Comic-Con Report: Prince Caspian

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on July 30, 2007

When you think of classic Comic-Con, you don’t necessarily think that the Walt Disney Company would be pushing anything more than Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck titles. Even in the past couple years, when Hollywood finally caught on to the fact that comic book fans can help propel major blockbusters to success, Disney has taken a back seat to the big budget adaptations of Marvel properties.

Not this year. Not by a long shot.

Disney was on hand at Comic-Con 2007 to start the early hype on two of its movies, and both look like they’re going to be the best 2008 has to offer.

The first on the slate was “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 2005 hit “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” In addition to having possibly the longest title to be released in 2008, “Prince Caspian” also boasts one of the largest casts on record, taking the characters to new places in the film.

Producer Mark Johnson told the press that they are going for a more adult film rather than a kids movie. “It is darker, thematically,” he said. “But we thought the first one was hopefully a well-made Hollywood movie, and we wanted to play with this one a little bit.”

A lot of this darker thing comes from a stronger intensity of violence because it’s not just fantasy creatures in the battle, but humans as well. However, Johnson assured us that it will still be appropriate for younger viewers. When asked if the film will be PG, he said, “Yes, absolutely,” then with a slight chuckle: “It’d better be.”

Special effects wizards Dean Wright (visual effects supervisor) and Howard Berger (creature supervisor) took the new challenges with excitement. Berger said that when he gets his budget, “I rub my hands together, and I go, ‘So how much time do I have to do it in?’ And then they tell me, and I then get a little nervous.”

Wright and Berger aren’t just making stand-alone effects, but making an attempt to merge digital and practical elements on-screen. Traditionally, filmmakers shied away from taking a character from digital to practical for fear it will break down to the audience’s eye. However, the technology has gotten far enough that they can make this happen. Dean Wright explained, “Our goal is to not have you know when we’re doing one or the other. It may be practical in one shot and the very next shot, maybe it’s a complete digital version of the same character. You won’t know.”

Johnson also shared with us the fact that director Andrew Adamson will not be returning to direct the next film. “I think it’s healthy for the franchise,” he explained. “I think that Alfonso Curon and Mike Newell and now this new Harry Potter all benefited from having fresh blood, and if not fresh, different blood.”

“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” opens in May 2008.

Read more articles by Kevin Carr