Earlier this week, Twentieth Century Fox presented some rough footage from the upcoming third Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville.
In 2008, Disney had presented a trailer of Prince Caspian and a pre-visualization of Dawn Treader at the NRBC. But Disney left the Narnia franchise in December of 2009 after a lower-than-expected box office for Prince Caspian and an apparent rift between the companies over how the Narnia films should be handled. (The Narnia movies are produced by Walden Media.)
With the changes that have been made to the film since then (See No witch in Dawn Treader: Christianity Today reveals spoilers.), it can be assumed that this year’s convention attendees received a bit different vision than those who saw the pre-vis in 2008.
Ken Bowles, Director of Midwest Christian Media, was asked to provide his impressions to NarniaFans.com. He sums up his experience with these words:
…the clips left me with a feeling of great promise and with the wish that it were December instead of March!
Lisa Anderson, Focus on the Family’s Corporate Publicity Director and host of The Boundless Show podcast, mentioned the presentation on her Twitter page:
Just saw a rough cut preview of Narnia's "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," set for release in December. It's gonna be good.
Comments
I wish you hadn't written this article. I've always liked the Chronicles of Narnia but now it's tainted by the producers' pandering to theocrats. I'll probably still see it, but it's not going to be as enjoyable. It would be like discovering a book you liked was a favorite of Osama bin Laden's.
Shoot..., The studios have been "pandering to the theocrats" since the very beginning. That's where their largest fan base is. I don't really see how that "taints" the film. Wouldn't it be better to judge the film by itself than by who it is being promoted to?
One could say the "producers" "pandered" to the "theocrats" in marketing LWW, but if memory serves, that film did just fine.
I see it more as "pandering" to the author himself, in as much as the "theocrats" are trying to ensure that the film remains as close as possible to the spirit and intent of the book. If this film isn't something of which C.S. Lewis would have approved, then it shouldn't be made. Fortunately it sounds like it will be a film he could have enjoyed.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!