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Narnia to be Created in New Zealand

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the if-it-worked-for-middle-earth dept.

SCS writes "It has been confirmed that the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will be made in New Zealand as part of a five film line-up of C.S. Lewis's Narnia fantasy book series, with New Zealander Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame as its director. Filming begins next year, and Weta Digital has already started the graphics work. Also reported at the BBC and HeraldTribune.com."

10 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. 5 movies? by LDoggg_ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It is expected to be the first of five films based on CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books, and has the potential to top The Lord of The Rings in economic spinoffs for New Zealand.

    Strange, there are seven books.
    Anyone have any insight into what is being combined or left out?

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    1. Re:5 movies? by Korgrath · · Score: 5, Funny

      maybe they'll get rid of that annoying wardrobe out of fear of too many "comming out of the wardrobe" jokes... man kids these days...

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    2. Re:5 movies? by fredopalus · · Score: 5, Informative

      "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" is the 2nd book only according to publishers Now .

      When the books were originally written and published by C. S. Lewis, "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" came first and "The Magician's Nephew" was like the 6th book.

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    3. Re:5 movies? by SciMed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...that one would probably be very hard to make into a good movie

      There's no doubt that "The Last Battle" and "The Magician's Nephew" could be challenging to represent cinematically; but I don't think anyone would disagree that the two are critical to understanding the underlying allegory.

      Only my opinion, but I think "difficulty in making the film" should not be the primary criteria for deciding whether to make the film. Using the "difficulty" argument, one could easily conclude that Tolkien's trilogy should never have been made. Instead, asking one's self which of the stories are core to C.S. Lewis's message and life's philosophy may be better guides in determining which of the 7 books to pursue.

    4. Re:5 movies? by LDoggg_ · · Score: 5, Informative
      from : http://cslewis.drzeus.net/faq.html

      What is the correct order for reading The Chronicles of Narnia? What do you recommend?

      If you must read them in any certain order, there are two logical ways of numbering the Narnia books. When the American publisher Macmillan decided to put numbers on their editions they chose to use the order in which the books were originally published, i.e.:

      The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
      Prince Caspian (1951)
      The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
      The Silver Chair (1953)
      The Horse and His Boy (1954)
      The Magicians Nephew (1955)
      The Last Battle (1956)

      When Harper Collins took over the publication of the books in America, they decided to keep numbering the books, but on the recommendation of Lewis's stepson Douglas Gresham, they adopted the order that follows Narnian Chronology, i.e:

      The Magicians Nephew
      The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
      The Horse and His Boy
      Prince Caspian
      The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
      The Silver Chair
      The Last Battle

      This is also the order followed by the current British editions, published by Fontana Lions. A case can be made for both orders. Lewis himself came down in favor of the chronological order, which is why Douglas Gresham recommended it. In a letter written in 1957 to an American boy named Laurence, Lewis wrote the following:

      'I think I agree with your order {i.e. chronological} for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last. But I found as I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published.'

      As for my recommendation...personally, I prefer reading it in the published order, beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

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  2. Re:5 films? by LDoggg_ · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're leaving out the "scouring of narnia" and "the adventures of Aslan Bombadil".


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  3. Re:Whoops! Wrong turn down the Christian byway by sjwt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having been an Atheist since rather early in my
    childhood i sure as hell dont see what
    all the fuss is about.

    Just because there are parallels and story
    foundations/ideas borrowed/copyed dosent meen
    much at all to the story..

    How much Roman history have you realy learnt
    from Starwars and Dune?

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  4. Allegory in Movies by buckhead_buddy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I suspect (perhaps incorrectly) that the adaptation of the stories of a WWI veteran to movies in New Zealand was given the greenlight because of the success of another WWI vet (JRR Tolkien), but this brings up a question that I've had in my mind for a while "Do good allegorical stories make for good movies?"

    An allegory (at least as I use the term) is a subject that is described by using another subject in it's place (sort of like an extended metaphor).

    Tolkien and Lewis are on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to allegory. Tolkein despising it and Lewis making heavy use of it. On the written page, I think that the use or avoidence of allegory is fine, but I'm not sure that it works on film.

    Film is just such an overwhelmingly visual medium and allegory is such an abstract tool. It may be possible to depict the Lion Aslan as an allegory of Jesus on the written page, but on film you will see such an overwhelming embodiment of "big cat" that unless there's a narrator or someone hitting you over the head with "Lion = Jesus" the allegory will just be overwhelmed.

    The only example of strict allegory that I recall in a modern film was Battlefield Earth but that may be an unfair example (as there were many other reasons why that movie was so poorly received).

    Of course, many people already know the allegory that Lewis used in his tales and no doubt it will be brought up again and again by movie critics and sunday school teachers before the movie debuts, but if people didn't go in already having been told what to expect, would the allegory have been obvious?

    Just idle wondering I suppose...

  5. Re:Whoops! Wrong turn down the Christian byway by jotok · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually...I don't think you can explain away the Christian element in Lewis' stories (or Tolkein's, for that matter). It's not "a product of the times" nor an attempt to appease a certain audience... It is rather the point of the story, in fact. If that sort of thing turns you off, then by all means, you are invited not to watch it.

  6. WETA is this Decade's ILM by lunadude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They have the torch. ILM was real good at envirnments, hardware, and explosions. WETA seems to bias in the direction of organics. Nifty turn of style and public taste.