Last night in New York City there was a presentation of footage much like the one that I attended at the beginning of the year. This time, however, a lot more footage was complete, and therefore, those in attendance were able to see more of the movie than we did.
One of those in attendance took the opportunity to interview director Michael Apted and producer Mark Johnson about the film, the use of 3-D and the casting process. She also asked a bit about the future of the franchise: is there hope for more Narnia beyond this film? If so, which book would be filmed next? And also, what about the voice of Reepicheep: why did casting go the way that it did?
Why is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader being released in 3-D?
On 3-D, he reveals that they spoke about doing the film in 3-D early on, but it was then too expensive. After Avatar became a phenomenon, something changed and most studios jumped on board and started converting their films. However, Michael Apted assures us that, because they have had nine months to convert the film to 3-D, they didn’t have to rush it at all in the way that Clash of the Titans was rushed in only eight weeks. He says that they’ll get very good value out of it and that we won’t see anything cheap or nasty, we can rest assured.
Mark Johnson adds to that, that Harry Potter opens shortly prior to Dawn Treader, and that is also a 3-D converted film. After Narnia will come Yogi Bear in 3-D and Tron: Legacy also in 3-D. He says that it’s kind of expected, but also that this film really lends itself to 3-D.
Casting Eustace
Michael Apted says that as soon as Will Poulter walked through the door, that was it, they knew that he was Eustace. They still looked at other potentials, but in their minds they had the actor for the job. Since they finished shooting, Will has grown about seven inches and his voice has broken. They couldn’t do more looping or extra shooting if they wanted to. They also had trouble because they had him picked out, but because the film was delayed, they couldn’t sign him yet, until they were sure that the film would be made, and they finally signed him about a year before they started filming.
Mark Johnson says that the next movie will have Eustace, if they do The Silver Chair next. He does, however, add that they could do The Magician’s Nephew next. The big question is, do they film The Magician’s Nephew and let Eustace grow older, or do they film The Silver Chair next and follow that up with The Magician’s Nephew. He says “We should put it to the fans [to decide].”
Loading ...The Voice of Reepicheep
Michael Apted comments on the re-casting of Reepicheep, first with Bill Nighy and then Simon Pegg: Well, I did it with Bill, first of all, but it turned out that he was perhaps a little too old for it. He was great. I loved it. I did record him, but then we looked at it very carefully, and thought, “Well, it doesn’t quite have that energy.” He has more drollness of a slightly older man. And he was very disappointed, and I was upset. But you know, Simon came in, and we auditioned a lot of people. Simon was very good. He came in and just nailed it.
Apted goes on to say that Eddie Izzard was not asked to return because he wished to make some changes. He thought they could get more humor out of it and it was just his choice, really.
The biggest challenge for Apted
Filming the battle with the Serpent, Apted says, was the most difficult part of filming: The battle [with the sea serpent] was ridiculously difficult. Even for a film that is fairly conventional, going in the water, it was a little hair-raising. It was kind of dangerous. It was one of those films where you didn’t really have a quiet day. Every day there was some magic or something. It wasn’t like, “Oh, two people are going to sit down and have a cup of tea for three pages, so I could have a little rest.” You could never sit down.
You can read the rest of the interviews and more at Examiner!
Good information. I am so excited that the Voyage is getting closer than ever! Tell your friends, family and co-workers.
dude they’ve heard about it a year ago because of me! lol
so cool!
yeah me too!! I voted for The Silver Chair to be the next movie because I think that when they do Magicians Nephew first, Will Poulter is way to old to play a schoolkid in the Silver Chair. Because Eustace is also in The Last Battle. It doesn
Yeah, World War 2 in the Narnia series is already in danger of lasting longer than MASH’s Korean War. I don’t mind it, really, but they would have been wiser to downplay references to the war in Caspian and definitely Treader. It’s getting less and less plausible than these movies are set a year apart, and Chair is supposed to be, what, a few weeks later at best.
Consider, though, that the movies don’t need to come out in real time with how far apart the stories are set. WWII was long. It lasted from 39-45. Even if the movies were claiming to be real time, they’re still within the time period of the War.
Yeah, and besides, I don’t think very many people actually think about the timeline of WWII in terms of these movies…I certainly don’t. I’m excited to hear that the Sea Serpent battle is in the movie. That should be something to see!
I meant that Lucy is really getting older. I’ll buy that Alan Alda’s hair can go gray in 2 years under the circumstances, but it’s hard to believe that Lucy’s gotten so much older (Must be the residual influence of that Narnia air…). Okay, the children were sent away in 1940, and she’s obviously about 5 years older, so just maybe it works. I don’t know if people were still lined up to volunteer when Hitler was in his bunker.
Especially in Cambridge; the intellectuals were probably still rooting for him.
I realize that this is a period thing, but IIRC the first book was the only one that explicitly mentioned the war, though it did make clear that books two and three were each a year later. Lewis’ own timeline places them in 1941 and 1942. But then Lewis’ own timeline screws up the placement of Queen Swanwhite :).
I believe that the promotional materials, trailers, etc. have said that they’re a year apart even if it hasn’t been explicitly mentioned in the films themselves. Wasn’t it in the Prince Caspian trailer anyway?
I do agree that they should tone the war thing down… but at the same time it could still be going!
I’m glad to read that the Narnia film series might continue past Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I’d really like to see Jill Pole’s introduction and her adventures with Eustace in the Silver Chair. The Magician’s Nephew could be filmed during or after The Silver Chair; the same could be said for The Horse and His Boy. I would definitely like to see Jill and Eustace’s return in The Last Battle if that book is ever made into a film.
The BBC’s version of the Silver Chair is quite good. I really liked Doctor Who’s Tom Baker in the role of Puddleglum in that movie.
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i’ll believe it when I see it…if i decide to see it.
although I can’t see 3-D sure I can convince the rest of my family to see it in 3-D! Will Poulter is the PERFECT without a doubt actor! haha on the pole I was number 800! anyway They should definitely go with the silver chair next! (good idea at putting the pole there Paul! hmmm I am very happy about them changing reepicheep 1..2..3.. times! they made the best choice about that. Yay for the sea serpent! It was worth all the hard work Apted!
i definitely think that they need to do the silver chair, and then the last battle. the magician’s nephew doesn’t need any of the actors that they’ve already used except tilda swinton, (but she will look the same) and the voice of aslan. they need to get the ones out of the way where the ages of the actors matter. although it will be sort of anti-climactic to go from the end to the beginning! i guess star wars managed it. 🙂
Dissing Bill Nighy? I am not pleased. No Energy my ***!!! Did Apted ever see Underworld????!!!!
He wasn’t “dissing” Bill Nighy at all. He was very sad not to be able to use him. But the voice work done wasn’t with as much energy as he had wanted. (Not to mention, Underworld came out in 2003.)