Is the Narnia franchise dead?
Sad news for fans of the C.S. Lewis Narnia series: Disney is pulling the plug after making movies based on just two of the books:
Fans of the Narnia movies had the wind taken out of their sails over the holidays when it was announced that Disney has taken leave of the franchise, opting out of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Though Disney helped finance and distribute the first two films in the series, the third movie will have to move forward without their involvement. Walden Media, the company that made the first two movies, had planned to begin filming Dawn Treader this spring for a May 2010 release, but is now shopping for a new business partner—possibly Fox, with whom it partners for all its other films.According to the UK's Independent, Disney cited budgetary concerns as chief among their reasons for withdrawing from the film, leading to further speculation about the future of big-budget fantasy films amidst the receding economy—including, possibly, the Harry Potter franchise.
Dawn Treader, like Prince Caspian, was slated for an estimated $200 million budget—which makes Walden's task of finding a new distributor difficult. The Los Angeles Times, however, reports that the film would likely have come in well under the $200 million mark, and quotes an anonymous source who says that Disney and Walden experienced "creative differences" and a disagreement over when to release the film. Meanwhile, Jim Hill lists a third possible motivation: Slow DVD sales for Caspian.
Some industry insiders don't quite see Disney's logic. LA Times Critic Mary McNamara says Disney is jumping ship too soon, dismissing the entire franchise because of Caspian's disappointing sales; she argues that Caspian is generally regarded as a weak link in the series anyway, and says the fact that the film did as well as it did is a miracle, while Dawn Treader is a much more cinematic and appealing story to begin with. Naomi Creason, meanwhile, says Disney is just being practical, and senses little future for Dawn Treader.
Read it all here.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my favorite of all the books. Hope they can get it filmed - it is the only one I have considered seeing. The story of Eustace becoming a dragon is so true for our era of greed - his repentance and redemption is a great story.
Posted by ann![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 11, 2009 2:58 PM
Sorry to hear this. Dawn Treader is, I think, the most mystical of the books in the series, and as Ann notes, a study in redemption.
I just saw Prince Caspian last week -- I was a tad disappointed in the first film and didn't go to the theaters to see the second; which I felt to be an improvement on all scores. Seemed they were heading in the right direction.
Hope some other funder picks it up and then lets it be filmed without too much alteration. We could use a lesson on greed and its consequences...
Posted by tobias haller![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 11, 2009 3:54 PM
After seeing how they totally changed huge chunks of Prince Caspian to make it more "cinematic," I didn't have a lot of hope for the script of Dawn Treader, which has a slow narrative arc with subtle character development (Eustace and the dragon) and not a lot of sword fights, flying on griffins, a big enemy (like the White Witch) and all those big exciting things that movie makers seem to want.
Posted by Kit Carlson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 12, 2009 7:26 AM
I haven't read the books, but I was thoroughly unimpressed by the film Narnia. It seemed to take the Gospel and turn it into a war story. I'm not sure I can see Jesus, who said to turn the other cheek, approving. I didn't bother to watch Prince C, but I heard I wasn't missing much. I'll take my Gospel without the militarization, thanks very much.
Posted by Weiwen![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 12, 2009 11:07 PM