Disney Bails on 'Narnia' Franchise
Is anyone surprised? Does anyone care?
This can't come as much of a surprise considering Prince Caspian did $150 million less business than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as THR confirms rumors saying Walt Disney Pictures has bailed on co-producing and co-financing the next Narnia movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with Walden Media.
The rumor first started back on March 18 and I quickly received a rude email from Disney publicists telling me the rumor was "entirely false" and told me I had no integrity in reporting it. In April the rumor showed up again. No nasty email that time. Now, we have confirmation the film originally slated for a May 7, 2010 is in for a bumpy ride.
Apparently the Disney departure puts the cast and director in doubt. Michael Apted was set to take over for Andrew Adamson and production was supposed to begin in Spring, but everything is now up for grabs. The THR article points out Walden's relationship with Fox, but also mentions how Prince Caspian cost $200 million to produce, a hefty price tag for an incoming studio knowing the second film did less than half of the business of the first.
Will another studio step in? Does anyone care?
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man, i hope they reconsider…i enjoyed the Narnia films, and Disney's involvement helped it that more!
I think they should make all of them. It doesn't really matter who makes them, I guess, as long as they get done. That's just me though with my all-or-nothing mentality.
According to http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.php
Both movies made well over what it cost to make them, not even including ancillary (video, TV etc.) earnings, (and you know Disney will milk the video/DVD cow for all it's worth for years to come) so what are they complaining about!!??!!
Good riddens I say, the movies were average at best, and the actors sucked.
I care if they make the movies, Brad! I enjoyed them, for my part. I think they are thoughtful and visually appealing. They are also good for kids. How many movies can we say that about these days, what with Hollywood's obsession with putting sex, drugs, and money into as many movies as they can? I hope these movies get made. It's a nice time in the theater for the family.
the first one was good and i have yet to see prince caspian because it got such terrible reviews so i hope disney thinks it over or the series should just be dropped or maybe they'll hand it over to touchstone
I definitely care. The series is entirely worth it just to get to "The Last Battle". I would be ticked if they bailed on this just because one of the books got poorly adapted and underperformed. Someone is bound to step in on this.
Memo to Disney: DO NOT MESS WITH RELEASE DATES. What worked for the first one would've worked for the next one. Had they released Caspian this Holiday season instead of Last May, it would've had the holidays all to itself. There was no Potter or any other summer-type blockbuster this holidays.
@Clark: I agree, Disney was out of their mind to move the release date up from Holiday '08 to Summer '08. Personally, I was very unimpressed with this holiday season's slate of films (+ the mediocre "Bedtime Stories" & "Marley & Me" were really the only family-friendly fare – "Caspian" would've blown them all away).
I think if Walden Media is willing to cut "Dawn Treader's" budget to a more manageable $135-150 million (and armed with their new director, & quality cast) they will have no trouble attracting a new studio. Hell, I bet more independent-minded studios such as Mel Gibson's "Icon Entertainment" or "NewMarket Films" could definitely be attracted to committing to at least 1-2 more Narnia films. Also, "New Line Cinema" would be an obvious choice – I mean they did do a fantastic job with a certain fantasy trilogy back in the early 2000's.
Someone please, give this series new life. Its not phenomanal, its not Lord of the Rings, but its still an epic story worthy telling.
also, there is no reason why Disney spent over $200 million producing "Prince Caspian" – I mean Peter Jackson spent just over $280 million producing all THREE Lord of the Rings films. Come on people, try focusing on the quality of the special effects instead of just the "number" of special effects.
Terminator 3 cost over $250 million and yet its special effects weren't much of an upgrade (if any) from the effects created way back in 1990 for Terminator 2.