last one…. whereas If they made Silver Chair, they could have a bit more future for the franchise (specially now that Harry is out of the way)…
agree
yeah, fleshing things out creatively is great, i liked the scenes adding in susan and peter in vdt-it was especially great seeing peter acting like himself again and smiling like in lww. totally CHANGING plots is absurd because no one in hollywood today can come close to lewis' genius. soul swallowing mists? it is inferior to the original material. people in the US are not as antichristian as the media portrays. stick to the original plot and the movies will be successful. like LWW.
I still dont know about that one. I always thought of it more like a swamp.
Does anyone have an extra $800,000,000 we can borrow to help get these last few movies out of the way? Kthanks :).
they should TOTALLY make another one!but first you should finish of the caspian series.:)
the only 'lame' narnia book was the horse and his boy.i cant stand that one.my favorite is the silver chai.naturally!!:)
Prince Caspian is NOT a dark book! The movie was, but it wasn't anything like the book, soo…..
if they make the slver chair and i get the jill pore part i audition for then I would LOVE to act with will poulter!the perfect eustace TOTALLY!!!:))))
If I won 5 million dollars,I would use 4 million to back up SC! But you know, if some big, influencial movie star or someone else big in media (Ophra anyone?) would put their money with Fox/Walden to make the rest of the Narnian films, we'd see all the books on the big screen by 2018!
I just made a page in facebook where I will put the latest of Narnia 4. pls visitt it and like it.
Just search Narnia 4. thanks Narnians!
Can't even wait to see Narnia 4 in the big-sreen. Start casting,and start to write a script. Just thinking, there should be a fund to make Narnia 4 better! Let's help the Narnia production team to make Narnia 4 even better!
It's a marsh, and a marsh is a type of swamp (according to the dictionary anyway).
Does that mean (as long as there's no writers strike) Narnia 4 will come out faster then VDT???
I do! (Just let me go and get the Monopoly box . . . 🙂 )
You have $800 mil in monopoly money? :O
I have a $1 million dollar bill with the Statue of Liberty on it that I'll donate to the cause =D
Then marshes are the color of swamps. Gee, why do we have to argue over the color of a marsh.
Cool!!! I love fantasy books!
Hum…I would pick "Returned Souls" or "Hearts of Destinies". I can't help much since I haven't read the book but those names sound cool!!!!
P.S. I write books too, fellow writer!!!
And yes We should keep the subject on Narnia.
And as a fellow writer to another just keep your book God Glorifying, like all Christian authors have to learn. 🙂
is that possible? to help raise money for the films and send it to the producers?
I'm sure FOX/Walden would feel sorry for us and want to give us a hand, lol.
LOL – I was just teasing 🙂
The reason so many people are familiar with LWW is because it is the first book. It was published first so it is the first book. Some people who don't know that seem to think MN is the first book and that is why it has a lot of sales.
This guy is acting like because there seems to be a direct correlation between sales of the book and sales of the film that that will continue. The thing is that may be true up to this point, but i do not think making MN next will grant them as good of sales as LWW had.
I think they are completely wrong about that. MN would still be the next sequel in the Chronicles of Narnia and unless they start making really good movies they aren't going to keep any sort of audience. They have to make better movies.
It has also been said that Lewis would have happily agreed with a child who sent a letter claiming that reading a book in publication order was the best way to do it. I think that publication order is completely the wrong way to do it. The story is centered around the events of LWW and to read MN first is to take away from the reveals that exist in that story that you are supposed to learn such as where the lamppost came from.
I meant i think chronological order is the complete wrong way to read them.
LWW is not directly allegorical either. Even the reason behind Aslan's death is different. I don't think you should make such a direct allegorical connection.
Also i completely disagree with someones list back there. I would consider LB the best then PC then HaHB and then LWW. The other three i would consider his lesser works though still great in their own right.