NARNIA to be brought to the big screen (1 Viewer)

[Dennis*G]

I know the Lion the witch and the wardrobe is the most famous, but i do hope they make "The Magicians Nephew" also.

Probably the least favorite of all the books, but a nice setup as to how the Narnia and the wardrobe came to be.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

The aging of characters coudl cause major logistical problems with production. Lucy, Edmund Susan and Peter all adults by the end of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, but become kids again when they leave Narnia. They then age to adulthood in the real world throughout the rest of the series. I can't see any good way to handle this. Their adults selves in The Lats Battle are either not going to match The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Plus, they show up in A Horse and His Boy.

I sincerely hope they don't screw these up. As they're rather blatantly religious, this is pretty likely to adapt them for secular audiences.

 

[Robert Anthony]

I was doing some surfing around the net yesterday, looking for christmas presents, typed in "Chronicles of Narnia" into Google, and an entire Narnia website popped up, giving info about the director and the screenwriter and the company bankrolling the thing. The company is called Walden Media, I think, and apparently all they make are educational films. I think the entire Chronicles have been adapted, and I couldn't see why, if the first movie is successful, the others wouldn't be adapted. the other question is then whether they'll be made in chronological order, or made in the order of publishing ( a dilemma that I didnt' even know existed until I was surfing--I thought they WERE published in chronological order, I didn't know Lewis jumped around the timeline when writing the 7 part story).
Andrew Adamson (directed "Shrek") is in charge of the flick, and the screenplay's been adapted by Ann Peacock, who wrote "A Lesson Before Dying" So that's an alright pedigree there. The press release is dated of July of LAST year. Here's the link to it:
http://www.narnia.com/movie/news/movienews_020731.htm

 

[Brenton]

This could turn out pretty cool.

 

[Chris]

I think the fact that WETA (the same who did LOTR) is scouting the scenes and doing the Special Effects is also a boost.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I think the fact that WETA (the same who did LOTR) is scouting the scenes and doing the Special Effects is also a boost.

Unless we get LOTR mini. Considering how similiar the projects are, I'd almost rather see WETA move on to new things and get fresh faces in to scout Narnia.

 

[Chris Farmer]

How can you possibly remove the Christian themes from Narnia? It's not even like LotR where the religion is woven into the source seamlessly but is not strongly apparent, but Narnia is a blatant allegory fro Christianity. Aslan for Jesus (even dying and resurrecting In LWWW), his being the son of the Emperor Overseas (God the Father), and numerous other references, to try to cut the Chrisitanity out wouldn't leave anything left.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Early word is that the Christian subtext is being excised from the adaptation.

That would be impossible. You could remove a couple of Lewis's more obvious references, (like Aslan's comment about being in this world under a different name) but to remove the subtext is to destroy the books.

And it's not TLTWATW if there isn't at least one use of the phrase "son of Adam and daughter of Eve".

And surely they're not that preachy. You can enjoy the stories as good stories without being bothered by Christian similarities or subtext.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Early word is that the Christian subtext is being excised from the adaptation.

You gotta love Hollywood.

Do I even have to point out the hypocrisy here?

 

[Randall Z]

You gotta love Hollywood.

Do I even have to point out the hypocrisy here?

No you don't. It sickens me.

 

[CharlesD]

And just where is this "early word" coming from?

 

[Robert Anthony]

Internet Rumors: Written, produced and directed by jaded, angry fanboys That's where the "early word" is coming from.
I've been looking around and have yet to hear anywhere that they're cutting out any Christian subtext. Seeing as the entire set of novels is so incredibly allegorical, especially "Lion, Witch..." that I don't think it'd even be possible. And I can't imagine the screenwriter cutting out the subtext anyway--she's famous for adapting "A Lesson before Dying" for God's sake--the main character is a PRIEST or something similar, right? The whole movie was about redemption and God's ability to forgive, regardless. Why hire this lady, with that track record, to just cut out any reference to God in these children's books that rely on the religious allegory in almost every aspect of it's storytelling?
There is no reason. Because it's more than likely not happening.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Good point, Robert. We shouldn't jump to conclusions.

ASSUMING this is true, then my original statement stands.

 

[Matthew R]

Yes, when I was a kid reading these, they were numbered in the published order, with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe first. I still believe this is a better order to read them in, and I'm annoyed by the fact that they're now numbered in chronological order.

--Matthew

 

[StephenT]

I read them in published order too. Had a paperback box set with Lion, Witch... first. Didn't know it had changed. I want to buy new copies too. Hmmmmm.

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I am such a Friend of Narnia, I could eat my own face!!
I love the books to death, read and re-read them as a kid until my eyes almost fell out. Last year I re-purchased all of them and read them cover to cover, the first time in about 20 years. They are still beautiful, moving works (although Susan still got screwed...)
That having been said, I think some of them will make for questionable movies. The Magicians Nephew (my favorite after LW&W) is such a blatant Creation allegory that even the most devout theologians would snicker. The same goes with The Last Battle and the Book of Revelations. On the other hand, LW&W, A Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, and Dawn Treader would be OK. (Silver Chair -- ehh.)
The talk of excising the Christian references has been nothing but talk at this point. About two-three years ago, the publisher was interested in making "Further Tales of Narnia" (obvious pre-The Last Battle) but with a deeper emphasis on plot and fantasy and less outright Christian allegory. A stupid idea, IMHO, and I don't know how the CS Lewis estate feels about that, but perhaps rumor-mongerers are thinking of this when they report that the films will be Christ-Free by 2003.

 

[Ted Lee]

And surely they're not that preachy. You can enjoy the stories as good stories without being bothered by Christian similarities or subtext.

my thoughts exactly.

heck, with a movie like this, i think you could get away with simply calling it a fantasy. there would be enough "magical" stuff to easily cover any blatant religious references (which would probably never come to light anyway)...

heck, take a look at lotr or harry potter. while they're obviously not religious in nature, one could argue the whole good vs. evil thing. aren't there even some groups that don't like hp because of the whole magic thing?

you're not gonna be able to please everyone. all the studio has to do is "tone it down" ... and i'm pretty confident it'll pass muster on it's other merits - great story and characters.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I've read the books and watched the teleision miniseries and I have the following fears for a theatrical release:

1. Talking lion. I do not think that studios are capable of making talking lions that give the illusion of reality. i am prepared for a bad CG day. (Animatronics aren't "cool" for most of todays movies, y'ah know).

2. How do they expect to grow a lamppost in time to start shooting?

3.I vaguely recall that in one of the books a sword-fight took place that made note that movies could never realistically depict such a fight. This should make for interesting film-making.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

1. Talking lion. I do not think that studios are capable of making talking lions that give the illusion of reality.

Babe looked fine quite a few years ago. Doubt this would be a problem.

If you try to release the movies chronolically, you're left with an openign that's quite different from and only loosely connected to the rest of the books (The Magician's Nephew) and what would you do with A Horse and His Boy, which takes place during The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

 

[ChrisMatson]

I saw this over at AICN and thought some of you might enjoy:
http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=18980
Looks promising!