The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian hits the floors

Hot on the heels of the first Narnia movie, the second in the series is already in production. Director Andrew Adamson promises to make all seven.

PRAVEENA SHIVRAM

14 March 2006
CHENNAI, INDIA

The king was in his counting house, counting all his money. And he has now reached $664 million dollars, and is still counting. When the Chronicles of Narnia hit theatre screens last year, Narnia fans the world over waited with bated breath to see how their own personal world of Narnia would come alive. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe have only left them asking for more.

Slated for release in December 2007, Prince Caspian, the third installment in the series of books and the second in the film series, has already hit the floors. Rightly so, as the filmmakers are worried that their actors might not look their age. Director Andrew Adamson of New Zealand who returns for the next film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, along with the young quartet of British actors Georgie Henley (Lucy), 10, Skandar Keynes (Edmund), 14, Anna Popplewell (Susan), 17, and William Moseley (Peter), 18, says, "If we don't make [the film] now, we'll never be able to because they'll be too old."

In Prince Caspain, the Pevensie siblings return the land of Narnia, where a thousand years have passed and Narnia is gripped in a civil war. The children are once again enlisted to join the colourful creatures of Narnia in combating an evil villain who prevents the rightful Prince from ruling the land, and with the help of Aslan, peace is restored in the land.

The first film has so far made $288,193,914 at the U.S. box office since its Dec 9 release, while "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which came out three weeks earlier, is a nose ahead at $288,733,970. If it takes two years to release each film (and the filmmakers promise to make all seven), then the last Narnia film will feature in the year 2017! Adamson added that he would be, "perfectly happy to make all seven."

With 100 million copies of the books sold in the last 55 years since it was first published, it comes as no surprise that the film has also managed to capture audiences with apparent ease.

The key to the whole project is the response of the millions of readers who have shared the novels with their children for decades, said Douglas Gresham, the 61-year-old stepson of Lewis and co-producer of the first film. He stressed that he will work on the Narnia movies as long as he is able to do so.

As important as the movies are, he said, the ultimate goal is to faithfully deliver the author's stories, symbols and themes. The books must have the last word.

"The challenge for us as filmmakers, and I have had to become one, is that everyone who has ever read the Chronicles of Narnia ... has a firmly cast picture, a precise visualization, in their mind of what Narnia looks like, what the creatures look like, how they should behave and how they should seem," said Gresham. "We must produce films in which we equal or exceed every single one of those visual imageries. If we do that, then I believe that readers who love the books will keep going to theaters and we'll be able to complete the series."

Whether it is the universal appeal of the book, or its strong Christian allegories, or simply its gripping storyline, Narnia is one film, we can assured, will be a part of our lives for a long time to come.