When The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe came out, it was automatically in the shadow of the juggernaut Lord of the Rings franchise that had just torn through cinematic history. Because of this shadow, comparisons were made — whether admitted or not — and Narnia wasn’t as earth-shattering as some would have thought. And while it wasn’t the worst movie ever made, it was forgettable and this highly impacted its sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which had a sadly mediocre run, ultimately bringing it to its assumed fate.
Disney and Walden Media have officially confirmed that Disney will be parting ways with Walden Media on their collaboration the The Chronicles of Narnia franchise and that Disney will not be co-producing or financing the third project, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was already in pre-production.
This severely damages pretty much everything for the Narnia franchise as most have seen it’s not-so-impressive theatrical runs and will be scared to take it on. Some speculate that Fox may be the most likely to take a swing as they work with Walden often, but no confirmations yet.
I never saw the second movie, but enjoyed the first a lot more than expected. It wasn’t anything that blew my mind, but there was something pretty magical about it, including a score I liked a lot, so it won me over. Unfortunately, not many people know the other stories, myself included, and this makes it even harder to sell the movies.
[Source: THR]
Was this a financial decision or a creative decision?
If it was financial, yeah, that sucks. If it was creative, though, that could mean they’re looking to go a little darker with the next movie, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
I liked the first one and as for the second it lost its way a bit but still watchable.
Would be better if they made it even just a bit darker though, still great stories.
I greatly preferred the second film to the first one….