Mark Johnson, a producer for Walden Media’s Chronicles of Narnia films, has been part of the magic of Narnia since the beginning with 2005’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. While he was not familiar with the children’s books by C.S. Lewis until he attended the University of Virginia, he quickly loved them and wished he had read them in childhood.
The newest Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was released last week, becoming number one at the box office. It was a long process to bring that book to the big screen.
First, shortly after releasing the second film in the series, Prince Caspian, on DVD in 2008, the original distributor, Walt Disney Productions, dropped the franchise.
“It was a big shock,” says Johnson. “We were going into development [for Dawn Treader]. But it was tempered by Fox, so we were not an orphan for long.”
Twentieth Century Fox was one of many studios interested in picking up the series. “All major studios were interested,” says Johnson. “They saw it as a great family film franchise and recognized the value of the stories.” Walden Media went with Fox because they had a pre-existing relationship with the studio.
Johnson harbors no hard feeling toward Disney, though. “I wish them well, and they wish us well,” he says.
When asked about Prince Caspian’s underperformance, Johnson says, “I don’t think it underperformed. It made almost half-a-billion dollars.” What hurt it, according to him, was that it was “more earthbound. It didn’t have the magic of the first film.”
This was a key influence in Walden’s development of Dawn Treader. “We had to make sure we didn’t stray from that [magic],” says Johnson. “Caspian is darker, almost Shakespearean. [Voyage of the Dawn Treader] is a really fun tale. We were mindful not to be too dark and have fun with the characters.”
Concerning the changes made to the book’s story when it was made as a film, Johnson says everyone at Walden “wanted to be as faithful as possible,” but certain changes had to be made to help it work as a film. First, he says, “The book is very episodic, which doesn’t work as a movie. There needed to be a connection. That’s why we added the seven swords of the seven lords.” Second, while he says it works well in the book, another difficulty was “there was no villain. We needed a villain.” This is why the role of the evil mist of Dark Island was expanded.
“We still think the [book’s] themes are intact,” says Johnson. “The goal was not to make changes for the sake of changes. We wanted to be faithful even with the changes. If you get it right in spirit, you don’t have to get it to the letter.”
Johnson takes an example from the first Narnia film. The frozen river sequence was not in the book, but people were so happy with how well the story was adapted, he says some forgot this sequence was not in the book.
Dawn Treader was number one at the box office, but it only made $24 million domestically. “Would we have liked a better opening? Yes,” says Johnson. “[But] it’s a movie whose exit polls are through the roof.” He expects more positive news for Dawn Treader this Christmas season. He adds that the film has done very well overseas.
Regarding Liam Neeson’s recent comments saying he didn’t think the Narnia books were strictly Christian, Johnson says, “Do these books belong only to faith-based groups? I don’t think so. They belong to everyone. They’re open to interpretation. When kids read these books, they didn’t know about symbolism. They just treated them as books with wonderful lessons.”
As for the franchise’s future, Johnson says it’s “too early to tell” what will happen. “We want to make more. They’re too important to us not to.”
Which of the four remaining books will be next? Johnson says it will be either The Silver Chair, which features Eustace Scrubb as one of the heroes, or The Magician’s Nephew, which shows the creation of Narnia and the origin of the White Witch. “The Silver Chair is the most logical choice, but when would we do The Magician’s Nephew?” An order has not been decided yet.
Regardless, it is clear that Johnson will be passionate about each one, no matter the order.
“These movies are incredibly important to me,” says Johnson, “They speak to me, so I want to get them right and share them with everyone.”
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