the thing is, religious/philosophical stories tend not to sell as well as action or drama or whatever else one could stamp an exclamation point after. people of this society don't typically enjoy being preached to. if they were to tweak the plots or even combine them-- and i'm not saying i would support either decision-- perhaps some masterpiece (in their minds) could be formed that would end a blockbuster. most people aren't true fans of narnia, rather, they're just seeking a nice outing to the cinema. they won't think like us, and they outnumber us-- hence, their ticket sales will amount to more than ours no matter how many times we watch.

I agree with you that Christian/religious movies generally don't do well financially. And that's because they generally are preachy, and usually have very low production value. However, I don't think the Narnia films are like that at all. In fact, you can easily watch the movies and miss the religious undertones if you don't know what you are looking for. I definitely wouldn't classify the Narnia films as being "christian."

LWW is one of the highest grossing films of all time (39th in the US, 34th Worldwide), and while PC wasn't as financially successful, the film did squeek out a profit. With VDT being in 3D, I don't seeing it doing any worse than PC, and might be even close to LWW's numbers. So obviously people other than "true narnia" fans are watching these movies, and will see VDT as well.

Considering Walden Media's commitment to the series, I imagine all 7 films will be made. The Narnia franchise is really their only cash cow, and the only movies they've really made much of a profit on. They won't drop the series now.

If this is the last film, I will be sooooo angry!

regarding

I don't seeing it doing any worse than PC, and might be even close to LWW's numbers. So obviously people other than "true narnia" fans are watching these movies, and will see VDT as well.

Considering Walden Media's commitment to the series, I imagine all 7 films will be made. The Narnia franchise is really their only cash cow, and the only movies they've really made much of a profit on. They won't drop the series now.

and

so its like a transition story that needs to rock the box office to continue the story with SC.

: now i'm just theorising, but should vdt not sufficiently foreshadow sc's success, and the series is indeed discontinued due to lack of interest and therefore profit, as you both have mentioned it may well (how do we know walden mightn't decide narnia is no longer a "cash cow"?), vdt has got to provide some sort of sense of completeness. it wouldn't make sense to, say, end in a really bad cliffhanger if they weren't to make more.
it could work in both directions... more films must be made because of financial issues versus financial issues are making this the last film. :

How could the film possibly end on a cliffhanger?

There's really nothing about VDT that should be cliffhanger-ish. Though that's based upon the book's storyline. Who knows what they might be doing in the movie. Though I doubt we'll see a "MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! You've foiled my EVIL plot, but I'm escaping to return in the next movie!!" scene.

I think you are all getting worked up over something that will not be happening.
Please, don't worry!

When I first saw this I freaked and thought 'What if they actually do that?!?' But when I actually calmed down and thought about it I remembered something. When I met Michael Apted earlier this year he was already considering which movie to do next. We've sometimes theorised that they'll only do more if VDT does well, but like bkey said Walden is committed to the series. I personally think if Michael, and Douglas has mentioned it in an interview too, was thinking about which one to do next all the way back then, then box office numbers and reception aren't going to change Walden's decision on doing more or not. I hope that puts your mind at ease even if only a little bit.

I've been thinking about this problem too, as PC didn't do so well. But I guess the only way we can find out is to wait and see. If the movie is the best Narnia Film yet, as the spy reports say, it will do good.

Good movies have a way of being seen.

How could there be spy reports saying that it is the best Narnia film yet? No one has seen it yet. It isn't even finished. The test screening won't happen for some months yet.

The people who had seen the Super Trailer and the people who watched some of the movie being filmed. All of those spy reports were very positive decarus. Then again I will add that there were a lot of positive reports on PC as well, though there were a few negatives, especially after the release of the suspian TV spot there were a lot of negative reports. But it's still early to make judgments on whether or not this will be a good movie. I reckon it will be.

I agree that we haven't seen enough to know if it will be a good film or not. I think all the footage has looked good. There are major changes in the film, but i have been expecting that for some time.

Other people's reports saying that they liked it is sort of irrelevant to me.

Yes well the good news that we do know is that they are keeping to the original text like the book, even though there are a few major changes, at least the characters are in character and the story is in tact rather then messy like PC. This I am sure of with analyzing everything we've got so far.

I am not certain at all that the characters are intact. Aslan has been way out of character in the last two films, so i am not sure if he will in character in this one. Wait and see.

The difference is is that we have a new director and the past crew members realize their bad in the past movies especially PC. They are trying to fix everything with this movie practically. I wouldn't be worried at all.