[Knight of Gondor]

Posted on TheOneRing.net earlier:<P>------<BR>Narnia nearer NZ nod?<BR>Tehanu @ 5:18 am EST<P><BR>This was in this month’s Onfilm magazine in NZ, and I thought it would interest a number of TORN readers both for the crossover interest in Narnia and for the news of Richard Taylor, Grant Major and John Howe working on these films.<P>Onfilm: Confirmation was still pending at presstime that Kiwi Andrew Adamson’s Chronicles of Narnia dramatisation would be shot in New Zealand.<P>Investment NZ’s Paul Voigt would only say a decision is nigh but one source close to the Walden Media production believes there’s no doubt about the principal location.<P>"If The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe isn’t filmed here, it won’t be filmed anywhere."<P>The NZ advantages are considerable, ranging from a 12.5% rebate on its NZ spend under the proposed Large Budget Film Grant scheme to the Oscar-winning creature/special effects expertise of WETA. <P>Among those officially attached to the NZ$200 million project are The Lord of the Rings troika of Grant Major (production/design director), Richard Taylor (special effects) and John Howe (conceptual artist).<P>The Shrek director’s dramatisation will be live-action and feature a real lion. Said Adamson in July: "I read the book when I was eight years old and it seemed very real to me. Aslan has to be, first and foremost, a real lion."<P>The script is being written by Ann Peacock, who won an Emmy and a Humanitas Prize for A Lesson Before Dying.<P>Her upcoming projects include Country of My Skull, with John Boorman attached to direct and Sam Jackson, Juliette Binoche and Jon Voight to star; On the Ropes for director Brad Silberling; Marines of Autumn for Irwn Winkler; and Star Time, with Joel Schumacher directing Will Smith.<P>Walden Media, which has optioned all seven books in the Narnia series, is a subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, one of the largest privately-owned and operated ventures in the US.<P>Its affiliated companies are principall engaged in telecommunications and media, natural resources, transportation, real estate, sports and entertainment.<P>Walden originally planned to release The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe mid-2004 but the opening has since been pushed back to two years from now.<BR>-------<P>Just thought I'd share. This will be the series that will console us after the mania of LotR is gone. (HOW will we cope??)