I've been around here long enough to know that changes made in the movies DO affect how people view the books when they read them for the first time after viewing the movies. Just look at all those Susaspian fans who had never read the books. They picked up VDT, found out Caspian marries Ramandu's Daughter, and had a hissy fit. I've seen more than a few people say they outright dislike her for the simple fact that she is the canon true love of Caspian and they don't like that. It's not too bad around here because most of the people here are book fans, but on other fansites and fanfiction sites and the like, the Ramandu's Daughter bashing is a lot worse. So yes, the movies do affect people's opinion of the novels and affect them negatively.

^Agreed on the aggressive suspian fans out there! I can't even make a simple and innocent fanmade video of Caspian/Lilliandil without suspian's coming at me saying "This is ridiculous, Caspian and Susan forever!" "I hate you" and this profanity/threatening childish stuff.

I had this one suspian fan recently post over 30 different things on a caspian/lilliandil video I made on youtube, including in my channel comment and inbox posting all this vulgar, thoughtless and threatening things and that she'll follow me for the rest of my life and that she'll do something to my face. I blocked her four times on different accounts that she created (just for me) She got so obsessed that it literally freaked me out.

It's going to be on international news one day that cyber bullying suspian fans will get arrested for online harrassment because they are doing it on both fanfiction and youtube. All because of fictional inevitable turn of events to follow a story. I'm betting 100% a suspian fan is going make international news about cyber bullying an innocent Caspian/Lilliandil fan. I seriously don't doubt it.

^^ Wow! That's terrible! I'm so sorry you've had to deal with that, DJP! Although, I'm not going to say that the filmmakers are to blame for it, because that would be giving that person too much of an excuse for what they did to you. There's no excuse for cyber bullying, in my opinion.

One thing I really dislike is what the Narnia Movies are turning the books into. Sometimes it feels like the twists they put in the movies (i.e. Susan/Caspian/Lilliandil or Edmund/Lilliandil/Caspian) move the books away from the Godly, spiritual content, and toward the "who's-dating-who" soap operas, or Twilight-style fights between fans. It's a bad, bad thing...

I just hope there's something we're not seeing. Some deep spiritual thing that hasn't been in any of the previews, but is in the movie. Something that will bring the focus back on Aslan.

If not, there's always SC (we hope). That will have a different director, so there's no telling how that one will be...

~Riella

One thing I really dislike is what the Narnia Movies are turning the books into. Sometimes it feels like the twists they put in the movies (i.e. Susan/Caspian/Lilliandil or Edmund/Lilliandil/Caspian) move the books away from the Godly, spiritual content, and toward the "who's-dating-who" soap operas, or Twilight-style fights between fans. It's a bad, bad thing...

Yeah that's what I've been worrying about too and scared if they show Susan in LB in Aslan's Country I'll really have a fit.

Yes I don't believe it was the filmmakers faults as to why this person came after me. A person needs to learn to say "No" in a situation like that. But all in all if it happens again and I report this person for still harrassing me and threatening to find me then yes i hope the filmmakers who thought of Suspian do feel embarrassed or guilty in a way.

Yeah that's what I've been worrying about too and scared if they show Susan in LB in Aslan's Country I'll really have a fit.

I have a feeling you wont have to worry about that. If it shows Susan in Aslan's Country, I'm sure the focus will be on her relationship with Aslan, and her reunion with her siblings. After the whole issue of her backsliding, finally making it to Aslan's Country would be a big deal. A Suspian moment wouldn't fit in a moment like that, and I highly doubt the filmmakers would put it in. It would just be too weird. I would be like, "Yay! Susan! You're saved! You weren't sent to Hell! You made it to heaven and get to be with Jesus for eternity! And oh, look, there's your ex-boyfriend." You know what I mean? It would just be... odd. And un-fitting for such a beautiful moment. I think that if Suspian is even mentioned again at all, it'll be in VDT. After VDT, I'm pretty sure it'll be completely a thing of the past.

~Riella

I think the people working on the Narnia films are talented artists who like the books and want to make quality films and good adaptations. But not so much that they are willing to take financial risk. It all seems to be rooted in profit, first and foremost. Peter Jackson started writing LotR long before fantasy films were popular. He took a huge financial risk because he believed in the book.

I've been feeling this way for some time now, -ever since Peter Jackson announced to theonering.net that Del Toro would no longer be directing The Hobbit. That was a BIG piece of news and the LotR folks felt that the fans should know first. I highly doubt that the makers of the Narnia movies hold us in such high esteem.

Still, I firmly believe that these people genuinely want to make good Narnia films and actually like the books.

It seems like the Narnia films got their start by someone saying "LotR is a hit! Fantasy movies are a safe bet! Lets make...Narnia next!"

It may seem like it, but it isn't true. In The Official Illustrated Movie Companion to The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe Perry Moore makes it pretty clear that he and the Walden company were interested in and actively pursuing the Narnian Chronicles before Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings were released.

However, I do think that the Potter and LotR films have provided artistic inspiration for the cast and crew of the Narnia films. For better or for worse, their influence is undeniable.

If Susan goes to Aslan's Country I hope it's on a different island like how they explianed it in the book and Lucy, Edmund & Peter are going to cross over to her. Before doing that they should show Caspian and Lilliandil together, him holding her, caress her, or something to show Caspian could careless about Susan and that he loves Lilliandil. that way it wont give suspian's any ideas.

Please don't lump every single person working on this film into a "making a movie only for profit" box. The decision to make this movie the way it is, is done higher up by those who approve the script and write the checks. They are business people and unfortunately, Hollywood has always been a bit pigeonholed. They make movies one way for a decade at a time and then they shift and make them another way. Right now, we have movies being made with an eye to profit and to reach the maximum amount of movie goers.

I disagree with the analogy even though I see what point gP is trying to make with it. I agree with AslanisontheMove's post from the first page. The books aren't going to change.

We may end up with a "movie by the same name," but we still should end up with a good movie and there aren't that many of those out there.

Good thoughts, gP.

I believe that compromising of faithfulness to the story so that we can have an "epic" movie instead is a common one in Hollywood book adaptions. It's even a common one in plain old movies: they sacrifice a well-told story to cool special effects, or the "hawtest" actor/actress, or to what the standard for "cool" is in tinseltown right now.

Sure, we can still get interesting, watchable movies out of it. But at what price? Nearly every movie is jumping for the exact same standard of awesomeness. Where is the innovation? Where is the art? The skill it takes to even try to adapt something well (i.e., tell the story in an INTERESTING, EXCITING way in a movie, but not change large parts of the story) has been nearly lost. And seriously, it's possible.

The sell-out I see here is Hollywood compromising their art and their mandate to adapt a book well to what they believe will make the most money. And sadly, they don't even make a lot of money for doing this, much of the time.

GlumPuddle, I can certaintly see the point you are making here. I love that aspect you took from the picture, that slowly by slowly all of C.S. Lewis characters and thoughts that were written are being sold off to the highest bidder. It certainly is sad if they make it just to try to get more money and not try to make it like the book. Some one should definitely make a youtube video trying to bring across this.

The picture of Lucy at the beginning of this thread suggests that the adaptation has been a good deal more faithful to the book than gP and others are admitting. I agree with coracle and fantasia kitty's comments that gP has overreacted somewhat in his comparison. gP's grizzling that the movie was made for profit is so like Eustace grizzling that the Dawn Treader wasn't a proper ocean liner or that he was on the ship at all.

The film has been made, it is about to be released, and what is done is done. It looks like a great movie. How about giving VDT a fair go?

Wow. That is the saddest thing I've read in a while... and the worst part is that I agree with it.

How about giving VDT a fair go?

If it actually was VDT, I would. But this is the book C. S. Lewis didn't write, remember. It is not Narnia anymore — not the Narnia I know.

I don't see the analogy as an overreaction in the least. The strength of Narnia as its own world, distinct from other fantasy conceptions, is in the original stories. C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia have been beloved for over half a century. But what the filmmakers are saying is that what Lewis wrote was not good enough. Adapting is one thing; rewriting is another. They are rewriting.

And I've already given VDT a fair chance. I was very disappointed in PC, but I was willing to trust them to learn from their mistakes. New director, new writers, new hope. But it seems they haven't. All I've heard about VDT confirms this.

Look at what happened with The Seeker, rewritten (not adapted) from Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. If you deviate too far from your source material, you run big risks. The sad thing is that studios seem to think deviating from the source material is actually the safer route.

I've been around here long enough to know that changes made in the movies DO affect how people view the books when they read them for the first time after viewing the movies. Just look at all those Susaspian fans who had never read the books. They picked up VDT, found out Caspian marries Ramandu's Daughter, and had a hissy fit. I've seen more than a few people say they outright dislike her for the simple fact that she is the canon true love of Caspian and they don't like that. It's not too bad around here because most of the people here are book fans, but on other fansites and fanfiction sites and the like, the Ramandu's Daughter bashing is a lot worse. So yes, the movies do affect people's opinion of the novels and affect them negatively.

As I said, the people would like the books will like them once they read them. The people who see the movie, read the books and aren't happy with them probably wouldn't have been happy with them even without the films. I will give you that Suspian was a bad move and affected the Caspian/ RD romance negatively. But even before the films, there were Lucian fans. The people drawn to the Chronicles because of Suspian, those that are avid supporters, the kind the DJ talked about, those people wouldn't have liked the books anyway because those people are looking for love stories. The Chronicles are not love stories. And Caspian's love life is really not a big deal as far as the books go. He marries a lovely lady at the end of the book
so not liking the Caspian/ RD romance shouldn't affect the overall enjoyment of the Chronicles and I don't think they'd be missing the spirit of Narnia because of something like that.

DJ, I am very sorry for what happened to you. The film inspired Suspian fans, true enough. But psychos will be psychos A person who will be an enternet bully would be a bully no matter. If it wasn't over Suspian it would be over something else. There are perfectly decent Suspian fans out there who actually do love the books.

But even before the films, there were Lucian fans.

Sorry but this sort of comment is inappropriate on a family friendly website. I'm glad we will not get THAT sort of adaptation.

I removed my earlier comments. Basically I believe glumpuddle is worrying too much, and based on his previous history I suspect he will find he likes this film more than he is expecting to.

I believe you have all overlooked the work of the Estate (Mr Gresham - who is also Executive Producer on this film) in ensuring that the adaptation meets certain requirements of the book. So who are you accusing of doing this Selling? It sounds like Mr Gresham is your real target.