Narnia Wins Single BAFTA

The final decisions for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards have been announced. Nominated for three awards, the Narnia film's lone nod was for Hair and Makeup.

MORE HERE
Newswire, 20.02.06

New Word on Caspian (Sort of)

The folks at IGN Film Force had lunch at an Oscars-related function the other day, and sat down to chat with the Narnia effects wizards (nominated for the upcoming awards). They basically said, "Well, we don't really know anything, but here's what we know." Nothing new, really, but you might find it interesting...

(UPDATE: SciFi Wire has some additional comments from the same session.)

MORE HERE and HERE
IFN Film Force, 15.02.06 and SciFi Wire, 16.02.06

Skandar Keynes Speaks

Nancy Churnin at The Dallas Morning News scored what appears to be an old interview with Skandar Keynes, who plays Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He responds to questions from another teen who played Edmund in a stage production last April in Arlington. So nothing new here, probably, but it's new to me—and might be to you, too!

MORE HERE
Kid News, 12.22.05
Obsolete Link: Monterey County Herald, 12.02.06

February HJ Feature

The February Hollywood Jesus Narnia Feature Article has been posted: " The Case of the Missing Narrator: Narnia Without C. S. Lewis?." Author Sarah Arthur has graciously written a guest analysis for us, taking a look at what The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe perhaps sadly lost in translation from book to screen. "Getting it right," Sarah suggests, means more than just nailing the visuals, plot, symbolism and characterization.

Here's a snip:

...not only is your father reading the story, adding his own inflections, interpreting the personalities of the characters in his own unique way, but behind his voice—or rather, speaking through him—is another voice, the voice of the narrator, the one who is telling the story from the inside.

It’s the voice of every fairytale from the beginning of time: authoritative yet personal, succinct yet chatty, a touch gossipy, even conspiring with you on matters of taste and opinion. It’s the voice of the nursery, of bedtime, of tales told by the fire, establishing a relationship of trust between teller and hearer without which the form of fairytale comes apart at the seams and becomes mere plot, either bald and flat, or bald and terrifying.

To read the full story, click on the link above.

DVD News—Extended Edition?

In a recent USA Today blurb about the upcoming DVD release of the Narnia film, director Andrew Adamson remarked that an extended version of the movie is in the works. The standard DVD is due out April 4 in two editions, a one-disc version and a two-disc set with 10 additional hours of bonus features.

MORE HERE
USA Today, 02.02.06

Ireland Makes Bid for Caspian

The Irish governement just passed a new law doubling the usual tax break allowed to film production companies operating in Ireland—this as part of a major bid to lure the lucrative Narnia franchise back to C.S. Lewis' country of birth. Recent rumors about Disney location scouts in Ireland were undoubtedly the first salvo in the publicity push for that agenda. The Irish Independent now reports that Walden Media scouts have been on the scene, and that New Zealand and the Czech Republic are again (naturually) making bids to host the production.

MORE HERE
Irish Independent, 05.02.06

It's Official!! Caspian in Production

This morning, Walt Disney Pictures issued a press release formally announcing that Disney and Walden Media will be working together once more to bring The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to the screen.

Rumors had been circulating since last November that the project had been greenlighted. Most recently, Irish papers reported that Disney reps were scouting locations there for the sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

And less than a week ago, the reason for the protracted delay in making the announcement became clear. It wasn't that either company was disappointed in Lion's boxoffice text; rather, there were simply bigger fish for Disney to fry. Wrapping up the deal to acquire Pixar undoubtedly had Disney execs preoccupied for a while.

Prince Caspian is planned to go into production this fall with Andrew Adamson again at the helm and Anna Popplewell, William Mosely, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley again starring as the Pevensie children. The film is slated for a late 2007 release.

The Hollywood Reporter has some nice details you won't find in the official press release. Oh—and HecklerSpray gets the honors as the first media site to whine about these developments.

LWW Review at IslamOnline

IslamOnline has posted a review of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Muhammed Abdelmoteleb, a Muslim professor in Cairo. Not only is it interesting to read a Muslim reaction to the movie, it's a well-written review, too!

MORE HERE
IslamOnline, 02.02.06

Oscar Nominations

In case you hadn't heard yet, the Oscar nominations are in and the Narnia film is up for three awards, all in the technical categories. The competition is pretty stiff, too: War of the Worlds and King Kong. Narnia just might get skunked!

MORE HERE
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 31.01.06