Narnia books without the Pevensie kids. Too risky to film?

[Argus Skyhawk]

I watched Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader last night and enjoyed it well. They switched the order of events around from the original novel, and I suspect that was necessary to make the various chapters feel interconnected enough to work as a film. I loved the original book, but it was quite episodic.

I suspect those who have not read the books will be disappointed that the older two Pevensie children are hardly seen in the current movie, and take no real part in the story. This makes me suspect that if this movie does not do amazingly well at the box office, filming the next four books might look like a very risky idea, since the original four children are hardly in them. The protagonists of the next book are Eustace and his not-yet-seen-in-the-movies friend Jill, while the Pevensie kids are nowhere to be found. That might be hard to market to those who have not read and loved the books.

What do you guys think?

 

[Hound of UIster]

Horse and his Boy features the original four.

 

[od0_ital]

I'd think that since there's already been a studio switch, if this one doesn't do well, there won't be a fourth.

I've done my part, though, since I took my nephews to see it yesterday.

 

[Christopher]

I suspect those who have not read the books will be disappointed that the older two Pevensie children are hardly seen in the current movie, and take no real part in the story. This makes me suspect that if this movie does not do amazingly well at the box office, filming the next four books might look like a very risky idea, since the original four children are hardly in them. The protagonists of the next book are Eustace and his not-yet-seen-in-the-movies friend Jill, while the Pevensie kids are nowhere to be found. That might be hard to market to those who have not read and loved the books.

Well, The Silver Chair does bring back Eustace and (an older) Caspian, as well as Aslan. And most of the main characters from the first six books are brought back in The Last Battle.

Horse and his Boy features the original four.

But with only Lucy and Edmund in major supporting roles, IIRC. And of all the books, I'd say that's the most peripheral one, the one that would be easiest to skip.

 

[Saga]

i've only read the first two Narnia books. about to head out and watch Dawn Treader in a few actually.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I suspect those who have not read the books will be disappointed that the older two Pevensie children are hardly seen in the current movie, and take no real part in the story. This makes me suspect that if this movie does not do amazingly well at the box office, filming the next four books might look like a very risky idea, since the original four children are hardly in them.

Walden has only talked of adapting five of the books, skipping A Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew. Under their original plan, they only have two more to do (assuming Dawn Treader does well enough to warrant a sequel) -- The Silver Chair and The Last Battle.

If they were going to adapt A Horse and His Boy, assuming they could find a way that's not as racist as Lewis' book, it would have made more sense before Prince Caspian. As much as I despise the retroactive resequencing of the books by Harper, if we had seen the lives the Pevensies had lived in Narnia and had a sense of what they gave up by returning to childhood, some of the character work in Caspian would have been better grounded. On the other hand, leaving Horse for later also opens the possibility of having the four actors reprise their roles at ages closer to what they are in the book. (And, Christopher, it's Susan and Edmund that have the most page time in the book; part of the book revolves around Susan's marriage match to another country's royalty.) But, as I said, Walden has said that they planned on skipping Horse, so it's really a moot point to discuss.

 

[Christopher]

Hmm, I guess I can see the logic of skipping Nephew. On the one hand, it strikes me as important to the overall mythos, because it's kind of the creation account for Narnia itself and it sets up some things that pay off in The Last Battle. But it and Horse were always my least favorite of the seven. Somehow the tone and atmosphere of Nephew just weren't that appealing to me. And I guess an origin story is optional, especially if it interrupts the flow of the main narrative arc.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I still want The Magicians Nephew filmed if only to see Tilda become the White Witch but kind of feel like they won't bother with it now. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here now...I kind hoped we'd make it all the way to the Last Battle which is one of my favorite books.

 

[Mr Light]

I only read the books once 5 or so years ago but "Magician's Nephew" was actually my favorite. Had an interesting story and the dead world was really creepy. That said, I doubt they'll make a movie out of it since it stars the old professor guy and no-one else.

 

[Caliburn24]

The Silver Chair and A Horse and His Boy are fairly straight forward adventure stories, and they could always change things around to bring the original kids into them(more).

The Magician's Nephew and the Last Battle are pretty trippy however, and the Christian allegory is laid on really thick. Hollywood could either A) neuter it, thus rendering the story totally meaningless or B) have to play straight with the allegorical elements(much less likely imo) and risk offending secular folks.

That is a much bigger structural problem to me than whether or not movies based around new characters can perform at the box office.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I have a feeling... it will be a moot point, I don't think they will make another...

Just a feeling.

 

[Daneel]

^ Your feeling is most likely quite accurate, as The Voyage of the Dawn Treader took in only $8.2 million (estimated) at the box office on its opening day. That was far below what The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe took in at the same time five years ago ($23 million); it was also less than Prince Caspian took in on its opening day in May of 2008 ($19.4 million).

So, yeah, unless this film has remarkable legs (or performs significantly better overseas), this will probably be the last Narnia film we'll be seeing for a long time.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Not to mention the fact that there seemed to be a lot of hemming and hawing over it being made in the first place. The studio switch, the change in director and writers/etc. I'll be surprised if we get the fourth movie or any other additional films.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm seeing this tonight! Looking forward to it. I read the books recently, and to me I feel that the Magician's Nephew should be the next one they make. Like Christopher says, it's quite important to the mythos, explains how Narnia was created, and the characters are related to the Pevensies. I don't really see them tackling The Last Battle. Aside from the end, the book was rather terrible and seemed to take a lot of joy out of Narnia. So, if they were to make only one more movie, I'd really like to see The Magician's Nephew and not The Last Battle. Give us something good to remember the movies by.

 

[chrisspringob]

^ Your feeling is most likely quite accurate, as The Voyage of the Dawn Treader took in only $8.2 million (estimated) at the box office on its opening day. That was far below what The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe took in at the same time five years ago ($23 million); it was also less than Prince Caspian took in on its opening day in May of 2008 ($19.4 million).

Yeah, $8.2 million opening day for a movie like this with this kind of budget is pretty bad. The franchise seems to have imploded. I'd be stunned if they make another one.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It's not bad but it's not what the previous two made in their first day either. It is also just the first weekend and I expect that this particular film will have a larger box office intake during Christmas weekend in two weeks. I think Christmas Day was one of the previous two films largest spikes.

 

[chrisspringob]

It's not bad but it's not what the previous two made in their first day either. It is also just the first weekend and I expect that this particular film will have a larger box office intake during Christmas weekend in two weeks. I think Christmas Day was one of the previous two films largest spikes.

There was actually more of a spike on the 26th than the 25th:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=narnia.htm

There's little chance of Christmas weekend being better than opening weekend for Dawn Treader. That didn't even come close to happening for the first Narnia movie, and it's incredibly rare for movies in wide release to do better on their 3rd weekend than their 1st.

Anyway, the Dawn Treader opening day is actually a bit worse than both Golden Compass and Eragon:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?view=daily&id=narniavs.htm

both of which were considered rather disappointing. Given that Dawn Treader's budget is apparently ~$145 million, and the box office figures are looking worse than the 2nd movie, which in turn did worse than the 1st movie, I'd say things are looking bleak for any more Narnia sequels.

 

[Professor Zoom]

It's not bad but it's not what the previous two made in their first day either. It is also just the first weekend and I expect that this particular film will have a larger box office intake during Christmas weekend in two weeks. I think Christmas Day was one of the previous two films largest spikes.

There was actually more of a spike on the 26th than the 25th:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=narnia.htm

There's little chance of Christmas weekend being better than opening weekend for Dawn Treader. That didn't even come close to happening for the first Narnia movie, and it's incredibly rare for movies in wide release to do better on their 3rd weekend than their 1st.

Anyway, the Dawn Treader opening day is actually a bit worse than both Golden Compass and Eragon:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?view=daily&id=narniavs.htm

both of which were considered rather disappointing. Given that Dawn Treader's budget is apparently ~$145 million, and the box office figures are looking worse than the 2nd movie, which in turn did worse than the 1st movie, I'd say things are looking bleak for any more Narnia sequels.

This is Narnia's last battle.

Can't say I'm sad... I saw the first one and it was so bland... Passed on the 2nd.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Horse and his Boy features the original four.

And three of them were briefly in The Last Battle, but I said, "hardly," not "Not at all."

 

[Saga]

sad to see the box office returns aren't looking good for this movie. i really enjoyed it. i think some may be turned off that its not as epic as the first two. the first two movies had big land battles/action sequences. this one didn't until the very end. not that its a bad thing. i really enjoyed Dawn Treader. the island hopping adventure aspect was good and i liked the character development. if this is the last Narnia movie i'll be very sad.