12/03/04
The release date for the movie has been changed from December 2004 to December 2005, which is understandable seeing as they have not even finished casting let alone shooting.
FILIMING IN CZECH REPUBLIC
12/03/04
Walden Media have announded that filming for the Narnia movie will also take place in the Czech Republic as well as New Zealand. It is rumoured scenes involving the White Witch's house will be filmed in the Czech Republic.
KIDMAN RUMOUR DENIED
12/03/04
Alison Lehrer, a spokeswoman from Walden Media, has denied that Nicole Kidman has been given the part of the White Witch. She did promise exciting news soon, so watch this space.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
08/03/04
Ever heard of the film "The Hundred Years Winter"? Probably not, however it should sound familiar to Narnia fans. Famous films are often given codenames so that they don't attract big crowds when filming. The codename for "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is "The Hundred Years Winter". It is a reference to the time the White Witch enslaved Narnia in snow and ice before Aslan returned to liberate the country and its people. So if you live in New Zealand and hear the name, you know what's really behind it.
NICOLE KIDMAN AS THE WHITE WITCH?
08/03/04
It is rumoured that Andrew Adamson has hired Australian actress Nicole Kidman for the part of the White Witch in the movie "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe".
She arrived in Canterbury, New Zealand early on Thu 04 March 2004 and left Christchurch on Fri 05 March 2004. On her arrival she was accompanied by eight people; some were security men while others were said to be representatives of Walden Media (the company who is producing the film).
During her stay she had a helicopter tour of the country surrounding Canterbury, focusing on Flock Hill station near Arthur's Pass.
NARNIA MOVIE CASTING NEWS
22/10/03
Despite constant rumours casting hasn’t started and the film makers want American actors to play the child roles, auditions do appear to have started as early as January 2003.
The news is Casting Director Pippa Hall saw 52 candidates in the final round of auditions for the four child roles on 1 July 2003 in London.
Included in this number were Rebecca Edwards and Joshua Dickinson from Sudbury Upper School, Suffolk (which is in East Anglia – south-east England) who were auditioning for the roles of Susan (aged 12) and Peter (aged 13). Both children are in Year 9 at school, which means they are approximately between 13 – 14 years old.
James Younger from Uplands Middle School, Suffolk was auditioning for the role of Edmund. James is in Year 8, putting him at between 12 – 13 years old.
Remember, you heard it here first.
BBC CHRONICLES OF NARNIA DVD UPDATE
02/10/03
Back in March 2003 I announced that the BBC would be releasing "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" DVD on 30th June 2003 and the other DVDs would be released in time for Christmas. "The Lion" release was delayed and was released in 17th September 2003. The BBC has said sales are going well and you can buy a copy on Amazon.co.uk at the price of £11.24 plus postage and packing.
The full set of The Chronicles of Narnia can be bought on 17th November 2003 and you can pre-order a copy on Amazon.co.uk at the price of £26.24 plus postage and packing.
There are some interesting special features such as a reunion of the actors who played the Pevensie children (Richard Dempsie, Sophie Cook, Jonathan Scott and Sophie Wilcox) which took place in 2003. Also there are out-takes, actor and character biographies and special effects. Should be excellent.
C.S.LEWIS FESTIVAL (USA)
02/10/03
November - A C. S. Lewis Festival will be held in the Petoskey (Michigan) area during the month of November 2003. It will include showings of local resident David Crouse's documentary "The Magic Never Ends;" performances by the Little Traverse Civic Theater of the play "Shadowlands;" a one-man, two-act play on Lewis written and performed by actor William McGill; community lecture and panel discussion by Chris Mitchell, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center in Wheaton, IL; performances of songs from the album "Roar of Love" by the Northern Michigan Chorale, and selections of works by Lewis for various reading groups, school groups and church classes in the community.
For more information, contact the Crooked Tree Arts Center at 231-347-4337 or visit www.cslewisfestival.org.
NARNIA MOVIE NEWS
09/07/03
After an on-off saga throughout June 2003, it looks as though New Zealand will play host to the new Narnia movie. Kiwi-born director, Andrew Adamson, has always wanted to film the movies in New Zealand, but has said he could not do so without tax breaks. On 01 July 2003 the New Zealand government decided to grant tax breaks for movies which would cut production costs by 12.5%.
If the deal finally goes through and New Zealand becomes the location for Narnia, filming is likely to begin summer 2003. Adamson has been quoted as saying he has thought about shooting the snow-bound scenes in New Zealand, but they would be filmed in the northern hemisphere. Already the New Zealand based company Weta Workshop has begun making props for the film (some of these props include swords and armour). It is reported the budget for "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is $170 million.
The links with The Lord Of The Rings movie do not stop at New Zealand and Weta Workshop. Grant Major who was The Lord Of The Rings production designer has now become "The Lion"'s producer and design director.
News that may disappoint fans comes in the announcement that 5 films will be made over ten years. If this is true then it means either four books being compressed into two films or only five of the seven Narnia books making it to the silver screen. If the later is true then which of the films will not make it? Would they copy what the BBC did and not produce The Magicians Nephew or The Last Battle? It's not clear. Looking at the Walden Media website, they have optioned all seven books; whether they turn every book into a film is another matter.
There is no news as yet of casting (unfortunately).
BBC CHRONICLES OF NARNIA - EXCLUSIVE
28/03/03
Some breaking news. The BBC are working on bringing "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian/Voyage Of The Dawn Treader" to DVD. For those people unable to purchase the DVDs released in America and disappointed with the limited extra features on them, these new DVDs will be for you.
The plan is to release the DVDs in Great Britain on 30th June 2003 with a plan to make all three DVDs (including "The Silver Chair" available for Christmas 2003.
"The Chronicles Of Narnia Website" is proud to be working in conjunction with the BBC to help make these DVDs the best they can be.
Remember! You heard it here first.
WETA WORKS ITS MAGIC
18/03/03
Weta, the same company who worked on the special effects for "The Lord Of The Rings", has signed a contract to produce the effects for the new Narnia film.
But in a lecture given on 14 March 2003, Douglas Gresham (C.S.Lewis' stepson), who is co-producing the movie, vowed that the special effects would not steal the show. Instead he committed himself not to "...change the words of the master."
He also announced that a deal had been signed that morning (14 March 2003) giving the go ahead for the production, but would not be drawn on the studio name. He said, details would come out soon in the press.
The film is due for release mid-2004.
NARNIA IN NEW ZEALAND?
13/03/03
Despite an initial desire to film the forthcoming movie of "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" on location in England and Ireland, it looks like New Zealand has become the front runner to double as the magical land of Narnia.
With the success of filming "The Lord Of The Rings" in New Zealand, Kiwi-born director Andrew Adamson has been drawn back to his native land in his bid to bring "The Lion" to the silver screen. Adamson and a team from Walden Media were spotted earlier this year scouting possible locations in and around the New Zealand city of Canterbury.
Ironically the tax breaks which attracted Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema to film LOTR in New Zealand have only recently been withdrawn, and this may eventually prove the deciding factor as several other countries, including Australia, vie for the honour of becoming Narnia.
Although The Chronicles Of Narnia Website is not biased in anyway we would like to remind people C.S.Lewis based the Narnian landscape on England and Ireland; it'd be fitting if one of these countries was used for filming. In many ways Ireland would be more appropriate as C.S.Lewis was born in Belfast. Whatever is decided let's hope they choose the right location and it can pass as the Narnia we all treasure in our imaginations.
ANDREW ADAMSON APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR
02/09/02
Hot on the heels of the appointment of a screenwriter, Walden Media have hired Andrew Adamson to direct the film 'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe'. Adamson shot to fame as a director with his first film, 'Shrek'.
ANN PEACOCK APPOINTED AS SCREENWRITER
02/09/02
Nine months after acquiring the rights to the Narnia series, Walden Media have appointed Ann Peacock to adapt 'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe' for the big screen. The CEO of Walden Media Cary Granat said of the appointment:
'We are thrilled to be working with a writer of Ann Peacock's lyrical sensibility and emotional intelligence who can deliver a faithful adaptation of C.S. Lewis' beloved original."
It is encouraging to hear the company coming out with phrases such as
'faithful adaptation'.
BBC CHRONICLES OF NARNIA ON DVD
29/08/02
The BBC Chronicles of Narnia have finally made it onto DVD! The American company Homeview Entertainment have produced DVDs encompassing all the BBC productions. These can be bought separately or in a 3-disc boxed set. The DVDs are available from Tuesday 27 August 2002. They are a must for all self-respecting Narnia fans.
Back in April 2002 Homeview Entertainment contacted 'The Chronicles of Narnia Website' asking whether we wanted to contribute to the DVDs, which we were happy to do.
Perhaps the only bad news is they are only available in North America and the DVDs cover Region 1 (USA and Canada). However with companies like Amazon prepared to mail overseas and multi-region DVD players I am sure fans in Europe can find ways of getting hold of them. As yet I have not heard of any plans to release the DVDs in Europe.
My thanks goes to Mark Rivera who provided me with the information. You can read what he thinks of the DVDs by following this link:
'THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE' - MOVIE NEWS (UPDATE)
13/12/01
In the wake of successful movie adaptions of 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord Of The Rings', fresh interest has been shown in turning 'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe' into a film.
In the past both Paramount and Disney have been involved in attempts to bring the book to the silver screen however Walden Media, a New York based company founded in May 2001, have bought the option to turn the books into movies.
The man behind Walden Media is billionnaire Philip Anschutz. Although little is known about him, he does appear to be sympathetic to Christianity and is maybe a Christian himself.
C.S.Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham, is to oversee the project and ensure the film remains faithful to the book. For all those who remember rumours of earlier screenplays (substituting L.A. for England and hamburgers for Turkish Delight) this news comes as a huge relief.
A range of merchandise is envisaged although not on the scale of the Harry Potter phenomenon.
Walden Media has made no commitment to produce all seven books as films, although they have not ruled this out. Decisions on actors or locations have not yet been taken. The film version is due in cinemas in mid-2004.
ATTENTION ALL AUSTRALIAN NARNIA FANS!
21/04/01
We have news that The Australian Site for Children's Video and DVD stock a boxed set of the BBC Narnia productions in PAL format for $89.90 Aust. Sounds like a bargain.
For more information and order details, you can visit their website at:
21/04/01
The C.S. Lewis Foundation of Redlands, California has recently announced the launch of a series of programs to occur at C.S. Lewis' former home, The Kilns in Oxford, England. The first in this series will occur this July and features Dr. Jim Como as Study leader while offering unprecedented access to and residence at The Kilns.
'THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE' - THE MOVIE
06/06/00
Many of you will be interested in hearing the latest news concerning the film version of 'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardorbe'.
Paramount Pictures bought an option on 'The Lion' and in the summer of 1998 progress was being made. The original director, John Boorman, was replaced by Robert Minskoff in 1997. The team under John Boorman had ripped up the original story, desecrating it in the process, in an attempt to American-ise the tale (apologies for all our Trans-Atlantic visitors, no offence intended). Some of the horrors that were to have come our way included swapping wartime Britain for modern day Los Angeles; moving to the professors house because of earthquakes rather than air raids and having the White Witch tempt Edmund into eating hamburgers instead of Turkish Delight.
Thankfully we were spared this and with the advent of a new director a new script was begun. However, since 1998 the project has stood still
The latest news I hear is that a new production is planned under the directorship of Stuart Little. Whether Paramount is producing the movie I am not sure. Any more news concerning the movie would be gratefully received at this e-mail address.
My thanks goes to Andrew Settatree, Dr Zeus and Bill Kotraba for providing me with this information.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA WEBSITE - ONE YEAR OLD TODAY
01/06/00
The Chronicles of Narnia Website is one year old today. Since its creation in June 1999 over 4,000 people have visited the site. Webcounter statistics indicate visitors to the site have come from the following countries:
Australia
Canada
Netherlands
New Zealand
Singapore
United Kingdom
United States of America
If you are a regular visitor to the site and your country is not listed do drop me a line at my e-mail address and I will add you to the list.
I'd like to thank all the interest people have shown in these pages, in particular those who took time to sign the guestbook or send an e-mail with comments or suggestions. I hope to further expand the site next year (there's a lot of work still to do) so do keep coming back regularly.
'THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE' ON STAGE
20/01/00
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is staging a production of 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' in Stratford-upon-Avon until the end of February 2000. Anyone interested in booking tickets needs to phone the Box Office on (01789) 403 403.
Note: This show is not playing London so if you can't get to Stratford then you're a little stuck.
If anyone manages to see the show then contact me at the following e-mail address and I'll publish your thoughts on the performance here on the site.
I have some pictures of rehersals which I'll publish on the site within a few weeks.
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It is rumoured that Andrew Adamson has hired Australian actress Nicole Kidman for the part of the White Witch in the movie "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe".
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