The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

[SoNowThen]

Those who like Lewis gotta pick up The Four Loves (I was sooooo happy to see it mentioned in that article), and if they have the time, Pilgrim's Regress, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and even some of his essay-collections...

[MacGuffin]

Lion, Witch and Wardrobe a Go for Early 2004
Another major fantasy film production is on its way to New Zealand, and again it will be directed by a local.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the popular book of the same name, will be made in New Zealand, Industry Development Minister Jim Anderton said in a statement today.

The film will be directed by Andrew Adamson, a New Zealander best known as the co-director of the Oscar-winning computer-animated feature Shrek.

The movie is expected to start preparations, including obtaining stage space and personnel, in Auckland early in 2004.

"We are extremely happy and excited to be starting work on the film in New Zealand," Adamson said.

Mr. Anderton, the leader of the Progressive Coalition, said the decision was "a vote of confidence in our country as a location for film and screen production".

"This is very positive news because it means more opportunities for New Zealanders to learn new skills and find employment in an exciting and creative industry," he said.

The film is one of the first beneficiaries of the Large Budget Screen Production Grant (LBSPG) scheme announced in June.

The scheme is designed to remove some of the financial disadvantages New Zealand faces in attracting investment in screen production and film compared with other locations, including Australia.

"The LBSPG scheme is designed to encourage valuable investment in New Zealand – the type of investment that creates opportunities for employment and the learning of new skills for individuals, with the added advantage of raising the whole country's visibility on the world stage," Mr. Anderton said.

The production in New Zealand of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a significant proportion of which is expected to be filmed in the South Island, is expected to qualify for expense grants under the LBSPG scheme.

[jtm]

that's cool, but what about possible cast member news/rumours?

[MacGuffin]

Westie shoot has warrior's okay but no White Witch
Source: New Zealand Herald

With his lanky blond locks, black stovepipe jeans and black zipper jacket, ex-pat director Andrew Adamson was destined to shoot movies in West Auckland.

Yesterday the director of the Shrek films brought about 200 crew from his big-budget The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Glen Eden to be greeted by a warrior, a mayor and a powhiri.

The Walt Disney-Walden production reportedly boasts a budget of between $150 million and $230 million, making the project the biggest single money earner to hit Auckland since the America's Cup.

The powhiri, held at the Hoani Waititi Marae, received a slice of the huge international contingent behind the film. In keeping with the wintry vibe of the classic CS Lewis tale, it was accompanied by a chilling breeze and intermittent rain.

Despite the chill, Adamson said the warmth of the welcome equalled only that offered by his family at Auckland International Airport.

"And I am so proud and happy to bring some the wonderful, creative people I have met in the United States back with me to New Zealand. It is easy to see that this is a magical land, filled with magical people."

The former Blockhouse Bay resident said New Zealand had become an ideal location for filming, where he could draw on an industry that had spent six years during the The Lord of the Rings series learning how to meet Hollywood expectations.

On the downside, filming in New Zealand meant The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was competing with Peter Jackson's King Kong remake for crew members.

"A lot of those guys have come through the Battle of Britain with Peter Jackson so obviously they have their own loyalties," said Adamson.

But he estimated his crew would still be up to 90 per cent New Zealanders.

Locations will be scattered around Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. Some background scenes have been shot in the Czech Republic.

While filming was scheduled to begin in late June or early July, Adamson said casting was far from completed.

Executive producer Philip Steuer, who most recently worked on The Alamo, said an 18-month global search had been made for the movie's young lead actors "and we are closing in on someone for the White Witch". Early rumours linked the role with Nicole Kidman.

Mr Steuer said New Zealand was known throughout the industry for its exceptional locations and a welcoming attitude, and he expected a steady stream of projects to travel south.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe will be released in December next year.

[tpfkabi]

i've read the Screwtape Letters and the first two books of the Space Trilogy. i really really liked the Space Trilogy.
how long are the books in the Narnia series and/or have you read any of the Space Trilogy?

[Ghostboy]

I haven't read the Space Trilogy, but I have read Screwtape Letters and some of his nonfiction works, and of course the Narnia books -- The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe is the first book I ever read, back in the kindergarten days. They're easy to read, obviously, but there is no loss of appeal for adult audiences with a mind towards literate fantasy (and/or Christian metaphor). Lewis, of course, was a contemporary of Tolkien, and their respective fantasy series are of a like mind.

[MacGuffin]

Swinton Confirmed as the White Witch in Narnia
Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Tilda Swinton (Adaptation.) will star as the evil White Witch in Disney's and Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2) confirmed at Cannes that Swinton has landed the role.

The project is the first in a series of films to be based on the best-selling novels by C.S. Lewis. It concerns a war between good and evil, pitting the magnificent lion Aslan against the forces of darkness in the magical world of Narnia. The White Witch has used her dark powers to keep Narnia in winter for 100 years, but it is foretold that four humans will be able to help Aslan break the spell. When the Pevensie siblings -- Lucy, Susan, Edmund, and Peter -- discover the magic of Narnia by entering the enchanted world through a wardrobe, the stage is set for a classic battle of epic proportions.

Budgeted at more than $100 million, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in the summer in Adamson's native New Zealand.

[godardian]

I'm chuffed that Swinton's in. I think she's much greater than her skimpy level of fame would seem to indicate. Hopefully this will cataupult her. I think she's a great match for the role.

I was fairly obsessed with the Narnia books (in addition to Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll, hence my lifelong Anglophilia for the feisty and witty kind of Brit) and I'm actually looking forward to the film.

[modage]

Andrew Adamson on The Chronicles of Narnia
Source: The New Zealand Herald Tuesday, June 15, 2004

The New Zealand Herald spoke to director Andrew Adamson about his big screen version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lions, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He says that filming will begin very soon.

"It's going very well. We are days away from shooting or weeks away from shooting, so it's a train that is coming at me definitely. But it's going great. We have a great cast assembled now so it's really coming together. It's exciting. It's terrifying and exciting."

He adds that the book's author C.S. Lewis is someone who paints a picture and lets you imagine the rest. "To me it's about making a movie which lives up to my memory of my book rather than specifically the book itself."

"And it needs to live up to everyone else's memories and that is what my challenge is - to make it accessible and real. You read it and it's a 1940s children's book. I want it to feel real and for kids today to actually relate to the children."

"So I've really tried to make the story about a family which is disenfranchised and disempowered in World War II, that on entering Narnia, through their unity as a family become empowered at the end of the story. It's really bringing the humanity of the characters into what is effectively a symbolic story."

[Myxo]

WETA Featurette right here.

[bonanzataz]

oh i'm excited as all hell.

tilda swinton as the white witch was all i needed to get me in the theater. and the fact that i love these books. are they going to do the whole series or are they waiting to see how well this one does until they start making the others?

[Finn]

I hear she does some tasteful nude scenes as well

[ono]

I hear she does some tasteful nude scenes as well

There are some deleted scenes with Aslan that I'm sure will make you go  .

...


Anyway, yes, I'm looking forward to this greatly, too.  A couple weeks ago I rewatched the BBC adaptations of the first four books, from the late 80s/early 90s.  The special effects were pretty bad, the acting decent, but the feel true Narnia.  It's a shame they weren't able to finish them.  The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle will look excellent on screen (not a knock on The Magician's Nephew, either), and I can't wait to see them all.  It's so hard to pick a favorite, really.  They all have individual elements that make them great in their own right.

[MacGuffin]

Narnia Expert Keeps Film on Course
Few know Lewis's work like Douglas Gresham.
 
There's a wonderful interview with Douglas Gresham, a co-producer on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, up at Narniaweb.com. Gresham is not actually a filmmaker per se, but rather an expert on C.S. Lewis and his writing who's been made a consultant and decision-maker on the Narnia project. In fact, the 59-year-old Gresham was the late British author's step-son and has remained close to the Lewis family.

How does one convert a written narrative into an action-adventure movie without losing its essence? How does one add or change details without betraying the spirit of the original? Those are tough questions Gresham must answer as he guides the direction of Andrew Adamson.

"I know that Jack [a nickname Lewis went by] would want to protect the integrity of each of the books, and preserve very carefully the messages that each is intended to convey. I also know that Jack was not enamored of film as a medium of communication because he felt that too little care was taken about what was being said in the movies that he had seen. Also, one of the hardest things to do is to preserve the literary integrity of a book when adapting it to either stage or film, and it is probably far more difficult with film. I think though that Jack would be amazed and fascinated with the wonderful technology that has been developed recently but perhaps less than delighted with the uses to which it has been put. I hope we address that failing to some extent with LWW.

"I suppose I represent Jack himself as a sort of creative ambassador. The aim of this is to use my abilities, knowledge and experience to make this movie as good as we can possibly make it."

So when Gresham is asked to approve or disapprove an element of the movie, how does he approach it?

"I put together all my memory and love of Jack himself and also of Warnie and my mother (great fans of Narnia not surprisingly), everything that they taught me, my understanding of and love for the book, my understanding of the necessities of the film medium and the needs of modern human society worldwide, and I pray a lot. Once all those and other factors have come together and been thoroughly examined in the light of whatever decision is to be made, I then decide what to say.

"Obviously a lot of what Jack could do with narrative, we have had to translate into action. Jack could tell about it, we have to make it happen. Also, for reasons of character development, balance and pacing, there will be things in the movie that do not appear in the book. I think and hope that we have added more value to it than we have taken from it... However, as a Narnian purist, I feel that any and every change from the original book is bad and thus have to contend with my emotional attachment to the book warring with my intellectual faculties and understanding of filmmaking. I have probably been a pain in the neck at times to my colleagues in the production."

Pain in the neck or not, fans are sure to be pleased by the devotion to Lewis's story that Gresham has brought to the production.

Gresham also expressed his hope that Walden Media would go on to make the other six books into films, without skipping or combining any of them. Be sure to check out the full interview! The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opens this December.

[MacGuffin]

Cox Out of Narnia
Aslan actor drops fantasy flick.

Major news from the land of Narnia... Actor Brian Cox (X2, The Bourne Supremacy), who had been cast in the C. S. Lewis adaptation as the voice of Aslan, has dropped out of the production. News of Cox's departure broke at the recent Biola Media Conference.  Cox's publicist says he left the project because of scheduling conflicts.

No replacement has been signed yet, but rumor has it that Jason Issacs, Timothy Dalton, Sean Bean, Gerard Butler, Ian McKellen and Ralph Fiennes have all tested.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a live-action portrayal of the first installment in C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy series.  It tells the story of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, a group of siblings from London who are separated from their parents during WWII and sent to live in the safety of the English countryside.  There the children discover a magical wardrobe that leads them into the mysterious world of Narnia.

Kiwi helmer Andrew Adamson (Shrek) directed a cast including Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Rupert Everett, Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Dawn French and Jim Broadbent.

The Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures production opens on December 9th.