In the Time magazine cover story on LOTR there was a mention of a possible film based on CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia . Anyone heard anything more about this?
I have read only a few of the books but I think they could make for some great films. The books are better than Harry Potter IMO and, if given the full special effects treatment, could make for some spectacular visuals.
Box-office wise the series is less well-known than Tolkien and Harry Potter but there are still probably lots of people who have read the books so there will definitely be some advance word of mouth. It may not equal the box-office of the other two series but could easily make a solid 150 million in the US and 300 worldwide.
Much as I love those books, I can’t say they’d transfer to film with much success. The proof is in thepuddin’ for that one. The stories are full of pithy dialogue, too.
Of course, they called LoTR unfilmable at one time…
Hmm the BBC version has an average IMDB rating of 7.2 which is decent and the written reviews are also quite positive with the main complaint being about the effects. Nothing that a big budget couldn’t rectify.
I haven’t read the Tolkien books but my impression is that they are much more complex than Narnia with detailed descriptions of the various aspects of Middle-Earth and a complicated back-story. I would imagine that Narnia would be quite a lot easier to translate to film.
I’d say it’s got to be pretty unlikely, given the overt Christian message of the Narnia series. One could make a series of films, but they wouldn’t have anything like a Harry Potter budget.
Wouldn’t it be cool though? If they applied the budget of LOTR or Harry Potter to the Narnia books? Scenes/images I’d love to see:[ul]
[li]Romping with Aslan[/li][li]Cair Paravel[/li][li]Dryads and Naiads and talking trees[/li][li]Really, all the mythical beasts they could come up with. Dwarves, Fawns, Centaurs, Giants, witches, Bulgey Bears.[/li][li]Invisible Dufflepuds serving dinner[/li][li]Undersea people near the Edge of the World[/li][li]The Underworld (“many come down, but few return to the Sunlit Lands”) and the Chasms of Bism (scene not in the book, added to the movie)[/li][li]The Wood Between the Worlds, and Charn, and the Birth of Narnia - esp. the animals bursting out of the ground[/li][li]Fledge, and the Caramel Tree[/li][li]The Stable bigger on the inside than on the outside[/li][/ul]
Sorry about all those spoilers!
I’m only in favor of this not-going-to-happen series if it’s faithful to the books, which seems to be the trend these days. A removal of the Christian theme to suit the popular taste would, of course, be a travesty.
Funnily enough the “Christian message” went right over my head when I read the books. Maybe it’s clearer in the later books which I haven’t read. Maybe because IANA Christian I missed the symbolism.
Anyway the movie is pretty much a done deal apparently. It’s going to be made by Walden Studio whose owner is described as a Christian billionare by this web-site:
I would like to see the Mountains of Aslan’s country behind the Sun of Narnia.
But I will be sure to read the books to my kids befre they see the films.
There was a bit of a flap earlier this year due to rumors they were going to try to edit the Christian metaphors out of the story for the movie. It turned out that they were thinking of writing additional books without any Christian metaphors. That idea was dropped.
I dunno. Would they make seven movies? Or combine some of the books? I can’t really see any of the books lending themselves well to combination with another. Which would come first, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or, as they have recently been reordered, The Magician’s Nephew? (Personally, I feel strongly that TLTWATW will always be first, and saying otherwise is blasphemous.) The Christian message is very overt, and I don’t know how Hollywood would deal with that. Additionally, how would one film the end of The Last Battle without completely freaking out young children?
How about a film version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, or The Horse and His Boy all by their lonesome? Either would lend itself better to being stand-alone films and have lots of kickass adventure stuff.
Don’t feel badly. I completely missed it when I saw the cartoon as a kid AND later in junior high when I read the books, and I was raised Catholic. Wasn’t until my third year of college (hadn’t had any contact with the books or the movie since jr. high) when I showed Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe to our SciFi/Fantasy club that it whomped me over the head. Apparently I wasn’t alone- the looks on the moviegoers faces was priceless. Closing comment from yours truly: “Anyone who would like to discuss the overwhelming Christian imagery that they don’t remember being there when they were kids can feel free to meet out in the lobby for therapy.”
why would there be? FORREST GUMP and the TV version of STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND were chock full of C’nity! Anyway, CSL’s stepson Douglas Gresham has a death-grip on the rights & would rigorously oversee any production,
What I would really truly love to see are movies (animated or real-life) of CSL’s Space Trilogy or Till We Have Faces.
What I really want to know if how ANYONE could miss the C"nity in TLTW&TW?!?
Aslan sacrifices himself, then rises again. That’s the only bit I know.
I reckon the adaptation to movie of these books would have to be seriously heavy in order to make them dynamic and have good pacing, otherwise it could end up a yawnfest.
It’s in development, supposedly (Note: you have to register to view this site, but it’s free). No studio attached; just an independent production company I’ve never heard of. Andrew Adamson is set to direct. He directed Shrek, and was the visual effects supervisor on Batman & Robin and a few other films. Apparently, John Boorman was at one time attached to direct, but is no longer. Too bad; I’ve always kinda liked him. No cast is listed. The listing was originally posted in Feb of 2000, and was last updated July 2002, so who knows if it’s really going to happen. But they’re trying.
It’s been a while since I’ve read the series, but I remember not being absolutely smashed around the face with the Christianity symbolism until two or three books into the series. But maybe I wasn’t playing close enough attention.
In TLTWATW, Edmund betrays his siblings, and the Witch claims his life as a traitor. Aslan offers to exchange his life for Edmund’s and the witch agrees. What she didn’t know was that death wouldn’t defeat Aslan; he rose again.
It’s not supposed to be allegory, of course. Lewis didn’t set out to tell a Christian drama dressed up with talking animals. He claimed the imagery just sort of crept in.
Hmm I am not sure that one ressurection equals heavy Christian symbolism. After all even in LOTR ol’ Gandalf is ressurected in a fashion (though I don’t think he technically dies).
Is there anything else in TLTWATW? I guess the Christian symbolism becomes clearer in the later books.
It looks quite promising. I thought Shrek was quite good so hopefully Adamson will be able to make something out of Narnia. The adaptation will be written by Ann Peacock who has won an Emmy.
