Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081224/film_nm/us_narnia" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...s_narnia</a> <<LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will have to sail without Disney. The studio said Tuesday that for budgetary and logistical reasons it will not exercise its option to co-produce and co-finance the next "Narnia" movie with producer Walden Media. >>
Originally Posted By jasmine7 Oh, no! I hope that doesn't mean the film won't get made now. Dawn Treader is my favorite of the books.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I think Disney is smart. If it aint working, don't make it. I saw the first 'Narnia' movie, and it was definitely an 'I don't get' for me. 'Lord of the Rings' 'The Golden Compass' 'Harry Potter' 'Narnia' 'Dungeons and Dragons' -- they just don't capture my attention or interest.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Picks jaw off of the floor. Jim - what is your view of the Star Wars saga?
Originally Posted By joe80x86 Nooooooooooooo Why Disney Why? Perhaps had they not released the last Narnia in the spring and stuck to their December release schedule it would have done better. @Jim I am sorry you don't get the fantasy genre, but just because you don't get or like those types of movies doesn't mean they shouldn't be made.
Originally Posted By MissCandice Hmmm, I hope this movie gets made and does well because I want The Silver Chair made into a movie as well. That's my favorite Narnia book.
Originally Posted By Rebekah davewasbaloo, I like JiminMerced am not captivated by any of those films -- Narnia (only saw the first and didn't particularly care for it), Potter (only saw Azkaban, but listened to the book series), Golden Compass (didn't see or read), Lord of the Rings (didn't see or read) -- but I love the Star Wars films. I'm more fond of the ones I saw in my youth than the more recently created ones. There's just something about that fantasy genre that doesn't connect with me. I find them just so dark. For whatever reason the classic Star Wars didn't have that overlying darkness ... the modern trilogy came closer to having that fantasy darkness. R. R.
Originally Posted By Anatole69 Empire Strikes back is pretty dark if you ask me... and they are fantasy films dressed up as Science Fiction. The old wizard, the boy apprentice, the princess, the pirate etc... Also Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter have been financially and critically successful, so anyone hardly needs to defend the genre. Really this is more about the economy than it is about fantasy films. - Anatole
Originally Posted By TheRedhead I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Disney's decision to stop making Narnia films has little to do with Jim's distaste of the genre (no offense Jim). I will, however, make this post all about ME. I remember reading "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" when I was little and absolutely loving it. So I asked Santa to get me the box set of all the books. I read the first 20 pages of "Prince Caspian," got bored, put it down, and never picked the book up again. 28 yaers later, and the first book is the only one I've read. After the internet came along, I soon realized that the only fans of those sequels are the truly rabid fans of the series. The characters from the first book that made you love the story (the characters the reader entered the world of Naria with) disappear quickly, and the story becomes less and less about what the first story was like. Now cut to today - the first movie comes out and makes 300 million dollars in the US. "Prince Caspian" comes out and makes HALF that. This is an outcome people worried about when they were making the first one (and everyone was shouting Franchise!!!!!"). This is especially worrying considering that they will all be pretty equally expensive to make. So Disney looks at the numbers and cuts its losses. Sad I guess, but in this economy, makes total sense. By the way, my family is watching "Prince Caspian" right now. I got kind of bored a half hour in and went on the internet. Maybe it is all about me.
Originally Posted By -em That is sad to say- I really loved both the previous Narnia films (in fact watched Caspian and the special features yesterday) I do have to say I never read the books before seeing the movie (and only have read the Lion and Caspain at that) and for the record I do not like LOTR (but love Potter) -em
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I love the fantasy genre, probably the most (followed by Sci Fi, Rom Com, and Comedy). But that's me. Then again, I used to be a role player (inc live role play and reenactments). I am sad to see this marriage end.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I like the original 'Star Wars' series, but consider them to be different than the 'Lord of the Rings' 'Narnia' 'Potter' worlds. I remember watching the first 'Harry Potter' with my daughter -- about 2 minutes in, some car flies out of the sky and I was already confused. When everybody was reading 'The Hobbit' in High School, I was just like 'huh?' Do I think they should not be made? Of course not. I just thought it might be interesting to know that there are lots of people who are indifferent about those kinds of movies. In other movie news; we just rented 'Ironman' and thought it was terrific. FAR better than 'The Dark Knight.'
Originally Posted By alexbook Aren't Walden and Disney going through a break-up anyway? I thought I'd read that Walden was going to start making movies with other distributors, except for the Narnia movies which they'd keep making with Disney. Maybe that didn't work out?
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy The handwriting has been on the wall for most of the past year that this would happen. I'm not surprised at all. Count me in the group that isn't all that enamored with the fantasy genre as well.
Originally Posted By basil fan Oh, say it ain't so! I love both Narnia films and can't wait for the third. Make that couldn't wait... Waaahhh!
Originally Posted By JeffG I suspect the movie will still be made. Disney didn't pick up the option to distribute/co-finance the movie, so the rights now fully belong to Walden. The project is already cast, has a major director attached, and is essentially ready to start production this spring. My guess is that we will hear which studio is taking over co-financing/distribution within the next few weeks. Walden currently has a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox, so they are likely the leading candidate for it. -Jeff
Originally Posted By basil fan Will this affect the movie itself and how it is made? Or just the financing and promotion? I don't want to see Disney with egg on its collective face, but I still hope this is a great film and a big hit. Uh-oh! Where will I put the DVD in my cabinet? With the other Narnia movies on the Disney shelf? Or with the non-Disney movies?
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "Will this affect the movie itself and how it is made? Or just the financing and promotion?" << I don't really know, although I had the impression that more of the creative direction in this series was coming from Walden than from Disney. With Disney pulling out, it is possible that there could be substantial changes in the planned project (if it gets made at all), but even before this "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" already had a new director (Michael Apted) attached, which could signal a stylistic change. Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two films, was still attached as a producer, but it is hard to say how involved he was intended to be. I believe that all the cast members from the previous films whose characters continued into the next story were signed for the film. Hard to say whether those contracts would have to be renegotiated if a new studio comes on as a co-producer or not. One other possibility (probably a somewhat small one), is that Walden could decide to go forward with the film without any co-producer. If they have the financial means to do that, and are willing to take that big a risk, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find a distributor for a completed film in a fairly well-known franchise. In that scenario, it probably would even still be a possibility (even a likelihood) that Disney would end up coming on-board as the distributor. This type of independent production/financing is rare for big-budget projects like this (the "Star Wars" sequels and prequels are probably the best known examples), but it is at least possible. It can be very risky, though, as one flop can completely kill this kind of production company when taking that approach. Carolco is the main cautionary tale of that kind of thing. They had a series of mostly independently-financed blockbusters in the late 80s/early 90s including "Terminator 2", "Basic Instinct", "Total Recall", "Cliffhanger" and "Stargate". Even after a long series of hits, though, "Cutthroat Island" was pretty much sufficient to put them completely out of business. My guess is that the folks at Walden will be very familiar with the Carolco story and will work very hard to line up a partner for "Dawn Treader". -Jeff -Jeff
Originally Posted By joe80x86 I think it would do good, I still say Disney made a huge mistake releasing PC when they did. I think it was kinda dumb to release it right in between two movies everyone know would be blockbusters whether they were good or not. They probably should have waited till the fall or even held it till Christmas.
Originally Posted By mickeycanuck Narnia 3 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be made by Walden Media and FOX. The budget will be lower than Prince Caspian.
