Success of Chronicles of Narnia Franchise: Helpful?

[exnihilo]

With the emerging box office success of the chronicles of Narnia, which seems to present a trend of success for fantasy series for the studios to chew on, I was wondering whether that portends good things for finding backers for TCTC? Although there are a lot of "adult" themes in TCON, it is probably perceived as a children's series, like Harry Potter. TCTC is definitely NOT a children's series. So I'm not sure that the success of other fantasy movie franchises will help much to get TCTC made -- although it definitely can't hurt.

Personally I loved Band of Brothers and knowing that the chronicles are in the same hands is incredibly reassuring. And I think a well-made series of TC movies would be very successful (as were the books), although the darkness of the subject matter might limit the market somewhat -- the biggest single audience for fantasy is children, and any realistic adaptation of the books has got to bring an "R" rating.

[kevinswatch]

Personally, I think it's going to hurt Covenant. People are going to think, "The Chronicles of Covenant? Is that supposed to be some rip-off of The Chronicles of Narnia? And the Lord of the Rings? Ect."

Plus, Narnia will just enforce the whole "Fantasy = Kiddy movie" notion.

I don't think the chances of a Covenant movie look good anymore. (Assuming they looked good to begin with...heh.)-jay

[exnihilo]

I had a depressing thought just now that reinforces your pessimism about the series being made...

The only paradigm for "R" rated fantasy is the Conan movies -- which were unquestionably "B" movies at best (a guilty pleasure nonetheless). And imagining TCTC in Dino de Laurentis' (or his equivalent's) hands makes me physically ill.

[Nerdanel]

I liked the first Conan. It was the best fantasy movie I had ever seen before LotR came out. More to the point, there are several really good high-rating horror movies in existence. In many of those cases, the horror is fantastical in nature. Someone like Sam Raimi or John Carpenter might not be the ideal director but would be better than many others.

I would much prefer losing elaborate CGI sequences rather than have the story dumbed down and sanitized for Hollywood. I think the promotional material should be geared in such a way that nobody thinks of Narnia.

---------------

A quick and feeble attempt at a trailer:

TC walking down the street.

A doctor in a white coat telling TC that he cannot hope.

A woman snatching her son away when TC approaches.

TC standing in front of a mirror, putting a razorblade to his jugular, holding it there for a while, putting the razor down.

TC giving his wedding ring to a beggar.

TC about to get hit by a car.

Helicopter view of Kevin's watch.

TC: This is all a dream.

Lena looking sexy.

Foamfollower in a boat.

TC opening a door and seeing Bannor.

Atiaran in Andelain.

Lord Mhoram in Revelstone.

Lena looking TC admiringly.

TC: You don't exist!

TC waking up by the stream, Lena by his side.

The Council of the Lords.

Ranyhyn rearing.

TC: I'm not your savior!

The red moon rising over Andelain.

Triock attacking TC with a knife.

A kresh.

Bannor executing a martial arts manoeuver.

A quick and unclear shot of the ur-viles.

TC fighting with a staff.

Something in flames.

Berserk Foamfollower.

Lena looking horrified.

TC falling down on his knees in ashes.

The eyes of Lord Foul.

[dlbpharmd]

I don't think the chances of a Covenant movie look good anymore. (Assuming they looked good to begin with...heh.)-jay

Agreed.

[IrrationalSanity]

I'll just restate what I've said all along - the only way a Covenant movie can succeed is if the first one made is book four - The Wounded Land.

[duke]

Nerdanel - Your idea for a trailer sent shivers down my spine. I think you got it almost spot on, except the last few scenes probably reveal a little too much. I much prefer trailers that show the premise of the movie, and thats all (I'm thinking Eyes Wide Shut by Kubrick as an example).

On topic - I think that the (assumed) success of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' will undoubtedly help increase the chances of a Lord Foul's Bane movie being made. The Matrix movies were in a similar vein - adult fantasy, heavy on psychology & special effects - and we all know how successful they were.

Also, these movies hinge on the right actor playing TC. The right actor has to come along at the right age, and with the talent and desire to play TC. If the planets align, I think LFB will eventually be made into a movie.

[duke]

This comment from Boxofficemojo -

Hollywood will continue to follow the literary fantasy trend with Eragon due next December and His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass for December 2007 among other projects, while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was conceived as the first adaptation of Lewis' seven-novel Narnia series.

www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1960

Seems to me like a movie of LFB is still many years away at best.

[Akasri]

A quick and feeble attempt at a trailer:

Nice one!

Would be a nice effect to have Foul's eyes pop up at the end and then blend into the title graphic.

On the other hand...

Just to show how quickly things can go wrong, here are some changes I could envision in that trailer that would make it a totally different movie.

Cheesy voiceover "A man, lost in a strange world"

Slow motion action shot of TC shouting "NOOOoooooo" (during the Wraith slaughter, or at the Word of Warning?

"A world of fantastic magic..."

Show Lord Mhoram wielding blue Lord's Fire

"... and unspeakable evil"

Drool Rockworm wielding the Staff of Law

"A world without pity"

Random explosions... cut to picture of dead, burned bodies at Soaring Woodhelven

Doves flying up as Covenant dives sideways with a sword in each hand

"From John Woo, the acclaimed director of Face Off and Broken Arrow"

More doves flying up

"Comes a masterpiece set in a distant world..."

/shudder

[I'm Murrin]

This comment from Boxofficemojo -

Hollywood will continue to follow the literary fantasy trend with Eragon due next December and His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass for December 2007 among other projects, while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was conceived as the first adaptation of Lewis' seven-novel Narnia series.

www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1960

Seems to me like a movie of LFB is still many years away at best.

Note, however, that none of these are what we'd call adult fantasy. The fact that most of the fantasy books being filmed are 'family' stuff doesn't bode well for a Covenant film at all.
On the other hand, there are projects that, if they do it right, could push it a little further in the right direction. For one, I'm hoping Erikson et al get their Malazan movie made - military, yes, but still fantasy, and not kids' stuff.

[Loredoctor]

I think that interest in fantasy will wane.

[theDespiser]

I had a depressing thought just now that reinforces your pessimism about the series being made...

The only paradigm for "R" rated fantasy is the Conan movies -- which were unquestionably "B" movies at best (a guilty pleasure nonetheless). And imagining TCTC in Dino de Laurentis' (or his equivalent's) hands makes me physically ill.

i dont like you



















Conan the Barbarian, a B MOVIE?@@?@? surely you jest...the second one, maybe, but the first?

[Loredoctor]

I'm sorry, but I really do not see how Conan the Barbarian is a B movie. Explain, please.

[Mistweave]

I'll just restate what I've said all along - the only way a Covenant movie can succeed is if the first one made is book four - The Wounded Land.

I have wondered this myself simply because I read TWL first (see this thread from 2003 kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... highlight=

However, I think it would have more negatives than positives. For starters, the amount of exposition required to tell (or show in flashbacks) what had happened previously/what had been lost would be enormous.

[burgs]

It sickens me that tripe like Eragon is being made into a movie. SRD has told us that comments from Hollywood have been along the lines of "too much like LOTR".

Well...HELLO? What do they think Eragon is? Other than, *sigh*, a surefire hit, even if the movie stinks. People actually like the stupid thing.

[exnihilo]

I apologize for the tardiness of my response, Loremaster, but I work at sea and have just returned from a month-long voyage.

Conan the Barbarian is a highly enjoyable movie for me, and it sparks my imagination about that [hypothetical] period of pre-history. Personally, I have always thought of "B" movies as pure entertainment, that, when good, represent a skillful display of artifice, as distinct from art. "A" movies, were we to posit such a thing, must therefore aspire to tackle fundamental questions and motives of humanity in a *serious* manner, i.e. before and beyond mere entertainment value. Conan, while surely entertaining, is just as surely filled with banal caricatures calculated to captivate based on the lowest common denominator.

That said, joy is in the ears that hear, and if your sensibilities say that Conan the Barbarian is not a "B" movie, we will have to respect the validity of your aesthetic sense.

On another subject, I have just finished re-reading the first chronicles for the first time in 20 years, and I am having doubts now about the feasibility of making the chronicles into movies. The plot is so psychological, yet so interconnected with the action, that it just seems impossible to convey the depth of any given book in 2 1/2 or 3 hours. Obviously this is not a series so much about sword and sorcery as it is about the detailed mental, physical, and spiritual agony of a leper placed in an impossible situation. How can this tension be maintained throughout the whole series? And even supposing this could be translated onto the screen, who would want to sit through 6 (or more) movies that dwell on Covenant's excruciation with an unrelenting eye. The themes seem very unsuited to the film media, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

[burgs]

Although I'm not Loremaster, I must say that many movies have been made with heavily psycholgical undertones that are more important than the actual events of the "story". Without making a list, Silence of the Lambs comes to mind. It was hardly a movie about a serial killer killing women to sew their skins together so that he could fashion a suit for himself (although that, in and of itself, is quite intriguing), it is the psychological interplay between Hannibal and Starling that fuels the picture. That said, it's unlikely that anyone other than Hopkins could have given Hannibal the treatment he deserved. Gene Hackman was slated for the role, but pulled out for reasons I don't recall. Thank god, or whatever god is. Hopkins gave us the performance of a lifetime. Perhaps the best male performance in a thriller ever.

Point being: Psychological thrillers can be made. I think that, in the appropriate hands (not Peter Jackons's...although I appreciate what he did with LOTR, with the huge exception of the Witch King knocking Gandalf off his horse - come on, that's IMPOSSIBLE), could be terrific. Also, casting is important. Can you imagine anyone other than Hopkins playing Hannibal in SotL? Or McKellan as Gandalf? If good casting decisions are made...

Covenant can be made, in skilful hands. Just as it was written: in skilful hands.

[exnihilo]

I am relatively ignorant of the process of making movies or writing scripts, but I kept asking myself while reading the books, what sequence could be cut from the book that would not unravel it altogether? Perhaps it can be done, but I have grave doubts about it.

The action of the Silence of the Lambs is primarily a psychological confrontation between Lector and Clarice. Apart from Clarice, everyone exists in a confined space. In TC, the psychology is just as central as in Silence of the Lambs, but the action is intricate, nuanced, distracting, and perpetual. Even more importantly, at a fundamental level the action is the psychology and the psychology is the action. In other words, if you cut some of the action or some of the psychology, as any screen adaptation of a novel must, you almost surely lose the philosophical thread that holds the whole thing together. In my opinion.

I could be wrong, and I hope that I am. But I worry that Covenant, rendered inadequately, might be the worst of all possible fantasy movies.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

[quote="burgs"]although I appreciate what he did with LOTR, with the huge exception of the Witch King knocking Gandalf off his horse - come on, that's IMPOSSIBLE)]/quote]

Freaking Bump! How the heck can a former human take down and further destroy his staff, a Maiar for creek's sake!!1

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

although I appreciate what he did with LOTR, with the huge exception of the Witch King knocking Gandalf off his horse - come on, that's IMPOSSIBLE)

Freaking Bump! How the heck can a former human destroy the staff of and take down, a Maiar for creek's sake!!!