Dawn Treader Grosses $24.5m Opening Weekend
In its first three days, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader grossed an estimated $24.5 Million in the U.S. and Canada. 54% of that came from 3D showings. This total falls short of the $55m earned by Prince Caspian (May 2008), and the $65m by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (December 2005). Dawn Treader‘s worldwide total is at $105m.
Estimated weekend results:
1. $24m – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2. $17m – The Tourist
3. $14m – Tangled
4. $8m – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One
5. $4 – Unstoppable
Box Office Mojo writes:
It was hoped that a return to December along with marketing that pushed the first movie’s lion, witch and Christian angles and the addition of the 3D illusion would rekindle interest, but the third Narnia mustered a weaker start than fantasy also-ran The Golden Compass, let alone the other Narnias.
The domestic total is certainly below expectations. But it fared better internationally. Yahoo writes:
[Dawn Treader and The Tourist] were lambasted by critics, and both carried hefty price tags — $150 million and $100 million, respectively — requiring strong overseas sales to make them profitable. The two previous “Chronicles of Narnia” films did most of their business overseas, where Depp and Jolie are also more popular.
[…]
Fox said it succeeded in its aim of resurrecting the franchise, and was “excited” about its overall prospects.
Dawn Treader will face some big competition from Disney’s Tron: Legacy when it releases this Friday.
Now, it is time to wait and see if another Narnia film is green-lit…
I keep hearing people talk about "re-boots" and "Starting over again" and stuff like that. I think a lot of people don't get it. "Narnia" is not like "Batman," "Hulk," "Star Trek" or Bond," these films are it, either period or at the very least, for a long, long time. If "Last Battle," "Magician's Nephew" and/ or "Horse and His Boy" don't get made this time, don't expect to ever see them. There is no "re-set" button, there is no going back and starting over, either this series gets completed, or we all just loose out.
The reality of the matter is that movie tastes have and are changing. The reason why in a large part that "Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter," and even "Twilight" for that matter have had so much success, even with alterations to their films from the books, is becuase they are NOT kids movies. The family film as it were is under attack and starting to look and feel less like "family films." Even though "Potter" is called a "family film," it and the other two series have all had a fair amount of violence with dark over tones, and each have received the "PG-13" rating, a thing if done right, no "Narnia" film will ever get.
The fact is, most adults or teens see the "PG" rating and skip it. Then you add the fact that it is steeped in religious over tones and fantasy elements not hampered by modern sensibilities. Potter can cast all the spells he wants, but is accepted becuase he is also a normal teen first a foremost dealing with growing up, pimples and learning about girls. People want realistic settings these days and even with the so called "fantasy boom" in movies, they still want those fantasies, grounded in reality. That is not "Narnia." "Narnia" lacks "realism," and is too "safe" for teen and adult audiences on the whole.
If this series had been made in the 80's or 90's though, it would be looked on by that same audience for the most part as "nostalgic." But for today, is thought of as a relic and boring. THAT is why the film makers saw the need to add to the books, things like Susan liking Caspian, or have a "villain" in "Dawn Treader." It was their attempt to make "Narnia" matter to modern audiences.
So, again, as a result, this is it. With all of that in mind, more realistically, if this series ends, it's done for good. No one is going to want to touch it ever again or at the very least, not for a very long time, and then even if they do, that version would be so badly altered that most who cry four over the last two films today would think of them as faithful adaptations in comparison. As a "Narnia" fan, I really don't want to see that happen.
If you want to see these books on the big screen, this is out time, so stand with this series or walk away from it, but understand that this really is it and get away from ideas of "re-boots" as they would most likely never happen or happen in a long time or well. Walden has more respect for these books then maybe any other force in Hollywood and it is time to back them up on that!
I promise it would be worse or the same at Disney and that any other studio may have ruined it far worse. The only thing keeping it from looking anything like the books is Walden Media, who at the core really respects these books. If they were not involved, they either would not be made period or at the very least, really not look anything like the books we all love.
The economy is a good fact that seems to be skipped over in why films don't do better at the book office. There was a really big storm in the mid-west that kept many people from going to the movies, and frankly, a lot of the audience for this film in the US live there. You add that to that fact that audiences are not going to movies as much as they used to, and there you go! Yes, I know some films like "potter" are still seeing so called "big numbers," but in part thanks to 3D ticket prices, those numbers are skewed. It is fair to say that fewer people saw the last "Potter" then the first one in theaters.
I think you missed something that I didn't. The dream sequence with Lucy being Susan was more Lucy's vision of what life must be like for her sister, not reality. Lucy has gotten to the age where she is caring about her looks and what boys think about her. She knows from the past, as well from the letter Susan wrote to her at the start of the film, that Susan is popular with the boys, mostly likely for her looks. Lucy suddenly wants that and feels that if she looked more like Susan, she have Susan's luck with the boys. Then of course Aslan steps in and Lucy realizes how vain she was becoming and how important she is personally.
I think they did a great job with that bit. Don't see how anyone could miss it.
That fact is that it is not, World wide it made over $100 million. But, there is this feeling in Hollywood and the US itself that business outside the US doesn't count or something like that. That seemed to be Disney's feelings as "Prince Caspian" made almost twice it's money back if you look at the whole picture of money made from over seas, but it was almost like the international money doesn't count or something, like unless it makes tons of money in the US, it is a flop. Such thinking needs to change, especially with the US economy sucking so bad right now.
I tend to agree, some things have to be altered slightly for the sake of political correctness. Good or bad, it is the way it is.
I've lost track of how many times people have posted on here that Walden/Fox don't get that much of the international money. Domestic is what counts. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it's true.
I'd like to see the Chronicles of Narnia on the big screen.
I really don't want to see patched together, generic fantasy films, made to "matter" to a modern audience, with all the things we liked about the books leached out of them, to allegedly make them more appealing to young, hip audiences. If the movies can only be "saved" by re-writing the characters, and throwing in stuff like a romance between Susan and Caspian (the movies' treatment of Susan's character, by the way, is one of the things that is really throwing off the plot, and interfering with the characters) then maybe they shouldn't be saved.
You know, all that stuff in William Faulkner, about race relations and dark family secrets is really depressing, and the young people of today might not be able to relate to it, so let's throw in a nice romance, and maybe a few song and dance numbers, when we make his books into movies! And Scarlet Letter is out of date, with emphasis on sin and morality, so why don't we make it more amusing, and write Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow into the script? And instead of doing the outdated version of "Romeo and Juliet", let's cast Hannah Montana as Juliet and have her do a big rock show at the end, where all the Montagues and the Capulets hug, and make peace!"
Let's not go there, even for the sake of saving family movies; in fact, especially for the sake of family movies.
Actually, the Calormenes in the movie match neither Lewis' description of them, nor the Pauline Baynes drawings of them (which Lewis must have approved.)
Lewis'Calormenes speak in flowery, allusive and poetic language and are, as a people, rich, elegant and cultured, dressing like nobles of the Ottoman Empire, or ancient Persians (according to the Baynes illustrations); the Calormenes in the movie look like refugees from a Pirate movie, or Biblical era Hebrews (speaking of stereotypes! Oy!), didn't speak in a flowery, Arabian Nights style or really have anything distintctive about them.
The Problem with the Calormenes is that in the later movies, such as "Horse and his Boy", or "Last Battle", you won't be able to simply mention them, or show brief shots of them; you're going to have to bring them on, in all their Baghdad-Gothic, 1,001 Nights, Politically incorrect glory, or not do those stories at all.
Worst of all, would be to bring them in, but watered down, or substitute some politically correct villains in their place; another reason I'm leery about continuing this series under the aegis of the same people.
PC opened in a lot less countries the first weekend.
I thought the movie was good. Not quite as good as I wished, but a good movie. A few of the lines made me cringe, and the plot changes ticked me off a little bit, but then I am a die hard book supporter. A little sad that the numbers didn't do as well as hoped, but that is to be expected due to the economy. Also, several of my friends that saw PC refused to go because they didn't want to have the way they remembered the book ruined by changes. But, it still would have been nice to have it go over expectations in the opening weekend.
I have to admit that I'm not exactly pleased with the way they are taking this, but I have come to terms that I cannot complain, as I am not the one making the film to my satisfaction. This is Hollywood we are talking about, and no amount of displeasure will change them. I have come to like the books for the books, and the movies for the movies, and to stop comparing them and worrying about them. It is not up to the fans to decide how to do it.
I'm sorry if this sounds rude and pushy, but I think people keep setting themselves up for disappointment when a movie is made off a book, and they get mad at everyone for changing it so much. It's just the way Hollywood works and if you want it to be done just like the books, you'll have to direct it yourself.
i know what you mean LOTR&NARNIANFAN, between that and the fact that Aslan (almost) promised Eustace that he would come back, i definitely felt that they were getting us ready for SOMETHING. I agree with you though Icarus, i also felt that at the same time as they getting us ready for the next film, they were telling us that this was the last one it was very strange.
I don't think that it’s very fair to say that. Some people can't afford to go to the movies 100 times, that doesn’t mean that there any less Narnia fans, it just means that they aren’t rolling in money. my cinema is very cheap so i will be seeing it several times, but if it was the regular price of movies nowadays i MIGHT see it once, i can't afford that kind of money to see a movie once it’s so much cheaper in the long run
Hear hear
Its ironic US gross counts where most of the cast is british…and the story is british..i know america is the most famous country but still other countries exist too…we should look at the overall gross rather than just looking at one or two..it will give a much better picture 😉
Well honestly didn't Disney already say that the third movie would be the last? Everyone here talking about Disney ruining the rest of the books is silly. Especially with such low box office numbers. Chances of Disney and Walden deciding to take on the rest of the books are slim to none. Disney wants something that will guarantee good profit margins and Narnia just isn't performing well enough. Walden could push for it themselves but I doubt they would get very far. I think this third pne will be the last. Unless it ends up having legs and making Disney about 500-600 mill.
This is probably the best result we could have hoped for. It was #1 at the box office, which suggests another film might be possible, but its lower-than-hoped-for domestic pull will hopefully tell the filmmakers that audiences don't just want another retread of the first movie. (I'm referring here to the advertising; I can't afford to go see it yet.) Hopefully if and when SC is made, the filmmakers will embrace the originality of the story rather than try to make it look like it's just derivative of other fantasy stories. (Again, I'm referring to the marketing, not the film itself.)
Um, JoelCool7: Dawn Treader isn't making any money for Disney. Disney had nothing to do with this one. 🙂 This one was by 20th Century Fox.
I actually disagree with a lot of the sentiment on this website regarding VDT being a poor re-write. There was always going to be some hacking and slashing of the original story to fit Hollywood… but I thought this was WAYYYY better than Prince Caspian. Since I was a kid, I was always fascinated by Dark Island and was glad to see it given a much more prominent role in the film.
My wife said it best – in the first two movies Douglas Gresham was a Producer, and in VDT he is the EXECUTIVE Producer, so he had much more say as to what was said or done in the film. I feel like Lewis' original theme of "temptation" in VDT came across very nicely, from start to finish.
I was going to jump out of my skin if they kept out Aslan's line to Lucy where he says "I am known by another name in your world". I was waiting for him to finish that sentence and then say, "I am love" or something ridiculous like that. (I'm a Christian, so I understand that God IS love… but I was just afraid they were going to turn it into Universalism or something).
Anyway, I enjoyed the film and really had NO gripes with the direction they took it in. And I REALLY loved the tribute to the original artwork during the credits. I thought that was very lovely and touching.
I also loved their decision for the actor who played Eustace. I always felt the actors and actresses playing the Pevensies were very weak. But the lad playing Eustace was superb I thought. Love the reference to Jill at the end of the movie.
Matthew Vaughn, director of Stardust and Kick-ass, should direct the next Narnia movies!
Stardust budget – 70mil
Kick-ass budget – 30mil