Who should write ‘The Silver Chair’?

[220chrisTian]

Right now we’re discussing who should direct and act in “The Silver Chair.” But we’re missing a vital ingredient: who should write the screenplay. Directors and cast members need a script! This is the foundation of any good film, with the producer(s) as the cornerstone [supplying necessary funds] and the director and cast as pillars. Every good movie needs a good screenplay. No good movie came from a bad one. It’s not possible.

I'm protected as an actor by a really good screenplay, number one; and then a really good director, number two; and then really good actors, number three - but first and foremost a good screenplay. You cannot make a good film out of a bad script. You can make a bad film out of a good script - easily. I've seen that happen before, but you can't do it the other way around; it always has to be the screenplay. ~ George Clooney

I don’t know many screenwriters, so I’ll leave suggestions to others. I do know this. Although Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely deftly helmed “Captain America," plus LWW and PC, they shipwrecked “Dawn Treader.” I hope people haven’t forgotten the script debacle of December 2008. The last thing SC needs is green mist! I pray that this pair does not return for Narnia 4.

So who should write “The Silver Chair”? GO!

[fantasia]

This is gonna be a hard topic to discuss because so few people know any screenwriters.

Although Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely deftly helmed “Captain America," plus LWW and PC, they shipwrecked “Dawn Treader.”

While I know their names are in the credits, I think it was more of a courtesy. They were off the project so early, and the screenplay went through so many other writers after that, I can't solely fault them for VDT. Having said that, while I liked them personally very much (I got to meet them both in NYC), I'm not sure they're who I'd like to continue on with the series. Some of their comments regarding the decisions they made with PC kind of turned me off, particularly when it came to the romp with Aslan.

Just for fun (Because I have no idea who else to suggest), I'll toss out Ann Peacock's name. She did the original screenplay for LWW before M&M came on board. This was never confirmed as fact, but rumor had it that her original version was too much like the book and M&M had to embellish it a little bit.

[Reepicheep775]

Some of their comments regarding the decisions they made with PC kind of turned me off, particularly when it came to the romp with Aslan.

Is there a link to their comments regarding the romp? That was one of my favourite scenes in the PC book and I still haven't quite forgiven the filmmakers for cutting it in the movie.

As for script writers, I think I'd like to see new screenwriters... not sure who though, because I'm not familiar with screenwriters.

[fantasia]

Yep. Here you go.
http://www.narniaweb.com/2008/05/nyc-in ... e-mcfeely/
It's about 3/4 of the way down the page.

[DamselJillPole]

Douglas Gresham! I've already read somewhere that someone said he will. I really hope he does.

[220chrisTian]

@Damsel - I'd love for Gresham to write the screenplay. But has he ever written one before?

@fantasia - I'd like a detailed screenplay history of VDT.

[icarus]

@fantasia - I'd like a detailed screenplay history of VDT.

At the risk of not being FantasiaKitty, here is a quick summary....

I believe that Stephen Markus and Christopher McFeely started writing the initial draft of Voyage of the Dawn Treader sometime whilst Prince Caspian was still in Production. Then around about the time that Prince Caspian was actually released (May 2008) Steven Knight was brought in to work on the script.

About a month later (June 2008) pages from the Dawn Treader script that had been used in the audition process leaked online. This version of the script contained details such as the Lady of the Green Kirtle harvesting souls for the underworld. These script pages had the name of Steven Knight attached to them. Given the overall similarity of key scenes in the Leaked Script with those in the finished movie i would wager that Steven Knight (who was un-credited on the final movie) was simply brought in to do a touch up of the Marcus & McFeely script - to tweak a few details and polish things off a bit - such as tends to be done in Hollywood, rather than a full re-write.

Anyway, then in January 2009 when 20th Century Fox came onto the project, they brought Richard LaGravanese in as scriptwriter. I would imagine his role was to take the existing Marcus/McFeely/Knight script and cut it down a bit to reduce the overall movie budget. It is possible that at this stage the "Lady of the Green Kirtle Harvesting Souls" plot element was replaced by the more budget-friendly "Green Mist Eating Slaves" plot element, though again Richard LaGravanese was not credited on the final movie. Whether that was due to the fact that none of his ideas were used, or it was just down to the bizarre complexities of Hollywood screenwriting credit rules, i don't know.

Finally in February 2009 it was announced that Michael Petroni was working on the script. Given that this was only a month after Richard LaGravanese was announced, its possible that Richard LaGravanese dropped out before even working on the script and that it was Michael Petroni who was tasked with getting the Marcus/McFeely/Knight script under budget (and under the Fox-mandated shorter running time), by swapping out details such as LOTGK for Green Mist etc.

For what its worth, Michael Petroni was the only other credited writer alongside Marcus and McFeely. Whether or not that indicates any sense of what you saw in the final movie though I wouldn't like to say. I could tell you numerous bizarre stories of writers who have not written a single word of the final script getting credited, whilst writers who wrote significant portions of a script not receiving a credit at all. That said, given the snapshot of the script we saw during the leak, it would seem that the final shooting script was not fundamentally that much different from the very earliest drafts.

[SilverSea]

Michael Arndt, preferably, but I'm pretty sure he'll probably won't take on a small project like this.

[fantasia]

@fantasia - I'd like a detailed screenplay history of VDT.

At the risk of not being FantasiaKitty, here is a quick summary....

You summarized much better than I would have been able to; thank you!

In addition to the constant turnover of screenwriters, I felt like the final product wasn't necessarily any of their fault based on the rumblings and rumors that reached my ears about things that had to be included and excluded from the movie... those tidbits went all the way up to the head honchos of the production companies. *shrugs* We'll probably never know for sure who was responsible for the final product.

@SilverSea, boy, he sure has a powerhouse of movies to his name, even though it's a short list... including the next Star Wars movie. No pressure there! But while the budget will likely be small (by comparison), it's still a big name so perhaps it might attract people it wouldn't otherwise?

[220chrisTian]

@icarus and fantasia - thank you! I don't know what to think about VDT now, the final product. I don't know who to "blame." Oh well.

I think the perfect screenwriter for SC must love religion (or at least have a spiritual understanding of SC's message), fantasy, and Narnia.

[icarus]

@icarus and fantasia - thank you! I don't know what to think about VDT now, the final product. I don't know who to "blame." Oh well.

No problem. As a follow up, I found an interesting quote in an article (about the controversy over the screenwriting credit for The Incredible Hulk) which neatly sums up the rules that the Writers Guild uses to assign screenwriting credits:

An original writer must contribute at least one-third of the final screenplay to receive credit. If subsequent writers labor on an original screenplay as script doctors, they must contribute more than half of the final screenplay to receive credit. The Guild compares the final cut of the film against both drafts, favoring story and characters over dialogue

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-truth-abou ... vs-marvel/

That would mean that Markus and McFeely as the original writers must have contributed at least one third of the final screenplay to have received their credit, and Michael Petroni must have contributed more than half.

That pretty much matches with my previous analysis of the scriptwriting saga in terms of who did what I think. I guess then you could say that Michael Petroni was at least 50% to blame for the final mess, but then I think in all honesty he probably did exactly what he was asked to do - reduce the budget, reduce the running time - so it might seem harsh to judge his qualities on an artistic level for that. Equally, Markus and McFeely were at least 30% to blame, but then up to 70% of their final screenplay never made it through to the final cut, so it might seem harsh to blame them for that either.

I think it perhaps highlights the difficulty in judging any scriptwriters outside the handful of genuine writer-directors. For most movies, there is so much that goes on between the first draft of the script and the final movie that its hard to retrospectively judge. Take for example the last five James Bond movies - all co-written by the team of Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (with a varying additional third writer). The final movies themselves however vary considerably in quality. Its pretty hard to believe that an absolute stinker like Die Another Day was written by the same people that wrote Skyfall, a movie that came very close to challenging in the awards season.

[waggawerewolf27]

Thank you, icarus, for the info on the VDT screenplay. I don't know anyone who does screenplays apart from the Peter Jackson/Frances Walsh team for LOTR, and they are married anyway. I rather expect that Douglas Gresham, himself, will have quite a considerable input this time around, even if he doesn't do everything himself. He can't have been too happy about being told that either he took the VDT screenplay as was or that VDT would not be made at all.

The last thing SC needs is green mist! I pray that this pair does not return for Narnia 4.

Hem! Hem! What about all the green in Silver Chair, the book? LOTGK, herself? Green powder making green smoke? I think that is where the VDT writers got the idea from when they thought green mist was such a good idea.

[Impending Doom]

I'm not sure of any writers off the top of my head. But he/she doesn't have to have read the book 15 times. Foremost they need to understand and love the books, equally as important they need to be professional and artistic minded. The Silver Chair doesn't need to be totally re-written like PC, it has a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Hem! Hem! What about all the green in Silver Chair, the book? LOTGK, herself? Green powder making green smoke? I think that is where the VDT writers got the idea from when they thought green mist was such a good idea.

That's what I think as well. I wonder how they honestly thought Green Mist would be a good idea...

[Aslan Fan]

I think they should get the same Screen writers as The Lord of the Rings: Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens!

[David West]

Why? Lord of The Rings was great because it was a passion project for Jackson and his team of writers. If you want a Narnia adaptation that is of the same caliber as the Lord of The Rings films, you need to get people who are equally passionate about Narnia to make the film. You don't NEED Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, or Peter Jackson, you need their Narnia equivalents.

[Aslan Fan]

Sure. I agree. But I would think they would tend to respect the material from the beginning.
So, not knowing anyone who has the passion for the story that Narnia deserves, they came into mind.
If they find a director\producers\and writers that are passionate about the story, then great. But if they don't, these would probably be the second best choice.