New WETA project?
12-25-04, 08:22 PM
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New WETA project?
Don't know how recent news this is, but I was browsing the Apple.com/trailers page on Xmas Eve for the first time in about 2 weeks or so and I found a new series (I think) that WETA is working on called The Chronicles of Narnia with the first "chapter" called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's supposedly from a book series by C.S. Lewis. Looks to be a bit like a family-oriented verion of LOTR. It uses creatures like Minotaurs, Centaurs, Cyclops, Harpies, and other mythological creatures.
Theatrical release date is Dec. 9th, 2005. So here we are once again with December releases for a fantasy series of movies. Actually, production began this past June in New Zealand.
EDIT: Please forgive my literary ignorance. I had never heard of this apparent classic series until Xmas Eve.
Theatrical release date is Dec. 9th, 2005. So here we are once again with December releases for a fantasy series of movies. Actually, production began this past June in New Zealand.
EDIT: Please forgive my literary ignorance. I had never heard of this apparent classic series until Xmas Eve.
12-26-04, 12:05 AM
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Please forgive my literary ignorance. I had never heard of this apparent classic series until Xmas Eve.
wow. Really? I'm pretty shocked as they are good stories that one typically reads when they are younger. Then again, I knew a lot of people who never even heard of LOTR till the movies came out.
You can find out more about it in this thread:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350564
as for the Live Action Eva. I was just thinking about that other day. I haven't heard any news about that but just saw some of the rough sketchs.
12-26-04, 09:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Duder
Live action Eva is still in the early planning stages. Last I heard, they have a rough script and are looking for a director.
12-26-04, 01:43 PM
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Peter Jackson has nothing to do with Narnia, and I think Weta has grown large enough to work on several projects at once, so Weta is working on both Kong and Narnia right now. They're both due out next December.
12-26-04, 04:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Maxflier
Thanks for the update.I was hoping it was further along than that though,when they first announced it like 2? years ago,they said it was going to be fast-tracked.I guess they hit a brick wall.
Anyway, I've never read The Chronicles of Narnia (although I had heard of them when I was a kid), but the movie peaked my interest. I got the book for Christmas, and I'm going to try to read it sometime before next December.
12-26-04, 06:07 PM
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I can't wait for this. CS Lewis was one of Tolkien's best friends. What happened was that Tolkien was always religious and Lewis was an atheist. Then Tolkien converted Lewis to religion and Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. I never read it, but it's supposed to have a lot more Christian overtones than LOTR.
12-26-04, 10:09 PM
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Just to be clear, Weta Workshop is working on Narnia, not Weta Digital. Weta Workshop is doing the armor, props, and other such things. Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues are doing the CG and visual effects. Weta Digital is working on Kong.
As for Evangelion, it is as good as dead in the water. All that happened on that film was some pre-production art. It hasn't gone any further. No director or screenwriter has even been contacted about the project, and no studio has even thought about greenlighting the film.
As for Evangelion, it is as good as dead in the water. All that happened on that film was some pre-production art. It hasn't gone any further. No director or screenwriter has even been contacted about the project, and no studio has even thought about greenlighting the film.
12-27-04, 12:35 AM
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As for Evangelion, they already have a screenplay and a screenwriter--and unless you have an inside source that says otherwise, they HAVE contacted potential directors. If a year passes from now and they still don't have a director, then I'll agree that it's dead in the water. Otherwise, I think it's a little presumptuous to say that. After all, the only reason we've heard about it at all is because of where we're at in the information age. Ten years ago, we never would've heard about the movie at this stage of pre-production and planning.
Last edited by Duder; 12-27-04 at 12:40 AM.
12-27-04, 08:16 AM
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If they turn all the Narnia books into movies, there will be 7 movies:
1. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and his Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle
Although there's really no reason to do Horse and His Boy, its just a side-story not concerned with the main storyline.
1. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and his Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle
Although there's really no reason to do Horse and His Boy, its just a side-story not concerned with the main storyline.
12-27-04, 04:59 PM
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As for Evangelion, they already have a screenplay and a screenwriter--and unless you have an inside source that says otherwise, they HAVE contacted potential directors.
As I said, it's dead in the water until some studio decides to do it, and anime isn't exactly a sure fire hit with American movie audiences.
Last edited by Terrell; 12-27-04 at 05:02 PM.
12-30-04, 02:30 AM
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All of the following has been collated from different sources on eva.trivialbeing.net (going roughly from most recent to older news snippets; emphasis mine):
Regarding casting:
Doesn't seem "dead in the water" IMHO. As for it being anime, that's not quite true. It's a live action adaptation of a popular post-apocalyptic science fiction anime. If you think that's always a recipe for failure, you should tell James Cameron, who is adapting another popular post-apocalyptic science fiction anime for American movie audiences.
The live action evangelion movie is currently undergoing the process of choosing a director. Until this stage has been completed, no casting or final script will be made. According to Anime Tourist, Gainax have approved a short list of directors. These directors will be approached and when negotiation is complete, the rest of the movie will get underway (the exciting stuff). Await an ADV press release in the coming months.
At the ADV Films panel at Metrocon 2004, David Williams said the
sparseness of news was because all information released on the project
was agreed to be approved by all three parties involved: Gainax, WETA,
and ADV. He did say the movie is moving ahead fine. They are currently working on script treatments and are down to a shortlist of directors.
sparseness of news was because all information released on the project
was agreed to be approved by all three parties involved: Gainax, WETA,
and ADV. He did say the movie is moving ahead fine. They are currently working on script treatments and are down to a shortlist of directors.
"The current status of the live action Neon Genesis Evangelion movie is that a treatment has been created and now talks are underway with potential directors. Because decisions regarding the movie must be approved by a number of parties, news will unlikely be announced during conventions, and instead will come through official channels and press releases."
As for the "slug" names used in the preliminary script (NOT the final version!!!) which appear on the production drawings, they are only used so as not to refer to them as "Pilot A" and "Captain B" etc.
"Before any of that we need a Director. We are currently talking to 7 to 8 directors. These guys are all 'A lists'"
He went on to say that, of course, casting choices would be made by the Director.
He went on to say that, of course, casting choices would be made by the Director.
As for the interview with Executive producer Matthew Greenfield, here are the details we now know:
The script, which Greenfield took time out of his honeymoon to work with, is being shown around to various parties in order to bring more staff and crew into the project - even though the script is a very first draft and will most likely change drastically (depending on the director).
The script, which Greenfield took time out of his honeymoon to work with, is being shown around to various parties in order to bring more staff and crew into the project - even though the script is a very first draft and will most likely change drastically (depending on the director).
Last edited by Duder; 12-30-04 at 02:32 AM.
12-30-04, 02:41 AM
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Well, in truth anime adaptation means nothing in terms of marketibility. Cameron may be doing an anime inspired movie, but don't confuse that with anime being a big thing movie wise. Cameron could make a movie about flying poop, and still get a 150 million dollar budget. He's the sell there, along with it being big budget action. Remove Cameron from the equation, it probably wouldn't be made.
That's not to say that the film can't be successful. It very well could be. But being based on anime alone will not do much of anything for them. The fact it'll be a special effects action extravaganza will get them a greenlight and sell the movie, not it's relation to an anime. It's still going to be a risky film to make, at least financiallly speaking.
That's not to say that the film can't be successful. It very well could be. But being based on anime alone will not do much of anything for them. The fact it'll be a special effects action extravaganza will get them a greenlight and sell the movie, not it's relation to an anime. It's still going to be a risky film to make, at least financiallly speaking.
