Douglas Gresham on Future Narnia Films
C.S. Lewis’ stepson (and co-producer of the films) Douglas Gresham appeared on Middle-earth Radio today and said a few words about the possibility of future Narnia films. He confirmed that “Walden’s contract with the company has expired,” but he hopes to be able to start production on another film in “three or four years time.” When asked which of the remaining books he is most excited about seeing on screen, he simply answered “all of them.” Listen to a couple short clips below:
Paul Martin from NarniaFans.com also appeared on the program!
UPDATE: The full discussion is on iTunes. (Select the first option)
Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
I would say the odds of that film ever being made (in any recognizable form) are far worse than the odds of the original actors assuming those roles, were it to be made. Jayde630 has somewhat of a point, though. While it isn't impossible, time is certainly becoming a factor. William Moseley is already twenty-four. Assuming that:
1) 'The Last Battle' is made (HUGE, HUGE assumption)
2) All four remaining books are adapted, at an average of three years between (I know the average thus far has been 2.5 years, but, since there is this raging paranoia about summer releases, and two years is not enough time to make these films, properly, logic suggests that we will see the films, should they ever be made, released every third Christmas)
3) They start filming the next one in exactly three years from today…
…then Moseley would be thirty-six, Anna Popplewell would be almost thirty-five, Skander Keynes would be thirty-two, and Georgie Henley would be twenty-eight when filming of 'The Last Battle' would commence. Certainly *passable* for the required ages, at this point, but, if we're still waiting for the fourth film five years from now, it would be really stretching it. Anything is possible, though. Of course, they could adapt fewer of the books, shortening the overall number of years, but I can't really see them adapting 'The Last Battle', and NOT the other ones.
Carrie Underwood's "There's a Place for Us" IS NOT NAUSEATING!!!!! Dawn Treaderized?? I also wouldn't mind having a plush Puzzle! I thought that Walden has done an AWESOME JOB with the Narnia franchise!
While I'm saddened that it'll be that long, I gotta say I have been less than pleased with these movies as a fan of the books. While the cast has been great, its not like these are the first actors in these roles, and it wouldn't be the first time that characters have been recast (anybody whose a fan of Stargate would know this) so I'm sure they could find actors just as good then.
If and when they restart IMO they should start doing it chronologically – started with magician's Nephew and then LWW and then Horse and His Boy. I would LOVE to see movies get done other than the first four because they've never been done before.
I think this is a good thing because it would A) Allow them to concoct a proper strategy and B) allow them to craft movies that are closer to the books and more true to the spirit and intention of C.S. Lewis when he wrote the books. The problem with Narnia vs. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, other than not having a consistent cast is that they have not had a solid plan on how to make these movies. They should have said something like "okay, we're going to do X then X then X and have maybe 2 years in between each and if we need to we'll shoot scenes for X during X before the actors age" This series could EASILY be the next Harry Potter or Twilight if it had been managed as a film series properly. It needs a consistent director rather than different ones (something that I didn't like about the Harry Potter series) who understands the source material the same way Peter Jackson understands Lord of the Rings and Tolkien. Changes to the movies are OKAY as long as you stick to the spirit of the original series, something I feel the movie series has often faltered at especially in the case of Prince Caspian.
Well, you certainly opened my eyes with those five exclamation points. I am seriously rethinking my positions now…
Let me guess, they would the cheesy twinkling noices during the whole movie too! And then they would probably give the white witch a meaningless cameo AGAIN…..
Right. As soon as I had seen LWW and enjoyed it so much, I expected the series to be like that. I expected that Gregson-Williams would be doing the score for the next movies, that Disney would stay with the project, and that Adamson would be directing. So in a sense, it could be evaluated that this series is a failure SO FAR. I think they have a chance to redeem themselves,and continue the series with a clean slate, and I think that they can accomplish that by doing MN as the next movie. I just hope that Adamson will direct it. But we will see in four years….
Your name is so sappy!
Does this mean new actors ?
If the Spiderman franchise already has a reboot, why not the Narnian Series and takes the Harry Potter rule of series film making to new heights. Great script that remained pretty faithful to its source with high production values and add-on a superb casts, maybe, this time around, all the series will be produced timely and gained attraction.
@220CT: I highly doubt that God really cares about the Narnia series, since they're made by secular moviemakers. Jesus is not scheduling His return around the Narnia movies, I can assure you that!
Spider-Man is an INFINITELY more popular and bankable property than 'Narnia'. "Rebooting" is what comic books do CONSTANTLY, so it's far, far easier to accept that same premise when you translate that kind of property to the big screen. It's part of their creative DNA, and how they constantly stay relevant to new audiences and new generations. Rebooting a relatively obscure literary franchise after such a short period of time would be absolutely CATASTROPHIC for anyone willing to invest good money in such a harebrained scheme. Narniamania was brief, and it's dead. The ONE book that the general public was familiar with has been adapted, adapted well, and they have moved on. I seriously cannot believe how many of you think this is somehow a feasible option. It's a MIRACLE that we got these three films at all. I'm not saying they were all miraculously good, but their mere EXISTENCE is miraculous. You are NOT going to see them remade anytime soon. I mean, if that's what you want, then don't give up the fight. I just don't see even the slightest bit of logic in the premise. ONE of these films has turned a profit, one was a financial black hole, and one had its pic-a-nic lunch stolen by Yogi Bear. Yogi Bear! Who wants to sign that first reboot cheque? Anyone?
@220- perry stone was the producer who recently died that said he had obtained financing for Magician's Nephew,. if he were still alive, i think things would not have come to a stop.
@dylan – scripture says no one knows the day or hour but I (God) command you to watch for the season so you will not be caught unawares like the foolish virgins with no oil for their lamps.
LOL, right!
is perry stone the boss in superman? or is that perry white? whatever! i mean the deceased narnia producer!! : )
i know! it's crazy!! coould it be -SATAN?? <in sat. nite live churchlady voice………..>
hey! i was looking forward to my plush Puzzle!!
Aliea, it does say in the books – it's only a few months, less than a full term (1/3 of school year in England), between VDT and SC.
I could see them stretching it out to 12 months, so that Eustace has done a lot of growing in that time (like Edmund did between LWW and PC). Will could play a 15-16 year old now or in the next few years.
Eustace is the only character who reappears, apart from Trumpkin (as an elderly dwarf, just different makeup), and Caspian at the end (and his look can be same as in VDT).
Perry Moore wasn't working on these films when he died. His death was very sad but does not affect the films.
High Queen SB, Perry Moore allegedly told a family member that he was getting funding for MN, but as he had not been working on the movies for a few years this seems to have be an unfounded rumour.
perry stone is a tv preacher, sorry.lol
it said right on 2 narnia websites he had obtained funding for MN. go read the archives.
what is JP4?
a former story here said WALDEN pulled out-
Apted leaving the series is something to worry about?
No major characters were recast in Stargate. When they let Michael Shanks go, they replaced the character of Daniel Jackson with another character altogether, rather than just replacing the actor who played him (and it was a disaster).
They did the same thing with O'Neill.
Jurassic Park 4. 😉
4 to 5 years (if that's really how long it will be, could be more) is quite a long time, true. But like Wolf said, other movies have taken longer – I've been waiting for the Hobbit for seven years!
It should be pointed out that there's no confirmation that a movie will even be made in 4 to 5 years, this is just Douglas Gresham's hope. It's nice to know he's still pushing for these films, but honestly, I already knew that. I don't think he'd ever give up. We just have to wait and see.
^ Correction: LOL, um, 3-4 years*… not sure why I said 4-5. That's my pessimistic Marshwiggle side acting up. =P
What I believe Browncoat1984 was referring to with Stargate:
The old 1994 movie, pre-series, had different Jack and Daniel actors (Kurt Russell and James Spader, I believe), who were replaced by Richard Dean Anderson (of MacGyver fame) and Michael Shanks very successfully.
Also, much later in the series, the character of Elizabeth Weir had an actor swap between her first two episodes at the end of a season and her stay on Atlantis. (Names escape me there. :P)
And hey, I liked Jonas! He wasn't Daniel, but he was cool anyway. XD
(Will listen to the interview later – reacting to the comments right now)
Filmmaker wannabe who hangs out with professionals here. 🙂 Organised by points because I'm a prolific babbler. XD
(1) A reboot is probably a good thing. If the estate is willing to give it another go.
(2) Maybe we'll get the BBC interested. Real British. I wouldn't even mind a new tv series – if you look at their work on Merlin and Doctor Who, they can do quite a lot on a TV budget.
(3) The biggest issues I see with the current releases are the frequent conflicts between the Estate/book-fans and the filmmakers (people who follow the money. Which is completely legitimate! We artists have to eat too!), the big-budget nature of the series, and the fact that Walden Media never has been really successful at the whole making money thing. They've always been a niche audience prodco, which is fine! Really enjoy some of their films like City of Ember. But they've never enjoyed the success of certain other book adaptations, and I suspect this is a marketing error combined with a desire to do it right and giving each film too much budget.
(4) As brilliant as Georgie Henley and Will Poulter (and of course the rest of the cast!) were, if we get a reboot everyone will adjust. Remember the BBC mini-series from the 80's! Reboots are part of life with classics. How many versions of Sherlock Holmes are there? How many people have played the Doctor now? (Which is a different situation but the fan backlash is very similar.) Ya'll will get used to it. It's okay.
(5) Narnia will never make it as a Christian film. The market simply isn't there. Don't think I'm bashing Christian filmmaking – the outside Hollywood/Sherwood movement is important to us Christian filmmakers – but the reality is that if you look at the numbers, the Christian market is small, a niche, and difficult to market. Big budget tentpole films like Narnia aren't going to work. LWW did it, but they marketed it very carefully and managed to bring in both the Christian audience and the wide audience. PC lost both audiences.
(There are a number of reasons for this, all debated by people a lot wiser than I.)
The fact remains, though, that the Christian market is not big enough to sustain any film with a budget of, oh, I'd say over 10mil. (debatable number, but it's definitely not going to be up with the budget needed to pull off Narnia)
Fantasy/scifi films are either loved or hated in any market. Big-budget films are dangerous in any market. Combine the two… you've got either a blockbuster or a epic fail.
(6) The Narnia fanbase is rather fickle, IMO. We want a big budget, we want it to be true to the books, we want it to be Christian, we want it to be popular, we want it to be honored and exalted, we don't want it merchandised, we don't want money to be made from it that doesn't go right back into a sequel, we want them all, we want non-cinematic storylines to be the same, and on and on. (I've not even kept up here very well since VDT came out so I don't know what the current wishlist is. :P)
We need to get over this. We can't have everything at once.
Filmmakers do not have the fanbase's wishlist at the top of their minds. They want to tell a good story that will make money.
Trust them. They're human, they make mistakes, but they do generally know what they're doing. 🙂 And the less pressure we put on them, the more likely they are to please. I think they've got the idea that we care by now. 😛
Oh yes, and the series isn't a failure based on whether or not each individual fan liked it. 😛 To the filmmakers, it's generally about the numbers. Numbers are good.
(Why do you think there are so many Transformers movies? 0.o)
Clearly, I missed my calling as an unscrupulous marketer of butchered literary adaptations. In addition to the plush Puzzle, I would set up a toll number for people to spend 50 cents a call/text to vote Susan into Heaven. 3D/IMAX Heaven, of course.
I hope that they reboot these films. I'm sorry guys, but this is honestly how I feel right now. PC and VDT just doomed this series. It needs a clean start over with a team of directors who will treat these series with respect.
I agree, I think God could really care less about a movie series.
I'm hoping reboot and better actors.
What are the odds…
I'm 100% up for option 2! Please reboot these series!
There is a verse in the Bible somewhere that says that what is important to us is important to God. Even if Narnia movies are made by secular people, the message will still be allegorical if they stay somewhat to the books. Even some secular movies have allegory in them. The message is important because Narnia movies have a big influence in our lives, for everyone who sees them. I mean, even a Narnia movie can bring someone to Christ.
Right now, part of me wants MN and the rest of the movies with same cast. Another part of me says that a reboot would be a breath of fresh air. I say its time for Narnia movies to hibernate a little because so many other good movies are coming out presently and Narnia's got three movies now; a trilogy just like Lord of the Rings. You know, Toy Story 3 was made many many years after Toy Story 2. So there's hope.
How depressing! I'll be an old man by the time the Last Battle is released, as will William Moseley and Skandar Keynes.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? 3-4 YEARS!?!?!? THERE IS NO TIME! All the actors are growing up! HURRY UP! Idk about everyone else but Narnia wouldn't be the same without the same actors. When VDT came out I felt that the Narnia series changed a lot. I enjoyed the movie a lot but I felt really sad too when I watched it. I really felt that it was too short and the little parts of Susan and Peter was like a little reminder mocking me that they weren't there. I guess it's just the filming style of the different directors. I really liked the way Andrew A. put it together. Now Michael…he did a really good job but I just missed the other way… Anyway whoever the director is going to be I still want them to make the movies!
3-4 years? I don't know how they'll be able to make "The Silver Chair", since Eustace will be too old. The other books (unless I'm missing one) don't include the current canon of characters, so I think we'll be fine waiting on those.
Yah, but Toy story is animated, Narnia is not, and an actors appeaence can change over a period of time. Thast what im worried about with Poulter.
Dude! I love your name!!!
Hmmm. let me think, Narnia is supposed to be made into a series, but with Spidey, you could do just one movie. Plus I think a Narnia trilogy would cost more then a Spidey trilogy because more CGI. Spidey also would prob have a better box office sale, therefore the series would be successful, so far, its way too risky too rebbot Narnia because of how bad the box office has been for Narnia.
I don't know . . . I have my doubts that companies other than Fox or Walden would be willing to take a gamble on Narnia. I don't pretend to have insider information, though.
Honestly, VDT wasn't that well attended. When it comes to general audiences, I don't think recasting Eustace will be a major issue. The main problem with SC will be getting the tone right.
But will pulter did an amazing job as a eutace i don't want them to recast him :/
Jonas was an insipid pretty boy. Daniel was exciting, imaginative, quirky, you never knew what he was going to say next, and he looked cute in glasses . . . erm . . . sorry, I'm a bit of a Daniel Jackson fan.
Rebooting a film series is a completely different proposition from translating a film to a television series, though.
I just want to know who messed all this up?
Yum! 🙂
I'm glad Gresham brought up the future of the Narnia films. It's about time we heard something from somebody. I think we all should pray about the next movie. After all, these films are more than just fictionalized stories. They effectively communicate deep theological truths that are rich and valuable. In other words, even though their outer appearance is "fantasy," their substance is comparable to that of a valuable resource that is healthy and constructive for anyone who can see the underlying reality it communicates.
It wasn't an individual WHO, it was a collective WHAT. The "what", in this case, being human nature. Very predictable human nature that led, in a rough chronological order, to the following:
1) 'Wardrobe' makes a fortune
2) That success creates the illusion that 'Narnia' is a bankable BRAND
3) The illusion fuels woefully unrealistic expectations for future films
4) Walden and Disney engage in some shockingly reckless riverboat gambling, and go "all in" for "Prince Caspian"
5) "Caspian" can't possibly recover its costs
6) Walden and Disney bean-counters scratch heads, mystified
7) Disney blames "declining trend of interest in franchise", and gets out of Dodge
8) Myth of "Caspian" as a "failure" is born, despite it doing FANTASTIC business at the box office
9) Producers and fans blame EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT of "Prince Caspian" ("Marketing!" "Release Date!" "Too dark!") for the unexpectedly dire state of affairs, EXCEPT its criminally negligent financial management
10) Franchise fades to near obscurity as Walden struggles to find new partner
11) After narrowly escaping the jaws of death, and securing a distribution/marketing agreement with FOX, Walden are so happy to be off the ventilator… they forget to make a GOOD film. Opting, instead, to go for a LIKABLE film. Or, what they PERCEIVE to be a likable film, based on some consultant's report on what elements the audience liked in 'Wardrobe'
12) 'Dawn Treader' fails to perform to even their now revised expectations. Walden President, most amusingly, blames CHRISTMAS RELEASE DATE(!) for woeful domestic performance
13) More head-scratching
The death of the films (at this point, anyway), is a classic example of the catastrophe of success. Walden and Disney misunderstood the distinct nature of each book, thought they were bulletproof, and their poor stewardship resulted in a slow erosion of confidence in the franchise. This was compounded by a very poor final film that nailed the coffin shut. It's a little bit of chaos theory, really. 'Wardrobe''s success was the butterfly flapping its wings, and now, here we are with a tornado on the Indonesian coast. Or something…
Anyway, that's how I see things. Everyone can now return to telling me how a reboot will fix everything.
One of these days, I'll remember to type 8. or -8
Respectfully, i don't think budget was Caspian's problem. While not a perfect film, it is in many ways better than LW&W and was faithful to the book to boot – they just didn't understand the film made i think – as many narnians can't due to change in Peter's character which served wider theme of the story.
Caspian was about a different type of evil that has overcome Narnia and needed to be marketed as such, not marketed as being about Caspian or big battles or petty squabbling.
I don''t see how the next film could be anything other than Magician''s Nephew now, especially due to long delay if a new one gets made. The remaining stories are more stand alone than the previous ones now, and Magician's Nephew is THE ORIGIN story that can connect all the Narnian chronicles into a wider narrative that holds the interest for the wider audience in what Narnia is all about.
Any thoughts?
I would have marketed Caspian about the Castle, Telmarines, the Narnians at the dancing lawn with Caspian, and Lucy's dream sequence with Aslan.
Then the audience would have gone, oh, that's interesting!
It's worth mentioning that we don't know how successful the Spiderman reboot will be yet. If it follows the Hulk trend, then it should do really well, but who knows?
All absolutely correct, N-nC. They have, in addtion, been drifting further from the plot and (more importantly) the feel of the books. VDT has some lovely *bits* but some awful, missed opportunities – such a pity. A reboot is likely (as you say) shortly before hell freezes over.
With equal respect, Nic, you are a CLASSIC example of point 9.
How can you possibly NOT think the budget was a problem? Are you serious? 'Prince Caspian' is an EXTREMELY obscure children's book, not anywhere, REMOTELY, as well know, well liked, or cinematically adaptable as 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Yet, they, STUPEFYINGLY, decided to INCREASE its budget by 25%! Throw out whatever you didn't like about 'Prince Caspian'. Marketing… whatever. It's completely IRRELEVANT, in light of the fact that the film performed VERY well, for what it was. It was NEVER going to do the same business as its predecessor. Impossible. So, to increase its budget by $45 million defies every possible avenue of logic.
Again, this argument that "Oh, if they had only done (whatever), then 'Prince Caspian' would have done so much better…" is COMPLETELY missing the point. It already DID do very well. It simply COST TOO MUCH, and that mistake led to a chain reaction of failure for the franchise. It is a myth that 'Prince Caspian' failed to reach its audience. It is a FACT that is was financially reckless. Narnia is NOT one BRAND with a consistent appeal amongst the public. It is SEVEN different properties with vastly varying potential to work as products of the cinema. 'Caspian' was NEVER going to have the same appeal 'Wardrobe'. Heaven forbid, if there IS a reboot, at any time, and they make that same critical mistake again, failure, once more, is imminent.
Right, but the only differene is that the old spidey movies were acually pretty good, but the old ang lee Hulk SUCKED.