The One Ring in LotR and now the Chronicle of Narnia!!

[High Lord Tolkien]

The One Ring in LotR and now the Chronicles of Narnia!!

The comparisons are going to be enormous.
How many movies have a magic ring as the main talisman?
How many movies have the word "Chronicle" in the title?

It might seem petty to us fans but to a studio it's going to sound WAY TOO FAMILIAR to write a 100,000,000.00 check for.
Would a Studio even green light a "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" movie today?
I would expect a title change and a major rewrite at this point.

If any Studio puts out a blockbuster movie next summer about, say, a fireman where the main character is a leper I'd say this about a CoTC movie: "He's dead, Jim."

[theDespiser]

well, i dont think anybody cried foul(no pun intended) when narnia came out after Chronicles of Riddick...other than that and narnia, i dont see any other movies with chronicle in the title...i didnt know narnia had a ring in it...course i read the first couple books when i was younger, and never finished the series...


but...the same similarities everybody around here knows about between LOTR and TCTC would surely make them think twice...i hope a movie gets made, but...i think it would be better as a mini series...

but then again, how would something like that be marketed...you want good special effects...good production...and you want everybody to see it...

[Nerdanel]

I think it's important that the differences between TC and LotR are clear. Cavewights and ur-viles should be alien-looking and distinctly different from Gollums and Orcs. Griffins shouldn't look like heraldic beasts, since those are unscary, but they shouldn't be like Fell Beasts either. I'd prefer something alien again, perhaps in the vein of angels from Ezekiel as there is some etymological justification for that. On the other hand, Stonedownors and Woodhelvennin should look human and fairly normal so they cannot be mistaken for Dwarves and Elves.

LotR is supposed to be our Earth's prehistory, the Chronicles aren't, unless SRD throws us a curveball in the Last Chronicles. Therefore art direction has a lot more lateral space. I would like to see a style distinct from LotR. We already have three LotR films, let's see something else! Even something like Dark Crystal (except of course not with puppets) might be more fitting. I recall that Dark Crystal had some very beautiful imagery and I don't think we need to strive for 100% hard-edged realism in a story that poses a question on whether the whole thing is the main character's imagination.

Revelstone has surprisingly much in common with Minas Tirith, and this is a matter for art design to solve. It helps that Revelstone is carved from a darker rock and has no levels like Minas Tirith. The Spoiled Plains should again emphasize alienness in the form of things like the weird trees in order appear different from Mordor. Mount Thunder is the really tricky one. I think it should have vegetation on its lower slopes and be a shield volcano, but unfortunately the comparison to Mount Doom is inevitable with the story roles being so very similar. However there is no way out of that without significant rewriting of the plot.

I think if TC movies try to copy LotR, a disaster will result. The thing about the Chronicles is that they take a semi-familiar fantasy setting and introduce un-Hollywood twists like unbelief and despair. If we cut all the difficult parts we would be left with a pale LotR clone. I think rather in the limited filmic space we should emphasize the parts that set the story apart from the pack. These parts in turn make inherently for a more difficult film, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing (except from the ticket sale maximization standpoint). I root for an indie film, since a massive budget would entail a need for massive profits.