This was in this month’s Onfilm magazine in NZ, and I thought it would interest a number of TORN readers both for the crossover interest in Narnia and for the news of Richard Taylor, Grant Major and John Howe working on these films.<\/p>\n
Onfilm: Confirmation was still pending at presstime that Kiwi Andrew Adamson’s Chronicles of Narnia dramatisation would be shot in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Investment NZ’s Paul Voigt would only say a decision is nigh but one source close to the Walden Media production believes there’s no doubt about the principal location.<\/p>\n
“If The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe isn’t filmed here, it won’t be filmed anywhere.”<\/p>\n
The NZ advantages are considerable, ranging from a 12.5% rebate on its NZ spend under the proposed Large Budget Film Grant scheme to the Oscar-winning creature\/special effects expertise of WETA. <\/p>\n
Among those officially attached to the NZ$200 million project are The Lord of the Rings troika of Grant Major (production\/design director), Richard Taylor (special effects) and John Howe (conceptual artist).<\/p>\n
The Shrek director’s dramatisation will be live-action and feature a real lion. Said Adamson in July: “I read the book when I was eight years old and it seemed very real to me. Aslan has to be, first and foremost, a real lion.”<\/p>\n
The script is being written by Ann Peacock, who won an Emmy and a Humanitas Prize for A Lesson Before Dying.<\/p>\n
Her upcoming projects include Country of My Skull, with John Boorman attached to direct and Sam Jackson, Juliette Binoche and Jon Voight to star; On the Ropes for director Brad Silberling; Marines of Autumn for Irwn Winkler; and Star Time, with Joel Schumacher directing Will Smith.<\/p>\n
Walden Media, which has optioned all seven books in the Narnia series, is a subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, one of the largest privately-owned and operated ventures in the US.<\/p>\n
Its affiliated companies are principall engaged in telecommunications and media, natural resources, transportation, real estate, sports and entertainment.<\/p>\n
Walden originally planned to release The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe mid-2004 but the opening has since been pushed back to two years from now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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