Chronicles of Narnia

Post by **Jess-ica1991** » September 2nd, 2008, 7:00 pm

well if you want to be really picky, you could argue that The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe isn't actually a christmas film, being that it's an allegory of the easter story. i guess everyone seems to associate it with christmas because of the snow - and the brief encounter with santa lol

Post by **JustinWilliams** » September 20th, 2008, 9:00 am

Post by **Josh** » December 24th, 2008, 3:43 pm

Disney has announced it is leaving the Chronicles of Narnia franchise, due to 'budgetary and logistical reasons.' Walden Media will try to find a new distributor for Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It is likely that Fox will carry the picture, under the Fox Walden banner.

To be honest, I think Disney should have at least tried one more Narnia film. Interestingly, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe airs tonight on ABC.

Post by **Ben** » December 25th, 2008, 2:35 pm

Told ya. I knew we wouldn't get seven Narnia films under the Disney banner. Caspian hasn't sold nearly as well as expected on home video. Essentially, Narnia is all about one book: TLTW&TW, to all but the most casual fans. It was always going to be a tough sell to get the others to do blockbuster business.

This also shows that it's all about the money. If LOTR hadn't been such a success we wouldn't have got Narnia, basically. Now that Narnia isn't doing too well, these too will start to fail. Even if Fox pick this up, I still don't think seven films is a reality, or even five. The books just don't sustain that kind of cinematic adaptation. Plus this screws any kind of multi-film (I won't say "seven film") box set for when whoever's still making them eventually gives up.

I agree with Josh that the Mouse should have stuck by for one more, marketed it correctly at CHRISTMAS instead of in the summer, and seen how one of the better books did properly. After TLTW&TW I'd say TVOTDT is probably the next most well known...it could well prove to be a big enough hit to spur on production of a fourth...but then I think that might be it.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » January 5th, 2009, 6:31 am

Why? Disney should at least give it another try with Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.
Prince Caspian wasn't sucessful thought? but The Lion,The Witch And The Wardrobe was very sucessful,maybe summer isn't the time for Narnia and winter is.

Post by **Ben** » January 6th, 2009, 3:41 pm

Wow. Deja vu.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » January 7th, 2009, 7:00 am

Wait,question-
1.Is there any chance that if Disney will change their mind then they whould make Voyage Of The Down Treader?.
2.Disney will still have copyrights on The Lion,The Witch And The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian but not on Voyage Of The Down Treader and all the movies after it?.
I whouldn't mind if The Last Battle won't be a movie,it's bad anyway and sorta ruined Narnia.

Post by **Ben** » January 9th, 2009, 3:09 pm

1) No.

2) Yes, so no seven film box set, if they ever get that far.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » January 10th, 2009, 4:49 am

No 7 films box set and anything to do with the other books like The Silver Chair and Voyage Of The Down Treader but they can do things with The Lion,The Witch And The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian like having Caspian in the Disney parks or 2 films box set?.

Post by **eddievalient** » January 10th, 2009, 9:22 am

That's correct. Disney owns Wardrobe and Caspian and can do whatever they want with them. Whoever makes the remaining films will own those.

Post by **Randall** » January 10th, 2009, 10:25 am

Disney owns the two movies, but what they can do with them is determined by their licensing agreement with the Lewis estate, as well as Walden media.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » January 10th, 2009, 4:06 pm

That's right. Disney does NOT have absolute rights over the movies because of the Lewis Estate and Walden deals.

There's number of films not being released because of rights issues tied to estates and licensing companies.

I recently read a biography of the late Otto Preminger and one of his films hasn't been seen in the US since it aired on television in the early 1970s. That film is Porgy and Bess, released in 1959.

The estate of the fellows who wrote the music didn't want the film version released -- even though it's been performed on state thousands of times(!) -- because of, you guessed it, political correctness! People that have seen the film said that it contained a great performance by Sammy Davis, Jr. and there are a number of other people who worked on the film who wanted it released, too, before they died. It's also the last film starring Dorothy Dandridge who died about 4 years later.

Rumor has it that the film negative is in sad shape and may not be able to be restored. The release prints are pretty much gone and it's thought that private copies of it aren't in much better shape.

Post by **Ben** » January 10th, 2009, 5:32 pm

Yep, Disney's restricted by their deal with Walden and the Lewis people. But...given that they're now passing on the franchise and that we haven't seen a whole ton of character spin-offs from the first two films, one has to think that the time for the <I>Disney</I> editions of Narnia are now gone.

I hardly think - unless the later films are <I>huge</I> successes and Disney can see a way to cash in - that the company will use the small leverage they do have to use the characters that would ultimately be promoting a competitor's product. As in, they can use Aslan (but only in relation to promotion of Wardrobe and Caspian), but people will just see "Aslan". With Wardrobe and Caspian "forgotten" in a couple of years, a glimpse of Aslan will only serve to give a push to whatever new Narnia film is current. I can't see Disney playing that game, or fighting too hard to retain any control over those characters.

In relation to those first two films, yes, they can use the characters for promotion. But anything further than that like the theme parks? It's just not in their interests. Disney has moved on from Narnia (if it was ever really serious about being there in the first place...I never found their committment on this series to be built on genuinely solid foundations) and will more than likely put the association behind them. In future years, I wouldn't be surprised to see Wardrobe still featured in any "all-time" Disney lists as a studio classic, but that would be it.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » January 11th, 2009, 2:03 pm

I"m glad that LLW and PC are still Disney and Disney can use them.
About the theme parks-They have Caspian and the White Witch that you can take photos with so I suppose they"ll still be there.
They can do something like make Narnia a world in Kingdom Hearts?.

Post by **Randall** » January 11th, 2009, 2:21 pm

Not sure if you understood the above posts. The films are *not* fully controlled by Disney, and certain agreements on how they are exploited by them may have expiration dates. AND, as Ben said, at this point Disney has little reason to want to promote anything Narnia once they sell off their current DVD, etc. stock. And I really would be doubting any Kingdom Hearts tie-in.

Disney likely will always have home video distribution rights, and a stake on other merchandise relating directly to the films. After that, I wouldn't be certain of anything. Narnia is not a "Disney" property, just a license.