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.
i think HHB would make reat, stand alone film bu t i doubt we'll ever see that one if mn and sc are such a struggle.
actually, Non, ive always enjoyed your literate and articulate comments. don't mind the immature comments, they will grow up eventually.
I think that thye should do Silver chair.. not just because its the best one. but also Eustuce is in it and he is only a few years older in silver chair then he is in votdt. It would make more sense to make a movie with a actor that you actually need. in MN you can always find some new actors sense there are no people in that book in the others.
Oh, stop! I can't take it anymore! Laugh, laugh!
In the books, Eustace is only supposed to be a few months older. If they keep Will P, they'll have to alter the beginning a bit so that it makes more sense. He can't talk about a recent change when he's obviously aged years since his last Narnia experience.
I really really hope they make another movie. I was super disappointed in Fox when they made Voyage of the Dawn Treader. ): I HOPE Disney is able to do it again. LET'S GO DISNEY!! :DD
Yes!! Lol
Agree.
Thanks, Queen Shelly Belly. I think you're swell, too. As for the immature comments, I can assure you, they paled significantly to the reaction I received from my earliest posts here. Heh. Most people learn to love me. In time. A lot of time…
This is a good thing, bad that we have to wait, good in that it would allow a fresh reboot….but I wouldn't want them to remake LWW-VDT….I'd want them to pick up where they left off…as weird as that sounds…..some time in our lifetimes please!
This is awful. All the goodwill from the first three movies will be lost, the teams disbanded, the momentum gone. For people who think it's easy to regenerate that after a few years, you're dreaming. Whoever dropped the ball on this one should be fired. Narnia on the big screen is dead as far as we know it. What a waste of Will Poulter.
Yeah, Maybe…I only see a reboot in the future for Narnia
There's an awful lot of wisdom in your observations, Mary. "Waste" is the perfect description of the Walden years, post-2005. Wasted talent, wasted money, and, worst of all, a glorious OPPORTUNITY wasted, that may never come back again.
No studio is going to spend a dime to "reboot" this franchise. Not in the foreseeable future, to be certain. It would be financial suicide, and sheer lunacy. Continuing it MAY be a REMOTE possibility. Rebooting? No.
It would be a financial disaster. If there will ever be a reboot of Narnia, we are gonna have to wait for a long while.
Yeah, Dylan, I can sort of picture a modernized reboot 30 years from now. Not saying I expect it, but I wouldn't be scratching my head wondering what on earth they were thinking, as I would if they rebooted much sooner.
i just say meh… movie people are being to difficult… agreed?
I love the Chronicles as a whole, and each book is special, in its own way, but I have just never seen the appeal of 'The Horse and His Boy' as a standalone… anything. It's a mildly interesting peek into the peripheral edges of the "Golden Age" of Narnia, and it's definitely… unique… but very little of it, well… appeals… to me, beyond its role as a component of the larger overall saga. A component that could be, easily, bypassed within the universe of the film franchise. I know everyone has their favourites, but, boy, I could sleep very well if this is never adapted. I just think it would be a DREADFULLY dull film, it comes with heavy baggage, and the marketing would be ridiculously (and deceptively) Pevensie-centric. Would I love to see all of the books adapted? Absolutely. I'd be there opening night. But, if there's one I could easily live without, and if we have to eliminate one on the basis of overall potential as a "draw", 'The Horse and His Boy' is it, for me.
On the other hand, it easily would be the most affordable of the remaining books to adapt. It could be the smaller, more character-driven, film that I really wanted, to a certain extent, 'Prince Caspian' to be. It could work. Maybe. Sort of. There's just, well, not much from that book that my heart longs to see come to life on-screen, and I honestly don't see how it would appeal to the general public, beyond, perhaps, the relatively incidental Pevensie content, and the simplicity of the 'Prince and the Pauper' plot.
Now, I know, as I said, that many people love this book, and I, sincerely, would greatly appreciate hearing why (not to argue, just to try and understand the reasoning behind it), but, to me, this is the one book in the series that just doesn't make me want to love it. It's like a combination of a dry Narnian history lesson, a heavy-handed Sunday School sermon (as opposed to a thoughtful, moving message of faith), and some antiquated cultural perceptions. Convince me, if you'd like to. I'm willing to listen. I just have never "gotten" this one, and can't see it as an interesting film. Certainly not compared to its competition in the remaining books of the series.
Mary, you and I disagree on two points:
1. Momentum. Can a lapse of time kill a series' momentum? Definitely. Is this a serious concern for the Narnia series? No. Why not? Because the Narnia franchise has no momentum left to lose. VDT's weak opening bears that out.
2. The "death" of the Narnia series. I would say that another Narnia movie would be a risk, whether it comes out next year, or ten years from now. But, its a risk that may just pay off. Whether or not studios see that potential is anyone's guess.
Yeah, my ultimate dream is to play Polly Plummer. But I am probably too tall. I'm 5'8" & 1/2. So….Yeah.
Whoa, scary thought. Please no reboot! Ugh, I'm shivering just to think about it. Well, for one thing, nobody can make a better LWW. Pc was pretty good, but not great, and Vdt was just a disappointment. So, maybe, in following the slight downhill-ness of these films, they just might make a reboot. If that makes any sense at all for all of you NarniaWebbers out there, I really don't know.
They would probably alow that. Just think about how old Edmund was in VDT, he was much older and taller then he was in the book, so I think you could get the part.
I think they should re-do VDT, using same exact cast, ship, cg, everything, just leave out the green mist and add in parts from the book.
Courageous was so goood!!!!!!! I went this past Friday with my parents and some of my siblings. The theater was so packed, we couldn't sit in the same row together. Everyone there seemed to enjoy it; it makes you laugh and cry, then cry and laugh, then do it all over again. Would definitely go see it again.
I would love it more movies like Courageous and the Narnia films were being made. There have been some good ones, but not as many as I would like.
Yeah…That would work. I kinda liked the green mist though. Yes, I know, I'm really weird. It was an interesting twist.
I TOTALLY agree with you!!!
"Iee reeemimber lak eet wass yeesterdeeeee…..Ol Pete'n Deelan wur laffin aboot somesing…"
(anyone need translation?)
I thought I was tall too, until you said 5' 8" 1/2. I'm a measly 5' 6" 1/2, blond-haired, blue-eyed, and can do a pretty good English accent.
YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but, may I point out, that the reason that their option to make the films slid was because of some disagreements between the companies, and/or with the estate themselves. If they can not make decisions that are pleasing to all parties or at least differ to the controlling party (cs lewis) then they probably wouldn't be good to finish out the series.
Still stylistically they are the ones in my opinion most suited for the job. They just need more forethought into how the stories will be storylined and produced. Has walden ever made a "series" before? It only seems sensible that they would begin story development on several movies at once to make any plot continuity would be taken care of in advance (IE caspians accent).
It's a legal issue. They cannot legally make another Narnia movie until the moratoriam has passed, because Walden and Fox no longer have rights to the movies.
The law is messing it up. The moratoriam law.
I respectably disagree with Hiking Peter, I'm sure someone can make a much better LWW movie. Not saying that the LWW was bad or that the entire movie was bad, but there was a lot of things that got cut from the movie that was in the books and substituted for scenes which I thought lost some of the moments we could have had much better in the film.
Two Things:
1. Dawn Threader was way better than Prince Caspian. The 2nd movie was the least magical and went on for way too long in the end.
2. Neither "The Silver Chair" or "Magician's Nephew" need even Dawn Threader's budget to be done properly. Also, whining about a 415 million dollar gross on a 155 million dollar budget is outrageous. This film has outgrossed X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, and Captain America, and we can pretty much expect sequels to 2 out of the 3 in some form or another.
So why does Narnia always face such jeopardy?
If you ask me (for the thousandth time), "The Silver Chair" cold be made on a 130 million dollar budget, clock in at about 2hrs, and turn out perfect. The book is probably the easiest to adapt out of the whole series.
If you ask me again, Walden Media are just money grabbers who cry everytime a film doesn't make 700 mil. I bet Fox would love to keep this franchise.
Speaking of Fox, recall they were in a lot of financial trouble, and then, boom-they get Avatar that makes them billions practically, and then Narnia seems to go so well (but not according to officials), and boom, we hear no word. MGM goes bankrupt though. Maybe they are wishing they'd grabbed Narnia too.
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Quote: "Neither "The Silver Chair" or "Magician’s Nephew" need even Dawn Threader’s budget to be done properly."
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You could not adapt either of those books, in any recognizable form, for a dime less than what they spent on 'Dawn Treader'. Not today, and certainly not years from now. Films are expensive. Special effects films are VERY expensive. There's no more fat to be trimmed, and still give the filmmakers the freedom to tell these stories with the care that they deserve. They've already taken away the 35mm film. "Cost" is not the issue at this point. 'Dawn Treader' failed to perform domestically. THAT is why they've pulled the plug. Read on, and I'll explain.
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Quote: "Also, whining about a 415 million dollar gross on a 155 million dollar budget is outrageous. This film has outgrossed X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, and Captain America, and we can pretty much expect sequels to 2 out of the 3 in some form or another.
So why does Narnia always face such jeopardy?"
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Here's why: your conclusions are way, way off. "Gross" is RELATIVE. DOMESTIC gross is far, far more important to the financial success of a film than worldwide totals. You CANNOT compare the "success" of two different films by looking at their worldwide totals. It's a meaningless number, in and of itself. 'Dawn Treader' did very well internationally, yes. Unfortunately, that means next to nothing, as the studios receive a FRACTION of the international gross from exhibitors. Hollywood films make their money DOMESTICALLY, and, specifically, during the first three weeks of domestic release. This is the critical market, and the critical time. Their take drops off sharply, and increasingly, after this time.
When you compare their respective domestic totals for the first three weeks in release, 'Captain America', 'Green Lantern', and 'X-Men: First Class' ALL performed significantly better than 'Dawn Treader'. It's not even close, really.
'Captain America' $149,760,206
'X-Men: First Class' $126,214,928
'Green Lantern' $106,583,956
'Dawn Treader'$76,673,622
Looking at those numbers, and expecting "2 or 3 sequels" is wishful thinking. As an aside, the term "sequel" shouldn't even be used in connection with the Chronicles, and thinking of them in those terms has been disastrous for the film franchise. These are seven different literary properties that have to be evaluated on their own, individual merit. Walden failed, miserably, to comprehend this.
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Quote: ""The Silver Chair" cold be made on a 130 million dollar budget, clock in at about 2hrs, and turn out perfect. The book is probably the easiest to adapt out of the whole series."
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In 2001, perhaps. NOT 2011. They could certainly make *a* film for that much. I'd prefer to see a GOOD one.
I'd LOVE to see 'The Silver Chair' next. But, everyone forgets that half of the book takes place underground, in the dark, often in confined spaces. I don't know how that can be considered easier to adapt than 'The Horse and His Boy', which would contain a fraction of the effects shot, much fewer elaborate sets, and is an infinitely simpler story. Definitely not my preferred choice amongst the remaining books, as I state above in this thread, but it's almost certainly "easier" to adapt, and THAT would be your one and only shot at a lower cost Narnia film. Not by much, but…
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Quote: "If you ask me again, Walden Media are just money grabbers who cry everytime a film doesn’t make 700 mil. I bet Fox would love to keep this franchise."
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As much as Walden are responsible for the awful product that was the last film, and for burning money like it was going out of style with 'Prince Caspian', I tremble with great fear and trepidation at the thought of FOX adapting the remaining books without their influence. I also think they are ripped on far too much around here, for not wanting to throw good money after bad. As much as I love Narnia, there is no way I would ever invest a cent of my own money in any film not called: 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'. Well, maybe I'd toss a few bucks into the ring for 'The Magician's Nephew', but, my point is, this is a very brave thing they tried here. Well… daring, anyway. Did it work? Not always, and not always very well. But, they TRIED, when no one else would. When many thought this franchise was impossible to tackle. I think these recent events are, for all intents and purposes, their admission that they simply no longer know how to make these films work. No shame in that. They have families to feed, and, I do not blame them, at all, for abandoning ship at this point, if that is their ultimate decision. I am much more grateful to them than I am angry or frustrated. As we all should be. If it isn't working for them, let someone else try, and let's all move on. But enough of the "crying" nonsense. It's a logical business decision at this point. Anyone thinking this franchise is a good investment right now, I have some seaside property in Saskatchewan for sale…
Hmmmmm. Ok….. (Laugh laugh)
True, but still, there's the one little problem of an accent… I might be able to pull it off. Like, the only time I ever use the accent is once a year at a madrigal dinner, and there, everyone looks at me weirdly. 🙂
Hey! Eustace could be in college!……
Yeah, but I was thinking of the cast. Georgie was Lucy. And Aslan…I took my Mom to see the movie at the theater, and when he walked out she said, "Ohhhh…He's beautiful!". Not that I am arguing with you or anything, but, yes, I guess they could do a bit better.
Oh, joy, Another argument! 🙂 Just a sec, let me get my popcorn!
A british accent is easy too fake, its getting the right dialect and sound thats the hard part.
Oohh, theeennn reeemmeeember thee timme whheeen Aslans Bff sstarted tallkinng likkke an ooold person…… Thoossee wereee someee good timesss…
Instead of Experiment house, it could be Experiement University!
Hmmm….I know your name is not to be taken literally, but how do you negotiate THAT??? There is no more room for agument or discussion, Non just proved an exellant point.
LOL!!!
Another thing Psycho or whatever you call yourself, how do you justify PC being better then VDT???
Oh, and you can probably expect sequels from ALL of those movies. If Im not mistaken, GL has a planned sequel, Cpatain America has a planned sequel, and so does First class.
Apparently your mom has a taste for lions? JK. But I completely agree with you 100 percent, the cast was PERFECT. I dont really know if there were any scenes in the book that were left out of the movie that were real "special" scenes.
Okay, what do you mean by that?
OOOHHH, Yeeesssss, Iiiii rememmmmber thaaaat. Baaackk wheennnn we weerrre younggggg.
Yeah, like the cockney accent is super easy. You shouldn't have much trouble. Australian is really easy too, mate! (Pun intended) So's Italian.
Yes, and he might be old enough to be working on his doctorate in psychiatry! (what would be Jill's degree in what, though?)
Well, not a taste for lions in particular, but, hey. 🙂 (he was quite the handsome lion)
Huh?
(Crunch, crunch) Hey, why isn't anyone jumping into this great show? (crunch)
Gooooodddd tiimesss, good timmmeees……
He is about as handsome as lions get.
I never really saw Eustace as a phyciatric kind of guy. He would be a good radio talk show host. No seriously, Will poulter has got a voice for radio.
Italian is pretty easy, but the easiest of all time is the Canadian dialect eh?
Okay……