A Stand Alone Besides LWW
Posted: Dec 24, 2014 11:24 pm
As much as I adore LWW, I always hate the fact that when I talk about the Narnia series, very few people know there's 6 (count that- 6!) other books. I feel some of this is because it's the first book and also because it has by far received the most small and large screen adaptations... I can count at least 4, whereas 2 other books have been adapted twice, once once (with a second in the works), and the other three... nothing. Given the fact that the current cinematic series making it to the LB is questionable at best (though I'd still like to see it) I often find myself wondering if ten or twenty years from now some filmmaker would take a crack at one of the other 6 books as a stand alone. Honestly, I think our best shot at that would be with The Magician's Nephew or The Horse and His Boy, since the others are more of continuing the story lines of the Pevensies and Eustace and thus attached to the books before. However, neither TMN or HHB have been adapted into film and remain essentially unknown to anyone who hasn't read the series.
I wonder do you guys think these... or even some of the others would make a good candidate for a stand alone adaptation? And could any of them have the potential to become a major hit and keep to the heart of the story? If so do you think it would be good for the franchise as a whole? Would it help introduce others to the rest of the books? Would you like to see it happen at all? What are some problems you could foresee in trying to adapt the others as stand alones?
As for my thoughts...
I personally, would love to see it... especially The Horse and His Boy... It has a plot I really connect with... a quest for freedom and a better life, yet along the way learning to be responsible and think of others besides yourself. (And I love horses ) I think it's a plot that many others could connect to as well, if done well. The main thing I see working against it would be the whole racist controversy, but I honestly don't think it's any worse than Prince Caspian (the film I mean), and I think you could be creative, and true to the story without appearing racist. Also I think not knowing the Pevensies background doesn't detract from the plot at all, which is the only other potential problem I can come up with.
The Magician's Nephew I think could also work wonderfully as a stand alone. Again, a strong plot, driven by a son's desire for his mother's life... something new and not like most other fantasy movies to date. The main problem I see in this one would be the special effects being so expensive... especially for the creation of Narnia and the destruction of Charn, but with so many leaps and bounds in the world of CGI... perhaps in 20 years time it won't be so outlandish for an unknown studio to take a chance.
As for the others... while VDT and SC might work I think they all rely pretty heavily on each other (story wise and character wise), so it'd be hard to make them into a stand alone and be successful (especially The Last Battle )
(EDIT: By stand alone film I mean a film that is not a part of a particular film series, for example the animated LWW)
I wonder do you guys think these... or even some of the others would make a good candidate for a stand alone adaptation? And could any of them have the potential to become a major hit and keep to the heart of the story? If so do you think it would be good for the franchise as a whole? Would it help introduce others to the rest of the books? Would you like to see it happen at all? What are some problems you could foresee in trying to adapt the others as stand alones?
As for my thoughts...
I personally, would love to see it... especially The Horse and His Boy... It has a plot I really connect with... a quest for freedom and a better life, yet along the way learning to be responsible and think of others besides yourself. (And I love horses ) I think it's a plot that many others could connect to as well, if done well. The main thing I see working against it would be the whole racist controversy, but I honestly don't think it's any worse than Prince Caspian (the film I mean), and I think you could be creative, and true to the story without appearing racist. Also I think not knowing the Pevensies background doesn't detract from the plot at all, which is the only other potential problem I can come up with.
The Magician's Nephew I think could also work wonderfully as a stand alone. Again, a strong plot, driven by a son's desire for his mother's life... something new and not like most other fantasy movies to date. The main problem I see in this one would be the special effects being so expensive... especially for the creation of Narnia and the destruction of Charn, but with so many leaps and bounds in the world of CGI... perhaps in 20 years time it won't be so outlandish for an unknown studio to take a chance.
As for the others... while VDT and SC might work I think they all rely pretty heavily on each other (story wise and character wise), so it'd be hard to make them into a stand alone and be successful (especially The Last Battle )
(EDIT: By stand alone film I mean a film that is not a part of a particular film series, for example the animated LWW)