"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (1 Viewer)

Andrew Adamson seems to be returning as director and the film is being prepped for a Christmas 2007 release. I wonder if they'll be able to keep the franchise successful enough to get all 7 of the books filmed.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=13007

My guess is that they easily have it made for the first 3 books (LWW, PC, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

After that, VDT will have to be a smash hit to greenlight any more films, IMO. I say this because of a couple factors:

1) The protagonists change. VDT has Lucy and Edmond, which allows a strong tie to LWW and PC. But The Silver Chair has Eustace, who we only know from VDT, Jill, and Puddleglum. And is SC is successful, one has to decide whether or not to move on to the Eustace/Jill (sort-of) centered The Last Battle - which has a story that is almost unfilmable from a narrative perspective, IMO - or to go to either A Horse and His Boy or The Magician's Nephew. And both of those have their own problems: new protagonists, new concepts (HHB has no earth children going to Narnia), etc.

2) The stories are just very different in tone. While they are all adventures, they are not all adventures in the same way as LWW. While this changing adventure type may be a good thing, it will jar people not familiar with the changes. People know what to expect form a Harry Potter film, because they take the same basic steps. Once VDT is made, people will be stepping into a Narnia story that has no epic battle at the end and no primary villain. Instead of a world under enchantment we have a series of small adventures at a number of islands. VDT is more about inner character and integrity than grand fulfillment of prophecy and perpetual winter melting away. And the other books stray further - SC is a rescue mission adventure, HHB is a daring journey for freedom, MN is an observant tale that pauses a loooooong time to see the birth of Narnia, and LB is dark despondency for 2/3rds, and then the last 3rd is a grand jubilee.

3) You never know how a series will do over the entire course, and 7 good-to-great films is a lot of pressure, and rarely is it pulled off.

I kind of hope that they merge the Prince Caspian adaptation with Dawn Treader to fill out the film. I just re-read PC and found that the story was very simple and the Dawn Treader addition would flesh out Caspian's character and make for a better-paced film.

Rafael.

I posted these thoughts on Caspian in the box office thread. Reposting here:

There is the chance to embellish Capsian to make it an enchanting film. In particular, they can dial up the mystery in the early part of the film.

My ideas:

Start with an LOTR style prologue that chronciles what happened in Narnia since our four heroes left. In this section, build up the tension between Evil King Caspian and his hatred for old Narnia. Then, when we move forward to the return of our heroes to Narnia, we have more tension. Play up the mystery of them trying to discover what happened. Then, near the end you'll have to enhance the battle scenes (not unlike what they did with part 1).


If they do things like this, I think Caspian has the chance to be a successful adaptation. But I agree that it's going to be tough.

This will be a tall order but based on the huge success of the current Narnia film, I think they will get it right. I sure hope...

I'm glad there's no attempt to combine PC with VDT, mainly because I don't want them to sell VDT short. That film could be masterful if they keep all the adventures intact.

And great ideas for Prince Caspian, Chris.

Since Chris has reposted his thoughts from the Box Office thread, I may as well repost my original comments that he was commenting on: I wouldn't suggest that Caspian should be a three-hour film - it never could be. But I think you could be stretching it to make even a 90-minute film.

All I could think of to pull off PC is what Chris suggested, but maybe a little more elaborate. Take the King Caspian story and make it the first 20 minutes or 30 minutes then have the rest of the story played out.

At the end I liked Prince Caspian, a slow start but then it works out and gets better in the middle and the end is great.

Frankly, the more I think about compressing Caspian and Treader, the less I like it and the more convinced I am that it just couldn't work.

Just because the Dawn Treader is in Caspian, doesn't mean that they are merging plots.

Jason

It's been ages since I've read the books, and the Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe is the only one I remember the majority of the plot from.....but I do remember that Horse and His Boy kind of sucked, Magician's Nephew was okay, but more in a "so that's how that happened" sense. I can't remember much of PC, VDT, and SC, but I remember that I really wanted to see the final book adapted.

Horse and His Boy hardly sucks. It's the best one, IMO. A great adventure novel for ten-year olds.

I agree. The Horse And His Boy was my favourite but can wait as it doesnt feature the Pevensie children (except maybe right at the end I think for about 2 pages). Its more of a stand-alone book from what I remember. I imagine they will film in this order if they are going to make all seven

Prince Caspian
Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew

Just a quick question. I know of the Narnia Books but I've never read them, with that in mind, is Jadis the villain through out the entire series or is she only in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

Oh, I guess I have one more question, which book is generally considered the best by the fans?

Thank you.

I hope they do The Silver Chair. I can't remember much from the book (other than the giants) but of the BBC adaptations it's the only that remains the most vivid in my mind. I still remember his helmet and the actual chair.

I'd spoiler your post David, since her appearance in that book is something a surprise.

I didn't think so because it's not like they hide the name, but I spoilerized it just in case.