The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

[mclay18]

I'm surprised there will not be a 3D option.

Well, Disney didn't produce this film (if they did I'm sure they would've). Fox is releasing this film, and so far they haven't released any Blu-ray 3D titles.

Plus, the film was post-converted into 3D. Even though it's one of the better post-converted ones, it's not native 3D.

 

[mclay18]

I'm surprised there will not be a 3D option.

Well, Disney didn't produce this film (if they did I'm sure they would've). Fox is releasing this film, and so far they haven't released any Blu-ray 3D titles.

Plus, the film was post-converted into 3D. Even though it's one of the better post-converted ones, it's not native 3D.

 

[Timstuff]

I considered posting this in the Silver Chair thread, but felt it was more relevant to VOTDT and I didn't want to bog the SC thread with any more talk about this film's grosses than it already has been:

Just so everyone knows, Voyage of the Dawn Treader was not the financial disaster that some purport it to be. It has thus far grossed more than double its production budget (150m), and is tracking at about 400 million for its world wide gross. It has not opened in Japan yet (where it's expected to make about 30 million total), and is still making money in quite a few other territories. I imagine that Fox was disappointed that it did not match or exceed its production budget in the US, but it is close to making $100 million and could pass that mark in the next two weeks, if the film remains steady. If the film was already at $150 million we'd already be hearing sequel talk, but I think some people are a bit hasty to write it off.

It certainly would have been re-assuring if the movie was making more money than Prince Caspian, but the fact that it is on its way to grossing a very similar amount with a significantly smaller budget is at least a good sign. This one's still got some kick left in it and if the cost of the production versus profit on these movies has settled in a comfortable place, I think we will see more. After Prince Caspian, Fox and Walden budgeted the movie more conservatively and still made a movie that held up to the series standards, without having a major drop off

The only thing I really fear is the long term prospects if they slash the budget even more in the future. It could work fine with The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew since they are smaller scale than the other films (it's more of a fairy tale than an epic), but for The Last Battle it could be hard to do on a budget of $100 million without it looking like crap, since it is the climax of the whole series and could end up being the cheapest if the money is not there. I doubt that we'll see another Narnia film that grosses as successfully as the first one, but if after Dawn Treader they can be counted on to make about $400 million each and the budgets are kept appropriate, then I think we'll continue to see them made.

 

[Octoberist]

I really think you're in 'geek denial' if you think Fox is going to release another one.

 

[mclay18]

I really think you're in 'geek denial' if you think Fox is going to release another one.

No, I think Timstuff is on the money with this. Internationally, the film has broke even (minus P&A costs). Judging by how the movie fares when it comes to DVD, Blu, on demand and pay-per-view -- Fox could greenlight another one. They'll just lower the budget further to minimize further risks.

It's not a total writeoff like The Golden Compass was, where New Line Cinema sold off the international rights. Had they retained the rights, New Line would've remained its own independent company, and we would've seen a second film out by November/December 2009. The international grosses were more than strong enough for a sequel (a very healthy $302M) but since the rights were owned by several other distributors -- New Line screwed themselves over.

 

[CaptainCraig]

The 3-Day estimates for this past weekend (1/14-1/16/11) have Dawn Treader at $98m, the 4-Day total is likely to only add $300K more give or take. Seems like next weekend will be when fans of Dawn Treader can claim a small victory. When the film opened a $100m domestic total was seemingly out of the question.

 

[mclay18]

The 3-Day estimates for this past weekend (1/14-1/16/11) have Dawn Treader at $98m, the 4-Day total is likely to only add $300K more give or take. Seems like next weekend will be when fans of Dawn Treader can claim a small victory. When the film opened a $100m domestic total was seemingly out of the question.

It's had good legs throughout the holiday season. Heck, even The Tourist benefited from the holiday release even though it won't break even (its current $64M haul is pretty surprising given its opening weekend was $16.4M).

 

[Timstuff]

My room mate finally saw Prince Caspian this week and bought the Blu-Ray of it. Like me, he liked it even more than the first movie, and today we're going with a group to see VODT. It'll be my second time seeing it.

So far, I'd say that PC is my favorite movie in the series, and I like LWW and VDT about equally. I love all three movies though, and hope we get more.

 

[flash13]

The Silver Chair would make such a great movie! I think it could be the movie that brings Narnia back to its LWW glory days.

 

[Timstuff]

In terms of quality, I don't think that there's anything to return to since IMO the films have only improved since the first one. Prince Caspian is still my favorite so far, but VDT comes in second. That is not to diminish how much I love LWW, though. Silver Chair may end up being more popular than the two latest installments were since it takes the series in a different direction with new main characters and a slightly different tone, but there's really no way of knowing until it comes out. Personally, I doubt we'll ever see another film in the series that is as huge of a hit as LWW, but I'd love to be surprised.

 

[cronosred]

I wish Fox would commit to making The Silver Chair and then include a teaser with VOTDT when it's released on dvd to let people know it's coming. I still think VOTDT did pretty good considering they didn't really start promoting the movie until the week before it's release.

 

[Timstuff]

It's actually doing quite well. It's on track to making pretty much the same gross as Prince Caspian despite a much smaller production and marketing budget.

 

[Timstuff]

Disney is apparently almost ready to greenlight a sequel to Tron Legacy. That movie had a much bigger budget that VDT and a much bigger marketing budget, and yet it had a smaller gross than VDT. If it's possible for that movie to be considered a success by Disney, why wouldn't Fox consider VDT successful enough to get a sequel?

 

[CaptainCraig]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader officially broke the $100m barrier this weekend!!!
Let's hope Fox is buyoed by it's overseas total and wants to put The Silver Chair into production. I'm rooting for $400m worldwide at this point.

 

[Marx]

Great news!

 

[mclay18]

Funny how VDT is also Fox's first $100M grossing pic in about 13 months. All the other big budget films like Percy Jackson and The A-Team, which were expected to do big business, failed to crack $100M domestically.

 

[Timstuff]

Funny how VDT is also Fox's first $100M grossing pic in about 13 months. All the other big budget films like Percy Jackson and The A-Team, which were expected to do big business, failed to crack $100M domestically.

The last year has been tough for Fox, and I think it's a combination of a sour economy and bad marketing. It's really nice to hear that Narnia is the first movie in 13 months to break 100 million though, because that should at least get it some additional respect around the studio. And it hasn't been released in Japan yet, and seeing as Prince Caspian made 30 million there it should do pretty good for the movie's numbers in the long run. Being very optimistic it could pass 400 million WW, but more conservatively it should do at least 380 million. It all depends on how well it does in Japan and how much legs it has left everywhere else, however certainly I think it's possible that they can squeeze another 34 million out of this film before it leaves theaters.

 

[piccolo]

Fav book in the series. But didn't think the movie was that great. Frankly, not enough seafaring adventuring and mystical creatures. I thought they really fluffed up the movie, and it could have been more dense with more action. Or it could have been longer. But things were missing.

Things I liked were Eustace, and the cinematography. I didnt see it in 3d but I assume it was even better there.

 

[mclay18]

Fox has released early artwork for the DVD and Blu-ray releases on DVD Active. Both look pretty cluttered IMO.

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader.html

 

[flash13]

The White Witch is on the cover and not Caspian?

 

[CaptainCraig]

The last year has been tough for Fox, and I think it's a combination of a sour economy and bad marketing. It's really nice to hear that Narnia is the first movie in 13 months to break 100 million though, because that should at least get it some additional respect around the studio. And it hasn't been released in Japan yet, and seeing as Prince Caspian made 30 million there it should do pretty good for the movie's numbers in the long run. Being very optimistic it could pass 400 million WW, but more conservatively it should do at least 380 million. It all depends on how well it does in Japan and how much legs it has left everywhere else, however certainly I think it's possible that they can squeeze another 34 million out of this film before it leaves theaters.

I have to agree with the sentiment of this statement. Surely, if nothing else FOX needs something to hang it's proverbial hat on after 13 months without a $100m film. If it does push marginally past $400m worldwide you'd think the studio would as least seriously weigh the prospects of making a sequel to their ONLY $100m domestic film from 2010 AND a franchise they took over. Making a sequel would at least make a surface statement that they are proud of their investment.

 

[mclay18]

Fox has finalized the DVD/Blu release of VDT: It'll come out Friday, April 8th. There will only be a 2-disc DVD and 3-disc Blu-ray combo pack. According to DVD Active:

Extras on the DVD will include a commentary by Director Michael Apted and Producer Mark Johnson, deleted scenes, , an Untold Adventures of The Dawn Treader Animated Short, King Caspian’s Guide to the Dawn Treader: Legends and Lore of the Great Ship, 5 Islands Explorations, Narnian Discoveries: Friends and Foes of Narnia (7 featurettes), 4 Fox Movie Channel Presents Behind The Scenes Featurettes, and a Sword Game. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo release will also include 3 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes including Battle on the Sea, and a digital copy of the film.

The Blu-ray will have 1080p video, English 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio, French and Spanish DD5.1 sound and subtitles in all three languages. The DVD will be in anamorphic widescreen with English DD5.1 surround, French and Spanish 2.0 surround, with the same set of subtitles.

 

[XxDelta09xX]

^Can't wait!

 

[Doc Ock]

^Can't wait!

Indeed! Especially seeing how I didn't get to see it theaters.

 

[mclay18]

According to Narniaweb, Fox and Walden are talking about adapting The Magician's Nephew as the next Narnia film.

http://www.narniaweb.com/2011/02/co...ng-with-fox-about-making-the-magicians-nephew

Why they're doing a prequel before The Silver Chair or Final Battle is beyond me...