Award Nominations

The Narnia film has picked up one Oscar nomination, for Visual Effects. In the Golden Globe race, the movie picked up two nominations: one for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Wunderkind," Morissette).

MORE HERE and HERE
Oscars.org, 16.12.05 & HFPA News, 13.12.05

Narnia Hoax Propagated

About a week ago, we ran across a report on Forbes.com of the "independent state of Narnia" walking out of World Trade Organization talks. The article was totally deadpan, and rather than passing the "story" along, we decided to sit on it while we checked our facts (and our sense of humor). We speculated that someone had hacked into Forbes and planted the bogus story.

It turns out that the story orignated from an obscure news agency in China, and was then picked up and replicated by other minor news agencies until it was finally reprinted by Forbes and reported as financial news.

Huh. And we thought these guys were smart. Do you really want them managing your money, or giving you advice?

MORE HERE
The London Evening Standard, 20.12.05

The Boxoffice Tango

After kicking things off with a rather anemic Wednesday opening, King Kong managed, rather predictably, to oust The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the number one boxoffice spot last weekend. Interestingly, the Narnia film bounced back during this week as schools let out and the younger kids were looking for something to do with mommy and daddy's time...

So what will happen this weekend, as Christians focus on putting Christ back in Christmas? Will Narnia numbers sag again as fans of that other King go ape at the theaters?

One thing at least is clear. Though Narnia is doing well at the boxoffice, and the folks at Disney and Walden Media have got to be pretty happy with it's $200 million+ global take so far (and the news that China will allow the movie to be shown there next year), its boxoffice numbers are not tracking as well as the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter franchises. Check out the latest Narnia figures at BoxOfficeMojo and compare with this graph of Rings performance at TheNumbers.

Will Narnia achieve blockbuster status, or will it merely be a solid hit? Our guess is the latter, and that it will settle in with about $240 million in the US, with only about $500 million total globally—maybe just barely enough to warrant a follow-up with a more modestly budgeted Prince Caspian. China boxoffice might just be the wildcard in this game.

(One footnote to this boxoffice tango. We know we promised we were done reporting on the "culture wars" angle to Narnia coverage, but we just can't resist referring readers to this very satirical response to Christian preoccupation with boxoffice numbers. Please understand—we're certainly not taking sides, but we do think this satire is not entirely misdirected...)

Mainstream Press Coverage

A recent article here at Hollywood Jesus made the observation that, as of November at least, the mainstream press "couldn't be bothered" with covering the Narnia movie. Now that the December issues of most magazines are out (and they do, indeed give major coverage to the film), it appears that the strategy was deliberate on Disney's part: concede the big pre-December slots to King Kong and friends in favor of a one-two December punch.

First: a smash opening weekind pretty much guaranteed by its promotions to the Christian audience. Then, while the film is poised to do battle with King Kong for the balance of the month, follow up with the big front-page splashes in the major trades.

The intended effect? To get folks thinking, "What? This movie I haven't even read about yet is number one at the boxoffice, and it's already done $100 million? I've got to get out and see that!"

Crafty. Very crafty.

Of course, we could be totally misreading this stuff.

If you want to read some of the mainstream coverage, visit Premiere or Entertainment Weekly.

The Culture War Is a Bust

The reviews for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe continue to trickle in, and they continue to be uniformly mixed. So rather than post a bunch of links to a host of reviews that pretty much duplicate what's already been said, we thought it more productive to observe that, in general, the reviews do NOT reflect the cultural tug-of-war exhibited in the press during the lead-up to the movie's debut. So much for this round of the culture war, apparently.

So what's that mean, precisely? Except for a very few cases—ones that are very clearly driven by ideological agendas—almost no one out-and-out dislikes the movie; in roughly equal proportions, mainstream and religious reviewers are split between lukewarm reviews and enthusiastic receptions. And the dividing issue is the same across the board also: most enthusiastic reviews rave about the movie's value as family entertainment, and lukewarm reviews concede that point while regretting the movie's failure to be artistically challenging.

The big follow-on stories will be: First, the question of boxoffice. Will the movie have "legs," as they say in the industry, and sustain the kind of numbers the movie posted for its opening? Will it achieve blockbuster status and launch a franchise?

Second, the question of marketing to Christian audiences. What does the failure of Christian film critics to uniformly line up behind this movie mean? Will the Christian leaders who helped promote the movie, sight unseen, still assert that this is a "great Christian movie" even though many Christian cultural gatekeepers find the movie neither "great" nor as "Christian" as was hoped? Will the Christian audience even pay attention to what the critics think?

Interestingly, the latest promotional email from Motive Entertainment, Paul Lauer's public relations firm that's been pitching the film to Christian audiences, urges "Friends of Narnia" to "do everything you can to help us keep Narnia at the #1 spot this weekend. If you haven\'t already seen the movie, PLEASE GO THIS WEEKEND. If you have, PLEASE GO AGAIN and BRING A FRIEND!"

And which critics does Lauer blurb to push this follow-on effort? Joel Siegel, Christopher Tookey, Jim Ferguson, and Ebert & Roeper. Mainstream critics, not reviewers from Christian publications. What does that mean, exactly? We're not sure.

Well, time will tell. What an interesting holiday season! (And yes—the holidays DO include Christmas!)

Roundtable: The Deeper Magic

Hollywood Jesus is hosting yet another of its roundtable discussions. The topic this time? The Narnia film's "Deep Magic" and the book's "Deeper Magic." Check it out and see what HJ's very diverse staff of reviewers has to say. And contribute your own thoughts! An exceprt from the roundtable's lead:

Is the difference between Narnia's "Deep Magic" and "Deeper Magic" just too deep a concept to convey on film? Do you think that the difference managed to come across anyway?

And even if Disney and director Andrew Adamson "got it wrong," how much does that really matter? Is the "Christian character" of the Narnia stories the most important thing about it, or something else?

MORE HERE
Hollywood Jesus, 13.12.05

Box Office News

Actual figures for opening weekend fell just short of the studio estimate of $67.1 million (US market only). Worldwide receipts were estimated at just over $101 million.

The actual figures? Well, in the US market, the movie took in $65.5 million, and (not surprisingly) did a better share of its business on Sunday than did Harry Potter or Syriana, the number 2 and 3 movies of the weekend.

The picture set an opening-weekend record in Ireland, taking in €1.061 million. The previous record holder was Toy Story 2.

Despite missing projections in the US, the Narnia film still managed to open to the second best December opening ever, falling in just behind The Return of the King (2003).

MORE HERE and HERE
Various Sources, 12.12.05

December HJ Feature and Reviews

The December Hollywood Jesus Narnia Feature Article has been posted: "Lions, Witches and Tug-of-wars—Oh My!." It's an exclusive interview that Greg Wright conducted with Walden Media president Michael Flaherty. Greg and Mr. Flaherty discuss the way in which the Narnia movie, playing in public screenings today for the first time, is being used as a two-edged club in America's supposed "culture wars."

Also up are five reviews from Hollywood Jesus staffers, including the four members of HJ's Narnia coverage team:

• Kathy Bledsoe's review
• George Rosok's review
• Jenn Wright's review
• Greg Wright's review
• Mike Smith's review

Latest Reviews

Check back to this post for more reviews as they come in.....

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Ebert & Roeper: Two thumbs up. (Link is for audio review.)

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Sacramento Bee: 3.5 Stars...

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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert): 3 Stars

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Contra Costa Times: "...more often than not the film gets Lewis' vision right..."

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The Seattle Times: "...mostly magical, though not without some missteps..."

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The Calgary Sun: 4.5 Stars

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Premiere: "...a leaden, slow-moving beast..."

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Detroit Free Press: "...the magic is missing..."

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The Washington Post: "...it should please members of both generations..." And yet, the compliment is very backhanded. The reviewer is really still very down on Narnia.

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The Norwich Evening News: "... a holiday classic for years to come..."

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Box Office Mojo: "...Narnia stands for death, destruction and renunciation of self in a poorly disguised Christian fairy tale..."

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Moviehole: 3.5 Stars

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Bruce Edwards: "...compelling, richly detailed, and full of passion..." Yet Bruce has some reservations, nonetheless.

The Final Culture War Post

Wow. What a day. First, this USA Today article surfaced in our browser, confirming that, yes indeed, the Narnia movie is caught up in a cultural tug-of-war (more on how Walden Media president Michael Flaherty feels about that later this week). Then—oh, boy!—the Guardian published Polly Toynbee's bilious screed about the Narnia film (well, the screed is really about how distateful she finds Christianity; but that's how these imaginary wars work).

Fortunately, the sort-of-blog Plastic posted a nice summary of the left-leaning inconsistencies of this made-up war. (Beware: the debate attached to the Plastic post is pretty intense and active. You've been warned.) We've pointed out the problems of the right-leaning inconsistencies plenty. This post makes it all even.

Wow. Can't we just get a grip? Hate and disdain don't look any better dressed up in blue than in red.

(Late note: a blog sponsored by Christianity Today publications has got some conservative push-back posted. The comments on the post give a good feel for what's happening on the Christian side of the debate.)

Business Angle Roundup

The LA Times is running an article that focuses almost entirely on Walden Media financier Philip Anschutz. Though there's always a religious/political angle when talking about Anschutz, the article sticks pretty closely to the business implications of the Narnia movie for Walden, Disney, Anschutz and the film industry in general.

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CNN Money, meanwhile, looks at the business implications of publishing tie-ins to the Narnia movie—and the tricky way in which the success of Disney's movie actually helps rival Fox, in a roundabout way.

Roundtable Discussion

Hollywood Jesus is hosting another one of its roundtable discussions. The topic this time? Narnia and imagination. Check it out and see what HJ's very diverse staff of reviewers has to say. And contribute your own thoughts! Here's the roundtable lead:

"There is death in the camera," C. S. Lewis said, meaning that films kill the imagination. Andrew Adamson, director of the upcoming The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has said that he wanted to film what the book spawned in his own imagination.

So as we get ready to see the Narnia film, what's in our imaginations? Tell us. Let it all out; no inhibitions.

And do you think that the Narnia film will kill your imagination? Was Lewis really right?

MORE HERE
Hollywood Jesus, 04.12.05

A Narnia Wiki

Got a message from a Narnia fan setting up something new and very democratic: a Narnia Wiki. What's a wiki, you say? From the wiki host site:

A wiki is a kind of free-form website that is easy to edit. On a pbwiki, any visitor with the site's password can edit any page on the site. pbwikis can be made public to allow anyone to read a wiki, while still restricting editing to those who know the wiki's password. But pbwikis can be private, too.

Edits are done in plain text and don't require learning fancy or complex codes like HTML. Just start typing! It's also easy to create new pages and make links to pages you've already made.

So if you want to be part of a cooperative community building up an open-source, open Narnia reference resource, this might be just for you! Check it out.

Beats the heck out of talking about Philip Pullman or Disney boycotts...

MORE HERE

Fan Reviews at NarniaFans

Be the first one on your block to not only see the movie, but get a review logged as well! A Fan Review page has just gone live at NarniaFans.com. If you're one of the lucky ones to have gotten into the promotional screenings that started surfacing around the country a couple of days ago, here's your chance to express your opinion...

And when public screenings start happening Thursday, the floodgates will open!

MORE HERE
NarnaFans, 04.12.05

Latest Opinion Roundup

The Guardian (UK) is once again taking up the harshest line of criticism possible with regard to Narnia, even taking the title of the column from the title of Philip Pullman's anti-Christian book series. This article is, at least, a full articulation of such criticisms, so even if you don't agree you can understand the points being made. So if you really want to understand why some people hate Narnia, this article will help explain it.

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The Seattle Times has patched together an article about the Christian enthusiasm over Narnia, pulling from various wire service stories and throwing in a little local flavor as a bonus. One major error in the article: Lewis did not describe "his writing style as 'sneaking the gospel past the watchful dragons' of the secular world." Rather, he saw fantasy as a means of sneaking the emotional power of the gospel story past the watchful dragons of the church: hushed voices and over-reverence. That's quite a difference!

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The Indianapolis Star is running a very nice original article by a staff writer about the Christian enthusiasm over the Narnia movie. By working in some good, new quotes from the staff of the Wade Center at Wheaton, Robert King manages to shed some light on Lewis and his intent with his books. It's a good news article that doesn't pander to anyone.

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Philip Marchand at The Toronto Star has written an excellent article about the recent trend of cinematic fantasy, and the role that it plays in our culture. It's not about Narnia per se, though it does touch on the subject; but it does put the discussion about the books and the movie in the proper context of the broader discussion. A good read!

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The Detroit News has posted an article about the Narnia phoenomenon which features some good quotes from Christian Lewis scholar Bruce Edwards. Among other things, he says: "In some circles, 'Narnia' is arriving self-announced as a Christian film that does X, Y and Z, and Lewis would object to that. If you can't enter into Narnia and enjoy the world for itself, then you're missing the point."

The article also makes an erroneous claim that Disney "gave hundreds of thousands of tickets to churches and Christian organizations for early 'Narnia' screenings." Nothing could be further from the truth. Only a scant handful of church leaders were screened the entire film.

The HTML for this article is also pretty garbled. If you follow the link, keep hunting: you'll find the article eventually!

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The Cincinnati Enquirer is running a fairly gentle and balanced analysis of the Christian reception of the Narnia movie. It reflects a genuine diversity within the Christian community—and the writer seems to have actually listened to Dennis Rice, Disney's marketing exec, when he explained the rationale behind the movie's promotional plans. Nothing earthshaking or new here, but pretty good journalism.

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Lousie Kennedy at the Boston Globe doesn't expect to like the film. And interestingly, she doesn't think the brouhaha about the Christian message plays into it one way or the other. For her, it's all about the magic of the literature iteself, which she can't imagine the film will capture.

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Chauncey Mabe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel takes a workman-like stab at a "culture wars" look at the marketing of the Narnia film. "Maybe the evangelical churches can count it a victory in the culture wars that Hollywood is at last taking their demographic, if not their theology, seriously," he offers. Not much new here, really, but if you haven't read a story from this slant recently and want to, you could do worse.

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A guest article at the LA Times by Alan Jacobs does a fantastic job of summarizing and analyzing Lewis' thoughts on the potential and shortcomings of the cinematic artform.

Odds and Ends Roundup

Okay—here's something completely different: an article from the Village Voice about Narnia- and fantasy-inspired fashions! The "wardrobe," indeed!

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The Age (Australia) has put together a very thorough article on Douglas Gresham—including some very up-to-date biographical details and quotes about what Gresham hopes to see accomplished through and with the Narnia film. This is probably the most complete article on Gresham we've seen.

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If you enjoy smart-ass snapery, check out The Guardian's Narnia A-Z. Just remember, this is The Guardian (UK), so don't expect it to be too Narnia- or Christian-friendly.

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Via The Observer, The Guardian has also published an excellent guide to the Irish countryside that inspired the terrain of Narnia!

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The Star (Malaysia) is running a pretty up-to-date and entertaining article about Weta Workshops, the craftshop that made armor and weapons for the Narnia and Lord of the Rings movies, among other productions. It's good to read about Peter Lyons, in particular, a genuinely nice man. Stuff (NZ) also has a talk with Weta head Richard Taylor, another genuinely nice Kiwi. We have yet, in fact, to meet an unpleasant Kiwi.

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James Cosmo, who plays Father Christmas in the Narnia movie, is a welcome new voice in an article running in the SundayMail (UK). Swinton and McAvoy have been all over the place for months, so it's hard to read comments from them and feel you're hearing something new. Cosmo, though? That was nice.

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Did we just say what we did about Swinton? My my. The Detroit News actually does have a few new comments from her!

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MyrtleBeachOnline is running a reprint article reminding us all of the influence that George MacDonald was on Lewis and Narnia. If you just found yourself saying, "Who?", you should read this article.

The Latest Reviews

The Hollywood Reporter: "...a believable Narnia..."

The Scotsman: "...there is much to admire here..."

The Guardian: "...Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion..."

The New Yorker: "...the latter half of Adamson’s film seizes up with a kind of enforced pageantry..."

Review Roundup

The Guardian (UK) gives it five stars.

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The Telegraph (UK) writes a generally favorable review, with some suprising reservations.

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The New Zealand Herald gives if four stars.

Christian Opinion Roundup

The Christian Today (UK) has posted a very thorough article summarizing how "Both the Church and Hollywood have buried the hatchet in an unprecedented display of unity, with the country’s churches leaping on the opportunity to put out a strong Christian message into British popular culture." Maria Mackay does a nice job of putting together comments about the marketing spin, the evangelsim spin, and the anti-Hollywood spin&with some sober "let's take a moment and think about this" reaction thrown in the mix. Very balanced.

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I'm not entirely sure where to file this commentary, so I'll put it here. The Book Standard offers an article titled, "On The Degree To Which C.S. Lewis Ought To Be Embraced By Christians And/Or Disney Execs." Entertaining and insightful, the article makes observations such as the following: "This is not the Left Behind series, which dictates a certain view of the world. It's not The Da Vinci Code, which challenges certain beliefs. Lewis's works shouldn't be subject to this kind of reductionism."

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Christianity Today has issued a press release detailing its online resources for investigating the Christian angle on Narnia.

Non-Christian Opinion Roundup

The Houston Chronicle has run an article speculating that, regardless of the success of the rest of the Narnia franchise, The Horse and His Boy could never be filmed because it's just too doggone racist.

Kyrie O'Connor's recommendation for parents? Let your kids read the book if you must; but among other things, tell them, "In [C. S. Lewis'] time, people thought it was amusing to make fun of other cultures. We don't." No. Not at all. Today, we just look down at our noses at outdated authors whose works accurately reflect the times in which they wrote. Yes, we're soooo superior.

Here's a surprise for Ms. O'Connor and others of similar condescension: one of the story's heroes is a dark-skinned Calormene! And plenty of Lewis' villains are white, some even English: the White Witch, Uncle Andrew, Miraz, etc., etc., etc..

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Spero News is running a story on the fact that the Narnia film's Ocscar chances are slipping, according to bookies. The article is surprising rich, and looks at the full breadth of reaction to the film, including quotes from O'Connor's article and from more conservative sources.

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Richard Ostling at the Miami Herald's Religion desk does a nice job of analyzing the interest level in the upcoming film, but still manages to marginalize those who are interested. "Many mainline Protestants have moved beyond Lewis' robustly conservative brand of belief, Jacobs says, so excitement about Lewis' Christian books 'is largely a function of the evangelical and conservative Catholic worlds. But those are big worlds.'" Real thinking Christians, seems the implication, aren't so excited.

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The Independent (UK) really feels like it's on to something in going after Andrew Adamson about Disney's marketing of the movie to a Christian audience. Stephen Applebaum writes a really nice feature piece, then concludes with this exchange:

But didn't they hold special presentations, I ask Adamson, at least one of which he took part in, to assure Christians that Lewis's vision would reach the screen intact? (Interestingly, as well as the soundtrack, a separate CD of music performed entirely by Christian acts inspired by the Narnia stories has been released.) "We assured a lot of fans of the book, both faith-based and not," says Adamson, clearly becoming irritated by the subject. Whatever the truth, Adamson's film is a triumphant piece of fantasy film-making that even Lewis, who once wrote, "there is death in the camera", might have enjoyed.

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In an article that includes quote from HJ Senior Editor Greg Wright, AP reporter Colleen Slevin makes the case that Disney has bent over backward catering to the Christian community. A couple facts she gets a little skewed (and this is pretty typical of the secular press): first, events like the Focus on the Family promotion, which she mentions, did not include a screening of the full movie; and second, when she remarks, "Parishioners at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver are being allowed to see the movie a day early," she's implying that they're getting special treatment. They're not. ANY group that wanted to book a screening on the 8th would've gotten the same treatment. Christians haven't had access to anything that others haven't.

Supertrailer on DVD

If you've got a group you'd like to screen the 9-minute "Supertrailer" for, NarniaResources will ship you one for just $7.50. You've got to agree to a release, but hey—check it out for yourself.

MORE HERE
Mission America Coalition, 01.12.05

New Interview Roundup

Interview with Special Effects wizard Howard Berger. A transcript is included with the video clip link.

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Interview with Director Andrew Adamson at ComingSoon.net.

Video Clip Roundup

Potential spoiler alert on all these clips—but you probably don't need to be told that! Do be aware that all of these might put a strain on your browser, though.

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Battle sequence at Moviefone at the bottom of the page under the title "Clip No. 1". NarniaWeb has got a transcript and screencaps, if you don't want to hassle with Moviefone's slow AOL servers.

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Six new clips at TheOneNetwork. They're listed over in the righthand sidebar.

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Disney's "Movie Surfer" has got three video clip featurettes. One's an interview with Weta head Richard Taylor, another is an "interview" with the children who star in the Narnia film, and the third is a special effects demo on the Aslan technology.