seeker42
March 3rd, 2004, 02:24 AM
Disney Doing "Narnia" - Doesn’t this inspire Confidence...
Disney Doing "Narnia"
Walt Disney Studios has sealed a deal with Walden Media to bring to life a live-action film version of British author C.S. Lewis' classic children's fantasy The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Per the deal announced Monday and trumpeted Tuesday in a series of nationwide newspaper ads, the Mouse House will cofinance and distribute the first installment in the Narnia series, which will have a budget of more than $100 million and be directed by Shrek mastermind Andrew Adamson.
"The Chronicles of Narnia were an important part of my childhood just as they are to millions of fans around the world. I hope to bring to the screen a movie that is as real to the audience as Narnia was to me as a child," said Adamson. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells an epic story of great heart, of a family torn apart by a war in our world, who are united in their struggle to save the magical land of Narnia. It's been a long time dream of mine to bring these classic stories to a new generation of moviegoers and readers."
Long before J.K. Rowling (news - web sites) dreamed up Harry Potter (news - web sites), Lewis was busy with his seven-book series. Written in the 1950s and beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the author chronicled an epic struggle between good and evil set in the magical land of Narnia. The first installment centers around four siblings--Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter--who enter an enchanted closet and find themselves in a world filled with giants, dwarves and talking beasts.
They eventually encounter a magnificent lion named Aslan and are recruited to help battle the evil White Witch and break a century-old spell that keeps Narnia permanently frozen in winter.
Disney and Walden are betting that Lewis' fantasy franchise--which also includes the prequel, The Magician's Nephew, and the sequels The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle--will follow Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings series by casting a spell at the box office.
"With an exciting and meaningful plot and well-drawn, emotional characters, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has the potential to be just the start of an extraordinary series of films; the exceptional imagination present in the novels follows in the best Disney tradition," said Disney chairman Dick Cook. "I think this is just the kind of movie audiences are looking for, and we're thrilled to be able to bring it to the screen."
Lewis, a classics professor at Oxford and Cambridge, was a contemporary and old friend of Lord of the Rings mastermind J.R.R. Tolkien, and the two used to get together regularly to compare notes on their respective fantasies. (Anthony Hopkins played Lewis in the 1993 biopic Shadowlands.)
The Chronicles of Narnia has sold over 85 million copies worldwide and has been adapted before in both cartoon and live-action form on television. Walden, which controls the rights to the property, has previously teamed with Disney on the films Ghosts of the Abyss, Holes and the upcoming big-budget Jackie Chan remake of Around the World in 80 Days.
Unlike Peter Jackson (news)'s Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings, which featured a CGI Gollum as one of the lead characters, Adamson will use digital effects to create five animated leads, including Aslan.
Under the agreement, Disney will control foreign distribution and ancillaries such as home video, licensing and merchandising, as well as rights to adapt Narnia future books.
Mickey's minions hope Narnia will be a big boost for the company and help plug the huge hole left by Pixar, which has ended its long-term relationship with Disney. The Mouse House also recently acquired the Muppets franchise and is looking to regain shareholder confidence in the wake of the Pixar loss and an open revolt against chairman and CEO Michael Eisner led by former board member Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt.
If all goes as planned, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will start filming in late June or early July and is targeted to hit theaters in Christmas 2005.
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"as well as rights to adapt Narnia future books."
Hmmmmm
:rolleyes
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=794&ncid=762&e=6&u=/eo/20040302/en_movies_eo/13615
Disney Doing "Narnia"
Walt Disney Studios has sealed a deal with Walden Media to bring to life a live-action film version of British author C.S. Lewis' classic children's fantasy The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Per the deal announced Monday and trumpeted Tuesday in a series of nationwide newspaper ads, the Mouse House will cofinance and distribute the first installment in the Narnia series, which will have a budget of more than $100 million and be directed by Shrek mastermind Andrew Adamson.
"The Chronicles of Narnia were an important part of my childhood just as they are to millions of fans around the world. I hope to bring to the screen a movie that is as real to the audience as Narnia was to me as a child," said Adamson. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells an epic story of great heart, of a family torn apart by a war in our world, who are united in their struggle to save the magical land of Narnia. It's been a long time dream of mine to bring these classic stories to a new generation of moviegoers and readers."
Long before J.K. Rowling (news - web sites) dreamed up Harry Potter (news - web sites), Lewis was busy with his seven-book series. Written in the 1950s and beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the author chronicled an epic struggle between good and evil set in the magical land of Narnia. The first installment centers around four siblings--Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter--who enter an enchanted closet and find themselves in a world filled with giants, dwarves and talking beasts.
They eventually encounter a magnificent lion named Aslan and are recruited to help battle the evil White Witch and break a century-old spell that keeps Narnia permanently frozen in winter.
Disney and Walden are betting that Lewis' fantasy franchise--which also includes the prequel, The Magician's Nephew, and the sequels The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle--will follow Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings series by casting a spell at the box office.
"With an exciting and meaningful plot and well-drawn, emotional characters, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has the potential to be just the start of an extraordinary series of films; the exceptional imagination present in the novels follows in the best Disney tradition," said Disney chairman Dick Cook. "I think this is just the kind of movie audiences are looking for, and we're thrilled to be able to bring it to the screen."
Lewis, a classics professor at Oxford and Cambridge, was a contemporary and old friend of Lord of the Rings mastermind J.R.R. Tolkien, and the two used to get together regularly to compare notes on their respective fantasies. (Anthony Hopkins played Lewis in the 1993 biopic Shadowlands.)
The Chronicles of Narnia has sold over 85 million copies worldwide and has been adapted before in both cartoon and live-action form on television. Walden, which controls the rights to the property, has previously teamed with Disney on the films Ghosts of the Abyss, Holes and the upcoming big-budget Jackie Chan remake of Around the World in 80 Days.
Unlike Peter Jackson (news)'s Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings, which featured a CGI Gollum as one of the lead characters, Adamson will use digital effects to create five animated leads, including Aslan.
Under the agreement, Disney will control foreign distribution and ancillaries such as home video, licensing and merchandising, as well as rights to adapt Narnia future books.
Mickey's minions hope Narnia will be a big boost for the company and help plug the huge hole left by Pixar, which has ended its long-term relationship with Disney. The Mouse House also recently acquired the Muppets franchise and is looking to regain shareholder confidence in the wake of the Pixar loss and an open revolt against chairman and CEO Michael Eisner led by former board member Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt.
If all goes as planned, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will start filming in late June or early July and is targeted to hit theaters in Christmas 2005.
======
"as well as rights to adapt Narnia future books."
Hmmmmm
:rolleyes
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=794&ncid=762&e=6&u=/eo/20040302/en_movies_eo/13615