The Future of Narnia Franchise in Jeopardy

Variety Magazine reports that Disney has bailed out of the Narnia series in the face of a grim economy and the disappointing receipts from Prince Caspian.

“Disney’s move comes on the heels of disappointing worldwide box office for the second “Narnia” pic, “Prince Caspian.” “Caspian,” released in May, grossed $419 million worldwide compared with a haul of $745 million for the first “Narnia” pic, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” in 2005.”

The article mentions that Walden Media– the other partner in bringing Narnia to the screen is experiencing hardship as wel.. Walden Meda was charged with bringing five educational films a year to the big screen but is scaling back to two.

I’m disappointed that the other books won’t immediately see the big screen. However, I thought the movie Prince Caspian didn’t measure up to it’s predicessor. Disney seemed to have Lord of the Ring Envy and tried to force epic battle scenes onto Narnia. Prince Caspian was a transitional book as well: We say good-bye to the four siblings and hello to Prince Caspian. That’s an unusual task for a film to carry– saying good-bye to character just established on film before. I can’t think of another movie that’s attempted that. In my mind, that’s one of the factors that made Prince Caspain: the Movie ho-hum.