narnia Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Back in May, our Eric D. Snider made clear a common complaint regarding the latest Narnia offering, in that it was far too violent -- with or without blood -- for its given PG rating. The film went on to under-perform at the box office, for a litany of other reasons, but it was hard to ignore the potentially dominating influence of family-friendly Disney and their little Christian parable/looming blockbuster sequel on the decision.

Now, after stateside concerns along the same lines, come reports from the UK that box office behemoth The Dark Knight has merited a record number of seventy complaints in its first week of opening regarding the 12A equivalent from the British Board of Film Classification, which itself admitted to facing a modicum of pressure from studios who want lower ratings that in turn draw younger and wider audiences.

As someone who has seen that film more than once, in audiences that more than once had a parent shielding their child's eyes from the very badly burnt likes of Two-Face (um, spoiler?), it's obvious that the caution of a PG-13 (and the relative intensity of predecessor Batman Begins) failed to steer them away from the draw of the Caped Crusader.

So let's play the old-fashioned game of Point the Finger:

• Are we to blame the MPAA and BBFC for their lenient judgments?
• How about the parents who so willingly dismiss the ratings that actually are appropriate?
• For our more responsible readers, what measures do you take before allowing your children to see certain films? Do you see a film before they do and determine what's A-OK? Do you rely on reviews or websites tailored to providing custom criteria regarding a film's content?
• Sex, violence, or language: which of these factors will most likely send your child and the world at large on a moral decline from which we may never recover?

One of the best casting decisions in recent memory is Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. The kid just looks like the spitting image of the literary icon, and he wears the scar and glasses like they're completely natural, like they've always been there. But can you imagine the Potter world without Radcliffe? Like, could you imagine William Moseley being the guy that gets to befriend Hermione and Ron, come onto Cho Chang,* chum up to Dumbledore, and take on Voldemort?

The actor recently talked with MTV, and mentions that he was up for the part of Harry, but that "I don't quite fit the bill, I think." Moseley certainly would've been a much different choice. Luckily, losing that role left him open to play a British child in a different epic, fantastical gig. He plays Peter Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia franchise.

He admits that he wonders what it would have been like, but that "if I could have chosen one part for myself, I would have chosen Peter every single time." So from an actor's perspective, he's happy with Peter, but I wonder, who is your preferred hero?

*Edited thanks to Monster. I don't know why I keep calling her Chen....

Why We Can't Wait to See It: After waiting for years for a quality theatrical adaptation of C.S. Lewis's beloved Narnia series, the first film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, didn't disappoint. Will the darker, more action-packed tale of Prince Caspian continue to impress fans of the books?

Why It Might Do Well: The best-selling series has a built-in fan base with families, Christians, and fantasy fans. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe grossed over $740,000,000 worldwide off an estimated $180,000,000 budget. This installment also boasts the addition of Ben Barnes as the handsome Prince Caspian, which could draw in the tween and teen market.

Why It Might Not Do Well: Producer Mark Johnson confirmed at the Narnia panel at New York Comic Con that the Mouse House plans to stop the franchise after filming Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- news that might not sit well with hardcore Narnia fans who were hoping to see all of the series brought to life. Also, the kid market has been rather flooded with fantasy films of late; The Spiderwick Chronicles brought in a dismal $70 million domestically off a $90 million budget, and Abigail Breslin starrer Nim's Island just over $32 million off a $34 million budget. Could interest in fantasy films be waning?

Fun Fact: Work on the script for Prince Caspian was started during the shooting of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so filming on the sequel could begin as soon as possible, before the four children playing the leads visibly aged. Prince Caspian starts just one year in "Earth time" after the end of the first book.

Trivia:

Answer Key

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is almost here -- we've got just under four months until the Pevensie children galavant on the big screen once again. This time around, the kids have been out of Narnia for a year when they find themselves back -- 1300 years later. The Golden Age is gone, and the evil King Miraz is in control. Of course, they do what they must -- team up with Prince Caspian to get him back in the throne and restore Narnia's glory. I can't help but wonder: Would world peace be possible if you gathered together all of the literary, heroic children of the world? They seem to accomplish a heck of a lot.

The above picture comes from Cinema Blend, and you can head over there to see some battle scenes, and a Caspian close-up for you Ben Barnes fans out there. Prince Caspian opens on May 16.

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Last night I took my 10-year-old to a sneak-preview screening of The Golden Compass (and much as I'd love to tell you what I thought of it, you'll have to wait until Friday to see my review, because if I break the embargo someone might come by my house and cut off my thumbs), and we saw trailers for Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (coming in May) and Inkheart. (Fall 2008). Also coming down the pike is an adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, coming in February 2008. Counting Compass, this makes four up-and-coming adaptations of fantasy material targeted at the tween market (which is not to say that adults wouldn't be interested as well, but the books on which these films are based are largely aimed at the tween set).

Monika wrote up the Prince Caspian trailer earlier today (that post has a link to the trailer, if you want to see it). Prince Caspian happens to be one of my favorite of the Narnia books, so I'm particularly looking forward to that one. The trailer looked pretty good, visually it pretty much just picks up where the first Narnia film left off, but Caspian looks older than I'd always pictured him when reading the book. You can see the Spiderwick trailer over on Moviefone. I've not read the Spiderwick books yet (yet another thing on my "to do" list), but my daughter, who has read them, thinks that one looks pretty good, and has already extracted a promise from me that I'll take her to the screening. And Inkheart also looks pretty promising -- I love Cornelia Funke's work, and this is another story with a female heroine; I'm loving that so many of these movies aimed at the tweens have strong female characters. Which of the upcoming fantasy flicks are you most excited to see?

It seems crazy to me that studios "claim" release dates two and three years before the movies come out. I understand that it builds up anticipation, but hanging a release date over filmmakers' heads can't help the end result. For example, I attended a screening of the director's cut of Troy the other night (very cool), with director Wolfgang Petersen introducing. He discussed how at test screenings he realized the score of the film wasn't working. He wound up replacing it in a huge rush to make the release date, and it became one of many aspects of the final film he was unhappy with. Why not just give directors time to make the films they want instead of all the "starting without a finished script" -type stuff that goes on? Well, two upcoming movies -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (or as I call it, TCONTVOTDT -- it just flows better) and The Wolf Man -- seem to be doing just that.

Prince Caspian, the second Narnia adventure, is still set for release this May, but TCONTVOTDT has been moved from May 1st, 2009, to May 7th, 2010. Taking its place on the '09 date is something called G-Force, "a Jerry Bruckheimer family-adventure about a band of animal commandoes trying to stop an evil billionaire taking over the world." If that plot description is any indication, Summer '09 is going to be a magical time at the cineplex! Mark Romanek's The Wolf Man, with Benicio del Toro in the title role, is being moved from November 18th, 2008 to Spring 2009. I love del Toro, and am really looking forward to that one. I wonder if the notoriously hairy Robin Williams was considered for Wolf Man? Might have saved money on makeup. Reasons have not been given for the release date changes, but Empire speculates that it likely has something to do with the actor's strike that could shake up the industry next June. Hopefully, putting some extra time and care into these movies will be a good thing.

Its still Saturday and I'm still in the spacious and oddly cold Hall H. I have to say that in all my years coming to the Con I have never had the experience of being cold. Walking from the hotel to the Con, waiting in line at the bathroom, to wondering the exhibit hall, I've usually been hot, sometimes sweaty, but never cold. New one on me and a trend I don't mind continuing. I don't like being hot.

Anyway, this time around I'm in Hall H or the Disney / Pixar presentation where they are going to talk about two of their biggest upcoming projects. No, its not another Pirate's film. Instead, the folks from the Mouse house are here to showcase The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and a Pixar film called Wall E.

Regarding Narnia, Kevin already let you know one of the big announcements from today. But in case you didn't see it or don't feel like clicking, I'll tell you again. Disney and Walden Media announced they intend to make all seven books of the Chronicles as films and release one each May for your viewing pleasure. So, if you're a fan of the books and films that's gotta be pretty great news. That announcement, although pretty exciting, didn't come at the beginning of the presentation, so let's back up and start there.

First up was some of the creative team from the film, including effects supervisor Richard Taylor from WETA Workshop and creature effects creator Howard Berger. They were also joined, via satellite from Prague, by director Andrew Adamson, who proclaimed "Welcome back to Narnia" and Prince Caspian himself, actor Ben Barnes. Then, it was on to a clip showing a pre-viz animatic from the movie.

Disney's completely packed panel was about all things Narnia this afternoon, and the biggest piece of news was the fact that they'll be releasing a new Chronicles of Narnia film every May, starting with Prince Caspian 2008, and continuing through the rest of the seven books.

While that's fairly exciting news, I sure hope that doesn't mean the films will suffer as a result. It takes a lot of time and effort to make a film replete with special effects that's based on a classic series ... will they be able to keep that up? With five more movies yet to come after next May, that's a lot of simultaneous work that'll be going on. If the movies end up being disappointing in any way, the first thing people will blame will be a rushed production schedule.

Still, as long as they do some serious justice to The Magician's Nephew, I'm all for it. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting years for the next installment in one of your favorite film series to come out.

Although it's almost a year until we can see the second film in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian, news is already starting to spread about the third movie. (The series by C.S. Lewis has seven books, so we may be hearing about Narnia films for the next decade.) The third film in the series will be an adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and unlike the first two films, Andrew Adamson will not be directing. He's moving into a producer role. Instead, Variety has reported that the director of Dawn Treader will be Michael Apted, as was speculated back in April. Documentary fans might react with, "What, the guy who made the Up films?" And Apted's most recent film was the documentary The Power of the Game. But a look back at his filmography shows Apted has a wide range of feature filmmaking experience, from Coal Miner's Daughter to the Bond movie The World is Not Enough.

Disney and Walden also confirmed that Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley will be returning as Edmund and Lucy, the roles they've played in the first two films, and Ben Barnes will be reprising his title role from the upcoming Prince Caspian. Peter and Susan do not appear in the book Dawn Treader; instead, Lucy and Edmund are joined by their insufferable cousin Eustace. All three children are faced with a dull summer until something magical happens ... well, you know they'll end up back in Narnia, of course, because that's what the series is about. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is scheduled to start shooting in January 2008, with a planned release on May 1, 2009. Obviously it's important not to wait until the kids look too old for the roles. Although I was a huge fan of the Narnia series as a child, I found the first film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, to be fairly unmemorable. I remember liking Dawn Treader a lot, and I hope Apted will be able to helm an entertaining movie adaptation.