French John Howe Interview

John Howe, conceptual artist for the upcoming Narnia film, was interviewed recently by the French magazine SFX. NarniaWeb is running an English-translation transcript.

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NarniaWeb, 26.09.05

Narnia Location Album

Okay, normally we don't get jazzed about passing on someone else's press releases. (Why would we, after all? We've got press releases for our OWN books to float.) But this one is actually pretty unique. Ian Brodie is releasing Cameras in Narnia this November, just in time for you to nab one before the movie comes out. It's a photo tour of the New Zealand locations used in the upcoming film. You can preorder through his website or Amazon.com.

MORE HERE
Ian Brodie, 26.09.05

More Fodder for Tilda-philes

The Herald (UK) is running yet another lengthy feature on actor Tilda Swinton, who plays the White Witch in the upcoming Narnia film. But we have to be honest: we haven't read this one. We're just Tilda-d out. So we have no idea if there's anything interesting in this one about Narnia. None. Zippo. If there isn't though, or if she swears profusely or anything else offensive, just let us know.

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The Herald, 26.09.05

Narnia Escapist?

A "fall preview" article at The Arizona Republic has classified the upcoming Narnia film as part of a wave of escapist entertainment from Hollywood. For the record, I don't think C.S. Lewis would have classified his Narnian tales as "escapist." Read his essays in Of Other Worlds (and Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories," available in The Tolkien Reader) for a good handle on the Inklings' thoughts about fantasy and escapism.

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The Arizona Republic, 24.09.05

The Man Who Created Narnia

A new 54-minute docu-drama, C.S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia will be aired on the Hallmark channel this December. While this news was reported here earlier this year, Scotsman News has run an article with some new comments from its director. Apparently, the short film will highlight the often testy relationship between Tolkien and Lewis. Contrary to the claims in the article, however, this does not represent "new scholarship." The facts have been there for decades, for anyone willing to look. (I even touched on the subject in my own book, Tolkien in Perspective, back in 2003.) Fortunately, it doesn't sound as if this story, presented as part of Hallmark's "Heroes, Saints and Sinners" series, will be deconstructionist. Doug Gresham even contributed to the effort, and legitimate scholars like Brian Sibley were consulted. For a lot of people, I expect the program will be quite enlightening.

MORE HERE and HERE
Scotsman.com, 24.09.05

A Gibson-Narnia Connection?

The Globe and Mail is carrying a very interesting analysis of the latest wave of spirituality in film. It's a good article on the trend, and looks seriously at patterns in studio releases, from Mel Gibsion's Passion to The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the upcoming Narnia film. HJ's Elisabeth Leitch is quoted pretty extensively in the article.

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The Globe and Mail, 08.09.05

Official Movie Premiere Announced

Reuters reports that Disney has announced a royal London screening on December 7 for its worldwide public premiere of the Walden/Disney production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The audience for the event is expected to include British royalty, including Prince Charles. The announcement was published as part of a very nice article on Disney's efforts to repair its relationship with Pixar—a relationship whose rupture indirectly led Disney to seek a distribution deal with Walden Media for their production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

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Reuters, 22.09.05

Preview of New Gresham Book

Next month, a new book from C.S. Lewis' stepson, Doug Gresham, is due. Jack's Life is a gentle account of the 'Jack' Lewis that Gresham, son of Lewis' wife Joy, knew. The book may be of particular interest to Narnia fans since Gresham has such a strong influence with the upcoming filmed adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Baptist Press News has got a good preview of the book up on their site.

Update: writer Sarah Arthur (Walking with Frodo and the upcoming Walking Through the Wardrobe) has also written a review of Jack's Life. It's up on the Narnia on Tour site.

MORE HERE and HERE
BP News, 22.09.05

Test Screening Report

The Stone Table is running a "review" of another test screening of the upcoming (and unfinished) Narnia movie. As with the other test screening reviews we ran links to a few weeks ago, you might want to skip this one if you don't want your expectations colored by someone else's thoughts on a rough cut of the film. But if your curiosity can't be helped, by all means indulge.

MORE HERE
The Stone Table, 15.09.05

"Sneak Peeks" -- RSVP Now!

Motive Entertainment's "Narnia Resources" site is now accepting reservations for local and regional "sneak peek" events. The whole movie won't be screened at these events—just extended clips. But anyone who wants to claim status as a "Christian leader" can satisfy their curiosity about the upcoming film by RSVPing at the link below. The regional events will even feature an appearance by Douglas Gresham.

I'm going!

MORE HERE
Narnia Resources, 19.09.05

"Night of Joy" Narnia Reports

Last weekend, Disney World hosted the annual "Night of Joy" musical event. As planned, Disney took the opportunity to promote the upcoming Narnia movie. Jim Hill Media has posted a couple of reports on those Narnia promotions.

MORE HERE and HERE
Jim Hill Media, 12.09.05 & 19.09.05

New Zealand Tour Site Up

A while back, we reported that tours of New Zealand locations used in filming the upcoming Narnia movie would soon begin. Well, you can now book your tour, if you're so inclined. Check out the official booking site for "New Zealand’s only The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tours."

MORE HERE
19.09.05

About Walden Media

Phil Boatwright at Baptist Press News has written a nice little article about Michael Flaherty, cofounder of Walden Media—the company which is producing the upcoming Narnia film. Disney is getting a lot of attention right now for distributing and marketing the movie, and directer Andrew Adamson and his cast (not to mention Richard Taylor at WETA) are doing scads of interviews. It's nice that Boatwright is paying attention to the "little guys" that really count.

MORE HERE
BP News, 14.09.05

Grass Roots are Getting Thick

For the last several months, a number of promotional efforts dependent on volunteers have been beating the bushes at rock concerts, conventions and so on to help raise awareness about the upcoming Narnia film. Now another one has joined the list. Here's the latest on these quasi-grass-roots efforts.

• The UK's Christian Today reports that Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade for Christ, "says the movie offers unprecedented evangelistic oppotunities, because 'Lewis' work' presents well the good news of Jesus Christ, through which Christians will have a unique opportunity to share their faith." This kind of typifies what's behind these grass roots efforts: the idea that the Narnia film is worth promoting sight-unseen because it's a sure bet for evangelistic opportunities. Never mind the movie's artistic merits... Personally, I don't expect to recommend the movie until I actually see it—the same as I would treat any other movie. But read the article and see what you think.
  

• Okay, I'll try to get this one straight. The "Matthews House Project," which is a faith-and-culture initiative backed by some heavy-hitting writers and editors, is backing a campaign called "Narnia on Tour," which appears focussed on promoting appearances this fall by prominent writers and scholars. Part of the Narnia on Tour campaign is an effort to recruit volunteers for "street teams." From the website: "Are you interested? Here's what it's all about. We need your help to spread the word. There are a few things we need to send your way including posters and flyers about the tour. We're looking for at least 2 street team members per city, people who are serious Lewis lovers and want to let others know better about his work." Sound interesting to you? Check it out. The website also has a list of interesting Narnia-related events in various cities—maybe yours!
  

• The Ground Force Network, which is in at least the fourth month of its promotional campaign for the Narnia film, has recently issued a press release that describes itself as "a viral marketing company for faith-based products, music releases, films and events." The press release gives a complete rundown on the concept behind the marketing effort, and how it combines both conventional publicist activities with volunteer workers. Check this out. I'm not making it up. It's their own press release. Am I the only one who finds this whole thing really odd?
  

Various Sources, the week of September 12

September HJ Feature: The Last Battle

Our September Narnia feature covers The Last Battle, the seventh and last entry in The Chronicles of Narnia.

In this month's synopsis, Jenn and I offer a roundup of news items from Narnia's papers. George then comments on the layer-like structure of the story, and Kathy examines the spiritual relevance of Stable Hill. Good reading!

We hope you've enjoyed our review of The Chronicles of Narnia.

MORE HERE
Hollywood Jesus, 08.08.05

It's Interview Season!

In the last week, a whole raft of Narnia-related interviews have surfaced on the web. Here's the full list of what's available:

Composer Harry Gregson-Williams: Walden Media, 04.09.05
Effects Wizards Taylor, Wright and Berger: ComingSoon.net, 06.09.05
WETA Guru Richard Taylor: IGN Film Force, 07.09.05
KNB EFX Group's Howard Berger: NarniaWeb, 07.09.05

First Public Screening

On the evening of August 31, Disney hosted the first public test screening of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The print screened was a rough cut that was only partially scored and had a great deal of CGI effects yet to be completed. Selected members of the audience were then included in a panel discussion of reactions for the director and dozens of studio marketing types present. Box Office Mojo and Ain't It Cool News are hosting anonymous reviews of the screening.

Bear in mind that these early cuts of movies rarely contain the same footage as the finished product—and the studios conducting these screenings are specifically looking for audience feedback in order to aid the final decision-making process as they tweak the final cut into shape. So unless you want to have your opinion of the movie unduly influenced more than three months before the movie actually opens, you might want to skip these reviews. They likely tell you way more than you want to know.

But the lesson is this: start looking for local screening announcements now if you want a sneak peek. The wheels are in motion.

(Sorry about the broken links for the last couple of days...)

MORE HERE and HERE
Ain't It Cool News & Box Office Mojo, 01.09.05