Details on the Disney/Walden 'Narnia' Fallout

There's always a story behind the story when you're talking about studio maneuvering, and we've seen quite a bit of that lately, thanks to Watchmen. But remember this past summer how the second Prince Caspian, the second Chronicles of Narnia movie, opened very soft at the box office and almost immediately there were discussions that the franchise might not make it?

The Los Angeles Times has a great article that kind of blows the lid off the whole deal, including how the series might find life at another studio very, very soon. But there was allegedly a frosty relationship between Disney and Walden Media going back to the months after the remarkable success of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, described in the article as Walden essentially "putting a gun" to Disney's head to change the terms of their agreement for the second film. Disney agreed because of the money it had already seen, and that meant being more aggressive with the thematically more aggressive Prince Caspian. A $225 million production budget was approved, and then Disney spent another $175 million to market the film worldwide. Do the math: That's $400 million. After its release in May, the movie made about $425 in global receipts. DVD money is probably healthy for the film, but when you're looking at profit margins, the film clearly wasn't a financial success. And when if failed, those old wounds were opened.

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Disney Leaves the Magical Land of Narnia

Disney and Walden Media have parted company on the Chronicles of Narnia series, and will not be making the third film, Voyage of the Dawn reader, even though the project had been in pre-production. The Hollywood Reporter makes the all-too-compelling point that even though Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have been extremely successful franchises, it has been harder for other big budget series in the fantasy arena to find and maintain audiences. The first Narnia movie was an extraordinary hit worldwide, but this summer's Prince Caspian, while profitable, was nowhere near the success of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. There is still the possibility that Walden will pursue a new studio to continue the series and The Reporter indicates that Fox might be a likely suitor, because of its Fox Walden label. The only drawback there is that Fox is licking its wounds from one of its worst years in recent memory, especially from the standpoint of blockbuster production. The news of Disney's departure isn't entirely surprising; with the recent economic downturn and the possibility to make ridiculous returns on lower-budget fare like High School Musical and Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which combined to outgross Prince Caspian in the U.S., parting with a couple hundred million in production costs seems a harder move to justify.

'Dawn Treader' Concept Art on 'Prince Caspian' DVD

I haven't made time to watch the Prince Caspian DVD yet; from time to time, Disney will send members of the press its latest DVDs a couple of weeks early to accommodate reviews and the like. Unfortunately, we're a one-man operation here at The Big Picture, and November and December is time to make the donuts. It's a breakneck pace for about six weeks, with all the movies geared for year-end awards shoved down critics' throats at the rate of ten a week. Had I watched Prince Caspian - a film that, despite its so-so box office, I found to be better than The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - I would have seen what Film Chat saw: Concept art for Voyage of the Dawn Treader on the Caspian DVD. Dawn Treader is the third Narnia movie, or it will be if they make a third Narnia movie. A few days ago, when Walden Media announced a change at the top of its organization, the company said it hoped to make Dawn Treader, but noted that the film hadn't received the green light yet.I guess that didn't stop some of Disney's artists from brainstorming what the next film in the franchise might look like, and it's pretty good stuff. (Thanks to Worst Previews for its coverage of this story.) How sweet does the Dawn Treader look? I'd greenlight the movie just based on that. Which is why I'm writing this story on Thanksgiving break instead of spending my holiday in Bali like a studio executive.

Will We See Another 'Narnia' Movie?

There's some great coverage of this story at Coming Soon, which covers a little bit more of the corporate machinations at work, but the main point of interest is that the third Narnia movie has not yet gotten the go-ahead.

The news came as part of a press release from Walden Media announcing that co-founder and co-CEO Cary Granat is leaving the company effective December 1st. He will remain on as a consultant, with a focus on The Chronicles of Narnia franchise. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which Disney had tentatively scheduled for a May 7, 2010 release, has not been given the green light, and with about 18 months before that release date, something better happen soon.

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The Big Picture's Summer Box Office Post-Mortem

With only one weekend left to consider for Summer 2008 - and considering it will only feature College, Babylon A.D., and Disaster Movie - this is the perfect time to reflect on the highs and lows of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, summer movie season ever.

Let's start by taking a look at the top ten films over the past four months, in terms of domestic box office:

1 - The Dark Knight ($500 million plus)

2 - Iron Man ($317 million)

3 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($315 million)

4 - Hancock ($226 million)

5 - Wall-E ($216 million)

6 - Kung Fu Panda ($212 million)

7 - Sex and the City ($152 million)

8 - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ($141 million)

9 - The Incredible Hulk ($134 million)

10- Wanted ($133 million)

The dollars might shift a little bit, but outside of Wanted and Hulk, no movies are poised to change positions at this point, and no other summer movies are in a position to challenge the top ten. Just taking into consideration the movies that have or will exceed $100 million, this summer session is good for at least $3 billion. All told, over 15 movies will have earnings in excess of $100 million, although not all of them can be considered hits. More about that later. There's nothing more to add about The Dark Knight until November or so, when Warner Bros. finally takes it out of theaters and directs its attention to DVD sales. It's clear that they're playing with house money at this point; even the most ambitious estimates had this movie making $400 million, which would have, in effect, doubled the box office haul of Batman Begins. Nobody, anywhere, was throwing out $500 million as a legitimate milestone for this or any other movie in 2008. It's a truly historic run, and when you consider that it could makes as much as Indy Jones and Hancock combined - or close to it - it's a staggering number to put into perspective.

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