News About the Beaver Lodge Set

"Much of the inspiration for the beavers' environment, both in the interior, shot on stage 3 at Henderson Studios and the exterior, filmed as part of a vast snowscape at the sprawling Kelly Park Studio in Wainui north of Auckland, was taken from watching beavers in their natural habitat in the 1988 IMAX film Beavers, directed by Stephen Low. In a climactic scene in that film, a bear tears apart a beaver dam; close examination of the destruction provided a strong basis for the scene in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where a pack of the White Witch's wolves infiltrates and tears through the lodge looking for the Pevensies..."

MORE HERE
IGN Film Force, 26.10.04

Hallmark Channel Plans C.S. Lewis Feature

"CS Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia aims to ride a wave of interest in Lewis that is anticipated to accompany the release in 2005 of up to seven films based on his Narnia novels. First to reach the public will be the £40 million The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, filmed by Shrek director Andrew Adamson and tipped for the same kind of success as The Lord Of The Rings.
"Norman Stone’s 54-minute drama, which starts shooting in Oxford this week, is a more modest affair. The film, being made for the Hallmark Channel will follow Lewis’s life from his troubled childhood to his fantasy workshops with Tolkien in an Oxford pub, where he dreamed up his Chronicles Of Narnia..."

MORE HERE
Sunday Herald, 24.10.04

Had Enough of the Wolves Yet?

"A pack of Hollywood movie stars lined up for the media yesterday and my, what big teeth they had.
"The wolf stars of Disney's $170 million The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson, have almost finished filming and head home to Los Angeles this month.
"Posing for the cameras at Mark Vette's Rescue Zoo in Tuakau, the cross-breed North American wolves are varying degrees of the real thing..."

MORE HERE
New Zealand Herald, 23.10.04

Not Really News, But...

"A writer has been hired to write a screenplay for Prince Caspian, the New Zealand Herald reports. Prince Caspian is the second Narnia novel written by CS Lewis after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the best candidate for a second film, although it is only the fourth Narnia story chronologically.
"A decision to go ahead with a second film will not be made, however, until Disney is satisfied with the success of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe..."


MORE HERE
IGN FilmForce, 22.10.04

Narnia "Spies" on the Prowl

"Tehanu, aka 40-year-old Erica Challis from Massey, spent months trekking the back blocks of Matamata and Queenstown to get exclusive photographs and gossip from the Lord of the Rings sets for website theonering...
"Tehanu now has her camera and ears trained on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the Hercules mini-series, which have both been filming in West Auckland."

MORE HERE
The New Zealand Herald, 23.10.04

More About Those Darn Wolves

"Rugby turns up his nose and won't howl on command for a tiny dog biscuit.
"He would rather wolf down a bit of chicken, says animal trainer Eadie McMullan.
"The two-year-old wolf is one of 10 timber wolves imported to New Zealand from the US to star in the fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe."

MORE HERE
STUFF, 23.10.04

PICTURES
NarniaWeb, 23.10.04

The Wolves, Boss, The Wolves!

"The howling of wolves might be something residents of Tuakau, south of Auckland, will have to get used to.
"Ten wolves have been brought in from Los Angeles for filming on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

MORE HERE
New Zealand Herald, 22.10.04

Disney Marketing Exec Pumped About Narnia

"In my nearly 25 years at Disney, I've never seen the company so energized so early about a film," Mark Zoradi, the president of Buena Vista International, responsible for international marketing, told Screen Daily. "The film will be visually stunning and emotionally breathtaking."

MORE HERE
NEW MAN, 21.10.04

Sun-Sentinel Reprints NY Times Story

For those who elected not to subscribe to the NY Times just to get that Disney story, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has reprinted the story in its entirety...

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Sun-Sentinel, 21.10.04

Disney Rethinks Family Film Strategy

"The studio faltered this year with costly and darker flops like The Alamo and Hidalgo, both from its Touchstone imprint. Now the company, based in Burbank, Calif., is planning to focus more on live-action films from the Walt Disney label, less brutal movies like Mr. Bruckheimer's surprise 2003 hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the fantasy epic The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is expected late next year.
"The incentives are clear. Films rated PG and PG-13 (parental guidance suggested and parents strongly cautioned) drew 75 percent to 90 percent of the domestic box office, compared with 10 percent or less for G-rated, or family, films, among the 20 highest-grossing movies for each of the last four years, according to the Motion Picture Association of America..."

You'll need to register at nytimes.com to read the rest, but it's free. And it's a good article.

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New York Times, 19.10.04

Gale Destroys Narnia Set

"It was a case of the lion, the witch and the wind storm at Flock Hill Station yesterday, as film makers assessed the damage caused by the gale force winds that swept through the country.
"The fierce winds destroyed a huge marquee built for the forthcoming Disney [sic - the film is being made by Walden Media and Disney co-financing] production of the C.S.Lewis classic, which is being filmed near Arthurs Pass."

Check out the photos...

MORE HERE
NarniaWeb, 15.10.04

Tolkien Fans with an Eye on Narnia

TheOneRing.net has launched a new venture, TheOneLion.net, to grease the skids for internet attention from All Things Tolkien toward All Things Narnia as the years-long production cycle for the films ramps up. The site's first offering is an exclusive feature on a visit to the Narnia sets...

MORE HERE
TheOneLion.net, 12.10.04

Interview with James McAvoy (Mr. Tumnus)

"After a brief conversation with this good-natured faun-like creature with the big blue eyes, you start to think that maybe the real secret of his success is the combination of a workmanlike attitude to the craft of acting and down-to-earth smarts..."

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New Zealand Herald, 09.10.04

Mr. Tumnus' House at IGN Filmforce

"The interior of Mr. Tumnus' house, as illustrated by Pauline Baynes for Lewis' book, included two lounge chairs, a dining table, a mantle and fireplace, a bookshelf and hutch. Filmmaker Adamson has imagined a setting very similar in his collaborations with production designer Roger Ford and set decorator Kerrie Brown..."

MORE HERE
IGN Film Force, 05.10.04

Narnia and Middle-Earth on Film

"Meanwhile, in the land of Narnia, director Andrew Adamson is hard at work bringing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to life (NarniaWeb). Apparently the demands of the film have forced him to withdraw as the director of Shrek 3 (Adamson directed the first two Shreks.) He's consulting Peter Jackson, who is now working on a new version of King Kong, for advice. 'I've talked to Peter many times. He's got his hands full as well at the moment. I think we probably have completely different processes. I don't really want to be shooting for 3½ years.'"

MORE HERE
Christianity Today Movies, 04.10.04

Magic in Fantasy Literature

"All the overtly magic-using beings in the Narnian world appear to be evil and must be eliminated in order to end eternal winter, restore the rightful heir to his rightful position, or resolve whatever other crisis might arise in the course of a given book. However, this policy appears to apply more or less exclusively to characters like the respective witches in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Silver Chair, who aggressively employ magic to further their own nefarious schemes..."

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Sequential Tart, 01.10.04

ComingSoon.net's Take on Pulp Expo

"ComingSoon.net got a chance to visit New Zealand to get some of the first looks at Disney's upcoming adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (TLWW). While there, we attended the first public introduction of the movie at Wellington's Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo. We will be providing more info on the TLWW set and production over the next couple of months, including many exclusive photos..."

MORE HERE
ComingSoon.net, 01.10.04

Kiwis Short on Acting Gigs?

"Film buffs and tourist operators are overjoyed at the attention generated by projects like The Last Samurai and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, a run that could stretch to seven Narnia movies if The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a success.
"But groups representing production staff, technicians and actors are concerned too many jobs are being lost to overseas workers, while the big budget efforts are pushing up costs for other local productions..."

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The New Zealand Herald, 01.10.04

Narnia's Everett to Give up Acting?

"Hollywood star Rupert Everett is considering quitting acting, because it has 'lost its allure'.
"The gay British actor is about to shoot a new Sherlock Holmes TV movie and has a number of movies, including The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe soon to be released."

MORE HERE
Ireland Online, 01.10.04

Disney Exec Iger: Hopes on Narnia

"Disney is putting its money on Disney. Mouse House prexy Bob Iger said at a conference Thursday that the conglom will focus more of its resources on the family friendly, and more successful, line of Disney-branded pics and away from more adult-friendly Touchstone pics, which have fared poorly at the box office recently..."

MORE HERE
Variety.com, 30.09.04