New Narnia movie
Huh—looks like they're going to try again to make a live-action Narnia movie. At least, they were as of July; no news since then, which makes me suspicious. (They call it "the first live-action feature adaptation" of the book; yeah, okay, but the BBC did a live-action adaptation as, what, a miniseries? Or maybe a TV movie; hard to tell.)
I'd like to be optimistic about it, but I'm not being very successful.
First of all, the production company (Walden Media) cites Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter in their press release, making me suspect that this is an attempt to cash in on the current popularity of those franchises. (Much as I've heard the publishing company is trying to do with the books.)
The director is Andrew Adamson, the director of Shrek. Granted, I liked Shrek, and it did well; but Adamson's background is as a visual effects supervisor, and Shrek was a completely animated movie.
And finally, the company itself doesn't inspire confidence. "Walden believes that quality entertainment is inherently educational. . . . Walden selects each production for its educational merit." Um, so in what way (other than being Christian allegory) is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe educational?