2013 - The Alternate Timeline

[icarus]

I think I've brought it up a few times in the past few years before, but every time I am reminded of the Narnia series' unfortunate demise, I always think back to that quote from Comic-Con 2007 where producer Mark Johnson was quoted as saying:

"As long as you keep embracing these movies, we'll make all seven... Our goal is to give you a new one every May starting next year."

In that alternate timeline, that we can now only wistfully dream of, the remaining six movies would of been out in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and of course 2013.

Maybe it was always an overly ambitious schedule to ever work, but one can't help but think that perhaps right now, in some alternate universe or parallel dimension, that we are all now sat around eagerly awaiting the Superbowl on Sunday, for the release of the trailer of the final movie in the Chronicles of Narnia series...

Oh to what might of been....

..... Though to look on the bright-side, in just 3 or so month's time, the Narnia series in that alternate-future-land will be all done and dusted, finished forever, while we at least still live with the hope of Narnia movies still to come - reasons to be cheerful right?

[PhelanVelvel]

But what if Walden made all seven of the movies in that universe? XD Even though I would love to see any Narnia film right now, I'm kind of hopeful that the next adaptation will be done by someone who wants to take more risks and be truer to the books.

[DamselJillPole]

It depends on if they were going to do two parts for The Last Battle, which would've been 99.99 percent possible since every series is doing that. It's still crazy to think that and if we are getting these films made in an alternate universe.

[IloveFauns]

I thought i had gone onto my zelda forum, how everyone is always debating about the timeline of the series, I thought you were going to suggest the books were in different orders. Maybe after the 6 years(which i believe is left before someone else can make narnia movies) we will get all 7. I may be an old age pensioner by the time they make the last battle into a movie however.

[Glumpuddle]

That's really weird to think about, icarus. I remember freaking out about the idea that we might see pictures from the VDT set before PC hit theaters!

In another alternate timeline, we are analyzing the Super Bowl TV spot for The Silver Chair right now, and praying that the brief shot of Eustace grabbing Jill's hand is not what it looks like.

[AJAiken]

Yes, and in that timeline we are also wondering why there doesn't seem to be any Lady of the Green Kirtle in the trailer ... I can just see the filmmakers saying "But you didn't like the Green Mist, so we took everything like that out!!"

Anyway ... it's very scary to think that we could've seen four further films in this time. And IloveFauns, I think the same. Maybe I'll be in my nineties before the 5D Hologram walk-though version of "The Last Battle" comes out.

[Louloudi the Centaur]

If the box office turn out had been different for VDT, I'm sure we would have gotten a trailer for SC sometime around last year at this time. I was younger then, so I would have viewed the trailer so differently than I would now. I remember being over the top excited when the VDT trailer came out. Times change.

If this alternate time line were only so true, things could have still gone wrong at some point or another. Perhaps SC would have turned out so bad that it made VDT look like an Oscar winner. We could have seen simultaneous production on MN and HHB.

Well, as Aslan once said on the big screen,"We may never know what would have happened."

[SilverSea]

I'm very glad they didn't do that, churning up a new movie each May; it would have been impossible with all of the special effects, editing, music scoring, and advertising they would have had to do in such a short time frame. The final
product of the movie would have looked fake and rushed and the cast and crew would have been irritable and overworked. The only positive I can think of is that an annual Narnia movie would be fresh in the general audience's minds.

[Tigryph]

I think part of the problem was all the internal conflicts that have been going on. Disney did not want to stay true to the message and Walden did, so Disney dropped the project, leaving Walden to look for another company. Fox stepped in and while I love what they did with VDT, it was kind of a weak one to start out with. VDT is a good book but it's not something easily translated into a film. I remember it being my least favorite back when BBC ran the stories and it's mostly because VDT was a collection of short stories. The green mist was... kind of annoying, but I remember hearing rumors of a leak in scripting where the knife the white witch used at the stone table was part of the story and... I'm glad they scrapped that too.

I think the studio would ROCK with Silver Chair because it has a script that's easier put onto film that VDT. But right now their biggest problem is that there's internal conflict with what book to translate next. I personally think it would make more sense to do SC. For one, the actor that played Eustice is still a good age for the roll. If they do MN that won't be the case by the time they're finished with production. Secondly, SC would translate amazingly onto film where as MN would have a lot of the same problems VDT had. SC could grab public interest, even outside of the fandom, and give the studio the boos it needs to do the others.

I'm not gonna lie though, it's depressing to think that there's not even a film in production. ]8

[Anhun]

I think part of the problem was all the internal conflicts that have been going on. Disney did not want to stay true to the message and Walden did, so Disney dropped the project, leaving Walden to look for another company.

I don't agree with Walden being any truer to the Narnia message. Both parties were equally enthused about PC when they thought they had a sure-fire hit series on their hands. I don't remember hearing reports of any bickering between Disney and Walden execs over the production of PC. The difference is that Disney is a much bigger deal in the cinema world than Walden. They don't need Narnia. Disney dropped Narnia like a hot potato when PC's DVD sales underperformed. They had absolutely no incentive to continue investing in a series that wouldn't make it's money back, and that was that.

Walden stuck with it because, for them, Narnia is their flagship project. It put them on the map and it remains their highest-profile series to date. They want to keep the Walden-Narnia association alive, even if, at this point in the game, that means floating the occasional rumour that their break with the Lewis Estate is not absolute.

[Louloudi the Centaur]

With Comic Con just occurring, I can't help but wonder if there would have been a panel of discussion with the actors, director, and writers for The Last Battle. Is the Narnia franchise still known to exist among the general viewing public? That seems to be the place to promote upcoming film franchises. Perhaps if we see another Narnia film be made, Comic Con will be the first place to promote it.

[ramagut]

It's a very interesting point about Comic Con. I remember all the excitement with Prince Caspian at Comic Con so long ago. I can't even imagine the excitement and emotions that would have gone along with Comic Con and The Last Battle. To be sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for glimpses of Shift and Puzzle. Would that alternate universe know how special that moment would be?

[waggawerewolf27]

I thought i had gone onto my zelda forum, how everyone is always debating about the timeline of the series, I thought you were going to suggest the books were in different orders. Maybe after the 6 years(which i believe is left before someone else can make narnia movies) we will get all 7. I may be an old age pensioner by the time they make the last battle into a movie however.

ILF, if you expect to be an old age pensioner by the time Last Battle comes out, what would I be, when I'm already old enough to qualify for the old-age pension? At the moment, I'd be ever so grateful to get even one of the missing four books filmed. I'd so love to see SC, HHB or MN in this or any alternative world, let alone LB.

Yes, and in that timeline we are also wondering why there doesn't seem to be any Lady of the Green Kirtle in the trailer ... I can just see the filmmakers saying "But you didn't like the Green Mist, so we took everything like that out!!"

Ouch! That sounds like a nightmare. Maybe in an alternative timeline, the very colour green is to be banned!

[King_Erlian]

Ah, but if the colour green were banned, then the train that Eustace and Jill were on would have had no green signal, and would never have crashed. So none of the Seven Friends of Narnia would have died and Eustace and Jill would have had to use the magic rings to get to Narnia to help Tirian... And then, as there's no colour green, they wouldn't have any green rings and so they'd get stuck in the Wood Between The Worlds, unable to get either to Narnia or home...

(Spoiler for those who haven't read The Last Battle yet)

[Varnafinde]

And if the colour green were banned, what colour would the forests of Narnia be?
Please, not anything blue or teal to replace the green - that would be as bad as changing the plot!

[coracle]

It is not the colour that is disliked, but the use that some have made of it. Such it is with many things in the world.