Please. I wish 3D would just jump off a jetty. It's tacky and hugely expensive.

I know! Visited Harvey Norman or Bing Lee lately? I'd advise you to beat a hasty retreat the minute a TV salesman heads your way. Forget VDT (though pre-Christmas it did the trick for us), the sales pitch will be drooling about Tangled. Though I hate to admit it, those 3D Tangled effects were very good. And it isn't as if I will get any choice, let alone first choice, about what is shown.

Over at NarniaFans: Have Fox and Walden Media begun talking about The Silver Chair? Thanks for the article, Paul Martin.

Interesting read.

Thanks for the link ceppault!

I really hope that Walden and Fox are truly discussing the Silver Chair at this point. That would make me so happy! haha

thanks cep! I hope they are serious about SC! I want to see that movie so bad!

Hmm. If those quotes are to be believed it sounds like Fox thinks The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was an artistic success. I'm worried.

I don't think I believe Fox really thinks VDT's an artistic success?....I wonder when those executives were really quoted? Were those recent quotes? I would gather enough people have written to Fox or Walden or are in the process of writing to them to let them know why the domestic box office didn't go as high as it could have due to what they did with the script and editing.

I don't think the many negative or mixed reviews would have been ignored either...... It might be seen as an "artistic" success outside of the U.S. But if they're greenlighting mostly because of the international grosses I won't complain as I badly want to see SC.

If VDT was a resounding artistic success it would have been in the Oscars. Clearly it wasn't and that is not the only measure of a movie's success, anyway.

One measure might well be how VDT stacks up against PC, especially when Walt Disney dropped the series. If VDT's foreign earnings pass PC's then there has to be something for VDT to crow about. Neither PC nor VDT earned their production costs in USA domestic takings alone, but how well did VDT do against PC? VDT had a miserable beginning, but has come from behind to hold its own. If it weren't for that miserable beginning, VDT would have matched PC's earnings easily.

And why did VDT have such a miserable beginning? It sounds like there were many detractors of the film before it even got released, and so attendances were down, with many not choosing to see it. Or was it bad marketing, which I am sure must have contributed, at least to an extent?

Or perhaps it was the predictably bad reviews from those who are no friends of Narnia and its pro-Christian leanings? When those reviewers were joined by others who were offended that VDT not pitched at their quasi adult POV, it isn't surprising that there would be much dissatisfaction with it. Whatever happened, it is astounding that it has got as far as it did, and that people still want to see this movie, artistic success or not. I don't think its bad beginning was due to what is perceived to be its shortcomings on NarniaWeb and elsewhere, as at that time people still had to see it to judge it.

Or maybe we will just blame the weather, and La Nina, in particular. Or the plethora of 3D movies, once 3D has lost its curiosity value. Or the economy. Because I am no scriptwriter nor have I done any film productions I don't feel in a good position to blame Apted, Fox or even Walden, let alone write letters to them saying so.

Nevertheless, VDT has done well, compared to Golden Compass and Eragon, against which two films it has been compared, especially Golden Compass. It has passed Golden Compass' worldwide earnings as well as its domestic box office. Though in the case of Golden Compass there was a boycott of the film in place, as far as I know. If VDT also passes Golden Compass's foreign earnings of $302 million, then VDT will have exceeded all expectations, and be over the $400 million mark, yet another measure of success.

I am sure that without this $400 million in the hand, the bad or mixed reviews and even trivial complaints that don't bear up under inspection, will be more than enough to ensure that Fox does not greenlight SC. There would need to be some evidence of popular pressure to make a sequel of SC, more so than other films made for the Christmas market.

I don't think I believe Fox really thinks VDT's an artistic success?....I wonder when those executives were really quoted? Were those recent quotes?

That is an excellent question! The quotes do sound a lot like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's marketing campaign. "It's a return to the magic of the first film" yadda yadda yadda.

I would gather enough people have written to Fox or Walden or are in the process of writing to them to let them know why the domestic box office didn't go as high as it could have due to what they did with the script and editing.

That's why I'm holding out hope. Regardless of your opinions on Prince Caspian, Walden Media listened to the reaction and "fixed" it (again, depends on your view). Here's hoping they'll learn from their mistakes and move on.

@Reepicheep775...
I really hope you're right! I really want to see silver chair made and it is true that the script did kind of let down the film (Too many cheesy lines ) But hopefully they realise that they can make a fantastic high grossing film if they bring back Will Poulter (The highlight of VDT for me!) and improve their script, plus improve marketing and advertisement and stick closer to the books story line! It is just common sense really- look at Narnia's 1-3, use what worked and work on replacing what didn't to make an amazing Narnia 4!

Why worried, Reep??!

Why am I worried that Fox seems to think The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was an artistic success?

Because I didn't. I liked the first two movies, but I thought the third one was an artistic train-wreck. (Feel free to disagree. Walden seems to think Prince Caspian was an artistic train, which I disagree with ).

For me Fox/Walden needs to recognize The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's flaws (odd acting, bad script, ADD pacing, adaptation disaster etc) and then fix them in The Silver Chair for me to have hope. Now, as stateofgreen pointed out, we don't know when the quotes in the article were said. It sounds a lot like the marketing campaign.

Because I didn't. I liked the first two movies, but I thought the third one was an artistic train-wreck. (Feel free to disagree. Walden seems to think Prince Caspian was an artistic train, which I disagree with ).

I agree with you about your disagreeing with Walden that PC was an artistic failure. It took a couple of viewings, but I've come to really like the film. Even when I first saw it I knew it was well-made. Heck, it rivals any of the LOTR films for production values.

VDT...I've seen in three times. Twice by myself. I feel I've done my duty, and I feel free to say NO: it is not an artistic success.

Of course what Fox means by artistic success is money. They artistically campaigned this movie into earning 102 Mil. domestically, despite the film being terrible .

Because I didn't. I liked the first two movies, but I thought the third one was an artistic train-wreck. (Feel free to disagree. Walden seems to think Prince Caspian was an artistic train, which I disagree with ).

I agree with you about your disagreeing with Walden that PC was an artistic failure. It took a couple of viewings, but I've come to really like the film. Even when I first saw it I knew it was well-made. Heck, it rivals any of the LOTR films for production values.

Really??? Are you saying 'Come back Andrew Adamson, all is forgiven?' I find that hard to believe.

I liked Prince Caspian and thought it was a long way better to look at than the BBC PC production. I was completely stunned when Disney dropped the franchise and I mainly joined NarniaWeb to lend my support to the possible VDT.

But from the moment I joined NarniaWeb I was shocked at the heavy criticism of 1. Susaspian, 2. Peter's grumpiness, 3. The fighting between Caspian and Peter, 4. The, to my mind, completely unnecessary quibbles about various wordings and their religious significance, 5. The birth of Miraz junior at the beginning, 6. The fake Mediterranean accent of the Telmarines, 7. The way the movie was changed around so that Susan and Lucy could be in more of it, 8. Susan fighting and the constant mantra of those who just wanted a pictorial retelling of the book, however unworkable this might be, without any cohesive arrangement, and without any sort of artistic interference from Andrew Adamson or his scriptwriters.

Now I don't have a problem with any of these facets of PC which caused so much NarniaWeb angst, as I am too old for unrealistic and unreasonable expectations of either Apted or Adamson. But neither Fox nor Disney would have rated Prince Caspian an artistic success either and mainly because of all this criticism if nothing else. And guess what, I don't remember any Oscars coming out of that movie either.

And I don't think VDT is a terrible film. It does a good job to bridge the gap between PC and SC, if nothing else. Unless there is a miracle, I very much fear that SC will not be greenlit ever because of the perceived unpopularity of VDT among fans, as expressed here.

Really??? Are you saying 'Come back Andrew Adamson, all is forgiven?' I find that hard to believe.

Yes and I've said so on a few occasions. Because anything wrong that Adamson did in PC is way better than what we got with Apted's VDT. Prince Caspian was occasionally flawed. VDT was occasionally good.

But from the moment I joined NarniaWeb I was shocked at the heavy criticism of 1. Susaspian, 2. Peter's grumpiness, 3. The fighting between Caspian and Peter, 4. The, to my mind, completely unnecessary quibbles about various wordings and their religious significance, 5. The birth of Miraz junior at the beginning, 6. The fake Mediterranean accent of the Telmarines, 7. The way the movie was changed around so that Susan and Lucy could be in more of it, 8. Susan fighting and the constant mantra of those who just wanted a pictorial retelling of the book, however unworkable this might be, without any cohesive arrangement, and without any sort of artistic interference from Andrew Adamson or his scriptwriters.

Well yes. And all those things are still problematic. But at least they were well done!

As for that last bit...we all expected changes in VDT. Heck, glumPuddle was being optimistic even after watching the trailers. But NOBODY knew just how badly done the whole movie was going to be. Naturally, every movie that is not as good as its predecessor is going to be dissapointing. If they make The Silver Chair and it is even further from its material than VDT was, I think we are all entitled to a little book-loving outrage. I am honestly a little tired of the argument that a movie cannot be improved into a better form than it is, as if filmmakers always do everything for good, practical and artistic reasons. They do not. Hollywood filmmakers are entrenched in a sense of constant comfort with tropes and old tricks. They might love what they are doing and communicate that---and thus fool unsuspecting fans of the book---but filmmakers very easily lapse into re-treading the same material as other movies because it is safe.

I love all 3 movies. The only criticism I have about any of them is Susaspian. I do not mind the accent- mine sounds VERY similar (or at least it did before it got blended with the Southern accent). I just want SC to be greenlit ASAP. No movie will be perfect. I love Narnia. The movies did not completely butcher the books. So please do not complain so much. We need SC- and the other Narnia books- to be made in to movies.