If you’ve read the L.A. Times article that Mike posted about, you might have read far enough to know that there are other suitors for the Narnia franchise. We’ve been speculating that 20th Century Fox would want the franchise, but we’ll take a look now, at the studios that the article says are showing strong interest in the series.
20th Century Fox: They have a good relationship with Walden Media, especially with the Fox Walden label that they released a few movies under. None of the movies released together have done very well, though, and I’m sure they’re looking to change that around and have a few hits together. Doing the Narnia series would be a good bet for that.
Sony: They’ve got the Spider-Man franchise, and have been doing well with that, save for Spider-Man 3, which fell prey to too many villains, and Venom being shoe-horned into the screenplay, when he was going to be saved for Spider-Man 4. They also haven’t had a big fantasy series in years.
Warner Brothers: After the next three Harry Potter films, having 5 Narnia films assures them of eight total fantasy films that will bring in the bucks. They have been handling Potter really well, but not perfectly, however. They’ve not pleased many book purists, but as someone that’s never read the books, I’ve enjoyed films 3 and 5 of the series, and that’s probably due to the great directors on the projects.
Patrick Goldstein writes:
It doesn’t have a lack of suitors. The studio with the inside track is 20th Century Fox, which has first dibs on the project, since it already markets and distributes Walden projects under its Fox-Walden banner. Fox has plenty of interest, having seriously considered acquiring the movie rights to the C.S. Lewis books even before Walden originally landed the franchise. Fox has a strong marketing department, with lot of success with family entertainment–the studio’s biggest hits last year were both family films, “Horton Hears a Who” and the year-ending “Marley & Me.”
But Fox is famous for driving hard bargains and exercising fiscal discipline, so don’t expect to see “Dawn Treader” costing anywhere near $225 million. Walden has been aiming to bring the new film in at around $140 million, which would be a far more enticing price tag for a 50/50 studio partner. If Fox passes, both Sony and Warners have expressed strong interest in the project. It would be a good fit for either studio, giving Sony something it hasn’t had in recent years–a fantasy-oriented family franchise, while it could provide Warners with a ready-made family-oriented franchise to replace the soon-to-be completed “Harry Potter” series. Whatever happens, it seems likely that “Narnia” fans will soon have another chance to visit the enchanted world of Narnia and other distant lands.
He also says that Walden Media could announce a new partner for the Narnia franchise by the end of the week!
Keep your eyes here at NarniaFans.com for the latest news!
Yaaaaaaay! I sure hope Fox picks it up…
Here is hoping for the best! Thanks for your insightful reporting as always. I personally could live with either Fox Studios or Warner Brothers. However, I will say that I think Warner Brothers deserves an edge, because they sure know how to market the Harry Potter films pretty well. Buzz is already great on film six, which I am looking forward to next summer!
I so hope Warner Bros will get the contract!
If not, then Fox.
I hope Warner Bros get it because they`ve done great with the Harry Potter films so far. If they don`t get it, then I hope it`s 20th Century Fox.
Great news for Narnia fans. Hope we hear something official soon. But it’s looking much better for VDT every day now.
Why do you say Spidey 3 didn’t do well? It was by far the highest grossing movie in the trilogy. It made almost $900 Million worldwide.
I wasn’t referring to the box office. That box office take was due to the series getting better with each film. The first Spider-Man was the highest grossing opening weekend ever, at the time, and the sequel was a stronger film than the first. That brought anticipation close to bursting for the third film, which is arguably a weaker film than the second one. I like the movie, but I think it could have been much better with only the Sandman, and saving Venom for the tail end, with a cliffhanger.
I think that it would be a great fit for Fox who hasn’t had a really strong fantasy or epic set of films since Star Wars, and since their failed attempt with “The Inheritance Trilogy” i.e. ‘Eragon’ I think that it would work well with them. Disney has really lost its touch with most of their films, with ‘Enchanted’ as of late being really their only well done and enjoyable film. Pixar and other companies like Walden saved Disney, but on their own they might not do so well. However, Warner Brothers does have a great track record for making films that are part of a series like Harry Potter, Matrix and the recent Batman films.
The problem with the Eragon movie was massive–it did not adhere much to the movie, the special effects were mostly laughable, the character development was minimal as opposed to the book, and the story wasn’t strong enough to be played by unknowns and bring in a decent box office.
I wouldn’t count on Warner Bros as the announcement on the morning news was they were laying off employees at their Hollywood studio.
I do hope we get good news soon. Sounds good that several companies are interested.
Fox all the way…they have a fantastic family-friendly devision (foxfaith.com) that released wonderful films of late: City Of Ember, Horton Hears A Who…just to mention a few. The Foxfaith people have integrity…I’d like to see what Walden and Fox can do together…let’s hope it’s something amazing!