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THE
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE - PREVIEW
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
(2005)
Starring: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Rupert Everett, Georgie Henley,
William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Dawn French and Jim
Broadbent, Brian Cox
Director: Andrew Adamson
U.S. Opening Date: Dec 9, 2005
With fantasy books such as Lord of
the Rings and Harry Potter breaking
all kinds of box office records it was only natural that more fantasy
properties would get dusted off to get the big screen treatment. While not
quite as well-known as Tolkien’s tomes, the several Chronicles of
Narnia volumes by C.S. Lewis do have their share of dedicated
followers.
Me? I’m not exactly a fan of the genre (you should see
the hate e-mail I got for calling Lord of the
Rings – Return of the King overrated), but to be honest if they must
film a fantasy novel, why not some of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
novels? (Oh wait; we already have one Sci-Fi Fantasy comedy this year,
namely Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
. . .)
Directed by Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame by the
way . . .
Plot description of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe (2005):
Based on the classic novel by CS Lewis. Four London
children are sent to a professor’s country home for protection during
World War II. There they find a magic wardrobe which leads to a mystical
land called Narnia, which is being ruled by an evil witch. To defeat the
Witch, they must join forces with Aslan, the lion God of Narnia, and the
great battle between good and evil.
—
Some sources:
Amazon.com, IMDb
Trivia
about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
-
Walden has optioned the entire seven-part "Chronicles of
Narnia" fantasy book series for film development.
-
The movie had two fake working titles: "The Hundred Year
Winter" and "Paravel". Signs in Auckland which directed extras and crew to
the sets had "Paravel" written on them.
-
The Director, Andrew Adamson, who himself is from West
Auckland, along with some of his production crew, were given a traditional
Maori welcome onto a Maori meeting house near the West Auckland studios.
This was done as a sign of respect to the local tribe of West Auckland
whose lands will be used for filming locations.
-
When placing ads in "The New Zealand Herald" for extras,
the call was put out for people under 5ft and over 6ft. Extras calls were
made in the NZ main cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over a
period of two weeks.
-
The makers asked for permission to bring in 12 reindeer to
New Zealand to pull the Ice Queen's sled. The Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry denied, citing the potentially deadly "Q fever", from which the
North American reindeer population suffers, as the reason. However, eight
wolves were allowed in for filming in Auckland.
-
Michelle Pfeiffer was offered the role of the White Witch,
but turned it down due to family obligations. She was the only major
Hollywood star to have been contacted about the movie.
-
Tilda Swinton hadn't read the book prior to filming.
-
"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is the first book
in the series. It was the first of the seven to be written; in fact, Lewis
never intended at the time to write a single sequel, let alone six.
However, many younger readers mistakenly think that "The Magician's
Nephew" (actually Book 6) is the first book in the series because if the
books are read in Narnia's chronological order (i.e., Y happened before X,
even though X was written first), "The Magician's Nephew" is read first
because it is the story of Narnia's creation. New publications of the
books are numbered in this order instead of the order Lewis wrote them in;
however, some readers argue that this spoils the mystery and effect of the
story's various revelations, especially as regards "The Magician's
Nephew".
-
Singer/songwriter Amy Lee of the popular band
"Evanescence", who is contributing to the soundtrack of this film, was
offered a cameo appearance. In response, Lee eagerly requested that she
play a character that gets killed.
—
Some sources:
Amazon.com, IMDb
Trailers:
Get the latest
updates on this and other sci-fi movies at our News &
Rumours section (updated daily).
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