Okay, another post on Narnia. If you're reading my tweets you may be getting sick of Narnia. However, I promise I won't go overboard with Narnia posts (pun intended). You may have guessed, by now, that I'm a big Narnia fan...
Anyway, I've been reading the box office, fan sites, news columns with reviews of the new Narnia, and so forth. There're a few issues I'd like to post on, mostly for those who will find this post via the search engine.
These are the issues:
- Faith audience vs. Mainstream
- Christian undertones in books/movies
- Failure of Prince Caspian compared to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- Voyage of the Dawn Treader and the Box Office
So, first off, I've been reading many comments by very ignorant people (not on this blog) about the "failure" of the Narnia franchise. They said it was due to a small faith audience, and that only mainstream movies do well.
Two problems with their comments. First of all, the new Narnia hasn't finished its run, and with its three movies the Narnia franchise has made $1.5 billion dollars. Does that sound like a failed franchise? Moreover, the faith audience is huge. Bigger than the "mainstream audience." The only problem is that the liberals control Hollywood (for the most part) and the arts and so the mainstream audience appears bigger. It is all an illusion, mind you. Christianity is the biggest religion. And if you don't believe that, I'm sure you will believe that it is the biggest at least in America.
Christian undertones. So now that we know that the faith audience is huge, we can attribute that fact to the success of the films. While smaller Christian movies are often low-budgeted, cheesy, and poorly-marketed with shoe-string marking budgets, the Narnia's had the money and resources--that's why they became such an instant hit. It was Christian, well made, and well marketed (we'll get into the latter later).
In LWW (Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe) Aslan, the representation of Jesus, dies for Edmund, who betrayed his family and the talking animals and deserved to die (he sinned, as represented by the Turkish Delight and his craving for it). If Edmund wasn't put to death, then all of Narnia would be destroyed (that's the rules). So when Aslan dies in Edmund's place, he in effect saves the world.
In PC (Prince Caspian) the Telmarines have taken over Narnia (humans) and a dictator takes Caspian X's rightful throne. They must restore Narnia to truth and justice. The only problem is that they keep fighting and losing because they're not trusting in Aslan. In the end, of course, they trust in Aslan and all is made well. Afterward, we see Aslan talking to Peter and Susan but we don't hear what he's telling them. When the Pevensie's leave, Peter and Susan aren't as sad as you would expect (which always saddened me), but we find out in the next movie when we hear what Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund.
In VDT (Voyage of the Dawn Treader), Caspian, the two remaining Pevensies and their terrible cousin Eustace are in the search of seven lost lords. There is a long backstory, but the movie and book is about temptation, redemption, saving souls, knowing God and more... Basically it's about the spiritual walk as a Christian. In the end, before Aslan's country, and the most beautiful scene I've ever seen in any movie, Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund what he had told Peter and Susan (although we didn't get to hear that time). He tells them that He has another name. In their world. And it was quite moving. I won't say anymore than that, but there is a lot more to that scene and the whole movie that is moving as well.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my favorite Narnia film. And my favorite movie of all time.
Alright. Now what about the failure of PC compared to LWW. Well, it's all really simple. Many people have said it's because the Narnia's are too Christian and therefore repelling. Many more say because it is dark and has lots of fighting (both of which were Lewis's intentions). And many also say because it has no continuity with the first one like Harry Potter's do. Some even say it's because it's lacking momentum do to the number of years in the interim of releases.
None of these are true. I mean, look at the Spiderman's--same characters, different stories and villians (they also took long between releases).
There're plenty of large dark movies (The Dark Night), and movies with battle scenes that have been big.
So all these theories are wrong.
The real reason PC took a drop from LWW (though PC was still a huge blockbuster, one of the biggest of all time), is because they marketed to the wrong audience. Michael Flaherty, President of Walden Media, admits that they got "cocky." They didn't market much or in the right places. They used normal Hollywood standards and didn't work hard (like they did for the first movie) and pander to the Christian market. That is where they went wrong.
The result was less families and more teenage boys. Teenage boys aren't best for word-of-mouth. For one thing, they forget and don't care; and for another, most people don't take them seriously. I mean, would you see a movie if a normal teenage boy recommended it because of cool fighting scenes? I probably wouldn't. And I'm a teenage boy!
Anyway, this is why PC didn't fare as well as LWW.
So, finally, talking about marketing, Voyage of the Dawn Treader was marketed much better than Prince Caspian. Fox went for the Christian and overseas audience, which is why it's doing so much better overseas. It looks like VDT will do about as well as PC, for it is a matter of winning back the faith audience after being overlooked in the last one.
And I think VDT has done a great job at that. Though it didn't have the best opening weekend, it's fourth week did much better than PC. It held up better percentage-wise as word-of-mouth was more effective with this one. It also carried the Christian message well. It's going to do better overseas than Prince Caspian, but it seems the American people hold grudges better than the former, for it's not doing quite as well domestically, though it has held up very well, considering all the competition.
I think it was 19 days ago when I posted my review of Voyage of the Dawn Treader and I wrote that it had reached $165 million worldwide.
It has now reached $337 million worldwide, which is a very large number. The box office will make it look bad for VDT, as its main audience isn't domestic, but worldwide, it currently holds the top spot--and has been holding the second spot since it came out until it finally passed up Tangled, which had come out two weeks prior.
So as you can see, it is faring well. It isn't a failure. The Narnia franchise is I think the 16th biggest franchise, out of more than 100, and it is a colossal success and will be loved forever-after. The Christian audience is large and effective to market too (especially for these films), and VDT is #1 in the box office, looking at it internationally.
I think, if Fox continues marketing to the faith audience, the Silver Chair will make more money. And even if it doesn't, The Last Battle will be a huge must-see! I would think it would come close to LWW, or even pass it!
Disclaimer: I've never seen Harry Potter or the Dark Knight and will never see them. I personally believe Harry Potter is steeped in witchcraft, and the Dark Knight just looked dumb. Also I don't watch movies that have blasphemy in them. The Spiderman's are the only exception as I watched them before I made that rule for myself. Now I simply watch them on DVD and mute the blasphemy. But I still rarely do watch them.
This is why I've only seen a few movies in the theater this year. For some reason, I can't remember the first six months, but I've only seen Prince of Persia, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Tron, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I guess I have seen a few).
I saw Prince of Persia twice, and VDT three times (though I'm planning on seeing it more).
