Just my personal two cents/observation...but I believe the use of the word "liar" is an "inflammatory" sort of word to use (no disrespect is intended towards Coracle or Anhun).

I personally do not think Anhun is being disrespectful to Jewel at all...just using a "loaded" word in her argument. Jewel's comment from the Movie News section does seem to fit in here though.

Email and internet communication is so limited when devoid of facial expression and voice....I've found that out numerous times on this board and off of it....when one can't edit immediately what one's said or clarify it.

Hoping the official announcement comes soon, because it would put this rumour to rest---finally!

Yes, I agree with you, State of green. And even if the discussion wasn't by email, but face to face, we don't know whether Jewel was present at the original incident which created the rumour, or whether she met Doug Gresham separately, later on.

Wagga (not having read the post) hypothesized that Jewel was confused by articles she had seen on Narnia fan sites. I said that Jewel was either lying or telling the truth.

Of course you are right Anhun. I didn't read Jewel's post which I gather is attached to the latest Narnia News Item, which still remains so since last June. It is now August. If that is the case then she could still well be telling the truth since the latest article has remained there for some time.

Someone posting under the latest Narnia Movie News article, said that she is in contact with Douglas Gresham, and that he says Walden won't continue to make Narnia films because of the poor returns, not because of any artistic disagreements. The poster also said that Walden holds the rights for the next 7 years, so Gresham won't start looking for a new filmmaker for another five years. Now, this may be a hoax, but it does make sense.

The problem I have with the latest Narnia Movie News is that while it has been amended to deny the rumour, it still remains the latest Narnia Movie News item, and there hasn't been any new news items for some time.

What I don't understand is why Fox as the third party is not being mentioned at all, and more particularly, why if discussions have broken down, nobody is coming out and saying so formally? If there is a final ending why not say so? I'm sure that NarniaWeb, Narnia fans, Aslan's Country etc would leap to report it. Why keep us all on tenterhooks?

That is what makes me think that the series is continuing, until there is a formal announcement to say otherwise. If they are continuing they have good reason not to say anything just now, until the HP hubbub has died down.

Okay here's the original post by Jewel:

Jewel says: July 21st, 2011 on 6:27 PM

I do correspond personally with Douglas Gresham (C.S. Lewis’ stepson if anyone here doesn’t already know). Walden has in fact dropped out, sorry to say. They found the most recent films not sufficiently profitable. The movie rights therefore revert to him, but per contract, no one other than Walden can release the films for 7 years, which means that he plans to start working on them again in 5 years. He did not say so, but "logically" Walden could of course renew an offer to make future films at a sooner release date than 7 years. I am nothing other than a C.S. Lewis fan (no relation to the estate or film industry), but everyone has my totally unofficial permission to besiege Walden with requests to continue making the films. Here’s hoping they change their minds.

What I don't understand is why Fox as the third party is not being mentioned at all, and more particularly, why if discussions have broken down, nobody is coming out and saying so formally? If there is a final ending why not say so? I'm sure that NarniaWeb, Narnia fans, Aslan's Country etc would leap to report it. Why keep us all on tenterhooks?

They aren't mentioning Fox because Walden's in the driver's seat. If Walden doesn't want to make the movies, no one else can make them for a while, and there's nothing Fox can do about that.

As for why they aren't making an announcement, it's anyone's guess, but generally, film companies don't officially announce a red light. They have nothing to gain by such an announcement. Also, since they hold the rights, they might want to leave the door open to revisit the idea of another foray into Narnia, if, down the road, someone comes up with a brilliant idea for how to make them financially viable.

Yes, I did check and I did see that Jewel posted the information on July 21st. But when did she receive the letter? Before or after we found out that Walden has not dropped out of Narnia negotiations? I'm not saying anything more, than that on July 21st Jewel made a post of doom. Why isn't the doom being confirmed?

So far, the doom has been denied - by Walden. That is not to say there haven't been moments when Walden might have wanted to drop out. Sort of like a particularly volatile engagement.

It isn't really over until the wedding has been cancelled, the ring has been given back and the couple refuse to see each other any more.

Yes, I agree with you, State of green. And even if the discussion wasn't by email, but face to face....

Actually Wagga...I meant my comments to be directed at the posts between Coracle and Anhun.

And yes....I hope Walden/Fox and The Lewis Estate either decide to "carry on with the wedding" or stop it altogether...they're halfway through the ceremony...they may as well finish!

Well, I could understand the bride being a bit skittish, after being jilted at the altar on the previous occasion. If Disney pulling out of VDT wasn't a red light announcement, and a fairly decisive one at that, I don't know what is.

Depends on whether you define success by income or profit. LWW is undeniably Walden's most successful film. However, if you look at the profits, Journey to the Center of the Earth, which cost a small fraction of the Narnia films' budgets, is actually more successful than PC or VDT.

As a matter of interest, when I looked at IMDb and at Box office mojo, I couldn't find any reference to a film called Journey to the Centre of the Earth being filmed by Walden. All I could find was the original 1959 movie which I did see at the time. And a 2008 movie put out by Warner/New Line, which earned the following figures:

Domestic: $101,704,370 42.0%
+ Foreign: $140,290,781 58.0%
_____________________________

= Worldwide: $241,995,151

It seems I am missing something here. This 2008 film did decidedly worse three years ago than VDT ever did. When did Walden make their own successful remake of this movie?

@wagga and stateofgreen: I love the wedding analogy! FYI: a Jewish wedding lasted one week [7 days]. We've got 4 "days" left! Come on, Walden!

@Wagga: scroll down that BOM page for "Journey." It says the franchise/brand is Walden Media. Yes, it made only $240M worldwide. But the production budget was only $60M! This movie raked in 4 times as much it cost to make! Did LWW do that well?

@Wagga: scroll down that BOM page for "Journey." It says the franchise/brand is Walden Media. Yes, it made only $240M worldwide. But the production budget was only $60M! This movie raked in 4 times as much it cost to make! Did LWW do that well?

It's possible that successes like "Journey" require alot more luck not of the film maker's making than the CoNs do. I havne't seen "Journey" but remember seeing the trailers alot at the movies when it came out - maybe there were some good movies on at that time and alot of people saw it, cause it seemed to coincide when i was at the cinema alot watching maybe the same or a few diff. movies in cinemas at that time - i just remember seeing that trailer lots at the cinema at a time when i was in a cinema going mode (can't remember what the movie(s) was/were though.

Sorry about the delay - I don't really want to be part of a big discussion, but I do know who got the original information and who the reliable source was. I don't know who Jewel is.
Narniaweb agreed to run the information but it seems to have been unfortunate timing - it might have been better for us to have waited for further information.

I am waiting to see the full statement from the Estate and Walden.

I am really getting anxious and confused to everything about this. . When is NW hoping to get the statement?

I'm not really sure what to say at this point. I'm not trusting anyone or anything until we have proof. I'm not trusting a comment without info. I'm not trying to be disrespectful to Jewel, but I would just like to see proof before we keep jumping to conclusions.

How do we know it's not just a misunderstanding? It could be anything for all I know.

Well, all I think we can do is pray that things will be okay, I guess.

If Disney pulling out of VDT wasn't a red light announcement, and a fairly decisive one at that, I don't know what is.

How can it be a decisive red light if:
a.) They didn't even hold the rights.
b.) Walden and Fox were collaborating on VDT a mere month later?

Basically, when Disney pulled out the fate of VDT was where the fate of Narnia 4 is now . . . uncertain. If it was any sort of a light, it was a yellow light.

I really hate to push the wedding analogy too far, but I think it explains heaps about the current Narnia situation. In reference to the questions you ask:

1: @ Anhun: a.) They didn't even hold the rights.

Does it really matter who held the rights? In the case of PC, Walden and the CS Lewis estate were prepared to go ahead with VDT, then Disney pulled out, leaving them to scrabble around for another firm to officiate at the wedding party.

2. @ Anhun: b.) Walden and Fox were collaborating on VDT a mere month later?
This is where the wedding analogy comes into its own. OK, Disney ran off and Fox, like a sympathetic best man, stepped in to rescue the jilted bride. And so we got a VDT movie, like it or not.

A lot depends on which firm does what in a movie production. For the purposes of MN, I see Walden, in particular, as the blushing bride, with the C.S.Lewis as a kind of nagging prospective father-in-law. The real trouble I have is this question: How does the likes of Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and Paramount get such prominence, not by holding the rights to a movie, but by handling the distribution? You were talking about Walden and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Yes, when it was pointed out to me, Walden did have something to do with the production of this movie, but it is Warner/New Line which gets all the credit, not Walden.

I know that Fox did the marketing for VDT and it was Fox who supplied the $100,000,000 for that purpose. When the 3D DVD edition is released in America on August 30th, the logo of Fox will be on the marketed product, not Disney. Walden will be mentioned, but as an aside, not in first place.

I keep wondeing about the production costs. How much input did Fox have in those arrangements?

I'm not sure what your point is, but if you are trying to argue that Disney pulling out of VDT constituted a red light, then your argument is self-refuting.

leaving them to scrabble around for another firm to officiate at the wedding party.

And so we got a VDT movie, like it or not.

A red light means "Done. Finished. Stop writing us letters about who should play your favorite character and what scenes absolutely have to be in the film. The End."

If Disney had the power to red light VDT then their would be no "wedding" to officiate, and we would not have had a movie, like it or not.

The only official red light that I have ever heard of in the industry was for Star Wars Episode 7.

I've never heard of Episode 7 of Star Wars, and that is odd considering that my middle daughter was a Star Wars fanatic. Was this film greenlit then stopped?

Meanwhile, at what stage was VDT at when Disney pulled out? Was it already greenlit? Or wasn't it? I am not convinced that Disney pulling out wasn't meant to say exactly what you did say in your quote:

A red light means "Done. Finished. Stop writing us letters about who should play your favorite character and what scenes absolutely have to be in the film. The End."

That is the sense we are using the term 'red light' in, of course, for want of a better one. A 'red light' district is an area of a city which deals with the "underworld" of that city, and is a no-go area for those who only subscribe to PG values.

If Disney's input and money isn't as important as Fox International's input and funding, why did Walden and the C.S.Lewis need to have either firm along whilst producing either PC or VDT? Was Disney a part of the Narnia production enterprise or wasn't it? And hasn't Disney's pulling out damaged VDT's likely success, whatever you thought of the film?

And getting back to the wedding ceremony, you can't have a wedding without a groom, which was originally meant to be Disney who said stop, we aren't giving you any more funds to waste, we don't want to be hitched to your enterprises.

That sounds like a red light to me - a no-go area in whatever context you use it. That Fox International stepped in to complete the project is just lucky. There is no stopping Fox International from doing a Disney repeat if it suits them to do so. And that is where Walden's difficulties lie with C.S.Lewis estate, I fear. Yes there is funding for Magician's Nephew available, according to Perry Moore who died earlier this year. Isn't it likely that such funding may fall short of expectations?

A week later, I need to post to make some corrections to my post above.

The only official red light that I have ever heard of in the industry was for Star Wars Episode 7.

It was true that I wasn't aware of an episode 7 of Star Wars. But I did find this 2008 Star Wars movie on BOM and IMDb.

This was the results:

Domestic: $35,161,554 51.5%
+ Foreign: $33,121,290 48.5%

= Worldwide: $68,282,844

Makes PC and VDT look good, doesn't it? Especially as the Star Wars series was the success story we had before blockbuster series like LOTR and HP outshone them. In fact, this Star Wars episode, which started in the August after PC's release, finished in theatres the weekend the sixth HP film (Half-blood Prince) made its debut. Is this the film you meant, Anhun?

My investigations here and elsewhere suggest that VDT was indeed greenlit and that filming was scheduled to go ahead when Disney pulled out at Christmas 2008, due to a budgeting dispute with Walden.

Anyway, I'll just wait and see........