One of the creative talents behind the King Kong Christmas blockbuster, and the Lord of the Rings movies will outline his work at a special presentation at the Porirua Festival of the Elements on Waitangi Day. Titahi Bay’s own Daniel Reeve has become internationally known for his calligraphy and cartography work in films including all three of the LOTR movies, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong and Van Helsing. [More]

A few hours ago the Nominationen for the GOLDEN GLOBES appeared. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was 2 times nominated. Follow this link for all the nominees. [More]

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

Alexandre Desplat - Syriana
James Newton Howard - King Kong
Gustavo Santaolalla - Brokeback Mountain
Harry Gregson-Williams - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
John Williams - Memoirs of a Geisha

ORIGINAL SONG

"Christmas In Love" (Christmas In Love)
Music by Bruno Zambrini Lyric by Tony Renis
"A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (Brokeback Mountain)
Music by Gustavo Santaolalla Lyric by Bernie Taupin
"There's Nothing Like A Show On Broadway" (The Producers)
Music and Lyric by Mel Brooks
"Travelin' Thru" (Transamerica)
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton
"Wünderkind" (The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe)
Music and Lyric by Alanis Morissette

Not one but THREE Narnia Soundtracks have been released today on Disney's Music Label, the original score, by Harry Gregson-Williams, an enhanced version of the score with a bonus DVD and an 'inspired by' music CD with musical acts by Jars Of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Rebecca St. James and others. [More]

Ataahua writes: With the release of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and the coming release of King Kong, the December issue of the New Zealand Listener focuses on the New Zealand film industry and its increasing profile in Hollywood. “Where New Zealand stands out,” says Judith McCann, CEO of Film NZ, which promotes this country as a film-making location, “is Peter Jackson. Peter’s achievements with Lord of the Rings absolutely put New Zealand on the global map. Everyone started noticing us.” [More]

From NarniaWeb: According to a source at Disney who requested anonymity 'Prince Caspian', the second story in the Chronicles of Narnia, has been greenlit for a December 2007 theatrical release. Disney was hoping for a $60 million opening weekend for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and since the film's opening exceeded their expectation they are moving forward. [More]

"The Chronicles of Narnia" roared into movie theaters this weekend - but it soon could be toppled by King Kong, who makes his expected climb to the top this week. "Narnia," a long-awaited adventure fantasy, racked up an estimated $67.1 million - $20 million more than the rest of the top 10 combined. Based on C.S. Lewis' popular Christian fables of good and evil, "Narnia" sends four siblings into an alternative world where they talk with unicorns and fauns and battle an evil witch with the help of the lion, Aslan. [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tallied $67.1 million over from Friday to Sunday to score the second-biggest December weekend opening ever. The PG-rated Disney adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic fable of four British kids, their magic closet and the coolest talking lion this side of Simba unspooled in 3,616 theaters, averaging a whopping $18,546 per site. The epic tale took the lion's share--57 percent--of ticket sales, according to estimates from Exhibitor Relations. [More]

Like its cousin, J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings," C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" was left to ferment for decades while movie technology caught up with the fantastic imaginations of the two British authors. That's a good thing. Twenty years ago, or even 10, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" probably would have been filled with silly Muppet-like creatures rather than the dazzling computer-generated animals in Disney's epic adaptation. As it is, despite their photo-realism, the digitally created talking animals sometimes do look silly. By the time all the leopards, rhinoceroses and rodents under the sun join the climactic battle sequences, you may be tired enough of these varmints to wonder whether Noah really needed to put two of EVERY species on his Ark. [More]

Like "The Lord of the Rings," C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was the product of a Great Britain that had just been through a war of survival. The story neither was about World War II, nor was it an allegory for it, and yet it was informed by the moral absolutes and challenges of the wartime period: There's the presence of darkest evil, which can't be avoided but must be faced head-on. [More]

While the glittering premieres are being held overseas, the New Zealand "back office" of two potentially massive blockbusters is again celebrating Kiwi-made films hitting the world stage. Less than two years after the Lord of the Rings trilogy's world domination culminated in a flood of Oscars, King Kong and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are set to go head-to-head at the global box office. Both big budget extravaganzas are made by New Zealand directors and mostly shot in their native land. New York rolled out the red carpet for Peter Jackson's ambitious remake of the 1933 gorilla movie classic earlier this week and London saw the premiere of Andrew Adamson's adaptation of the CS Lewis children's classic. [More]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe," which opens Friday amid overwhelming early praise, is a slam-dunk to end Harry Potter's three-week reign at the North American box office. Although the Walt Disney Pictures release is unlikely to get near the $103 million bow generated last month by "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "Narnia" should open well north of $50 million. The PG-rated film inevitably will take a hit next week, when Universal Pictures' "King Kong" opens, but it should play well for the rest of the year. [More]

Only one more day until "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" arrives in theaters. Why not pass the time with Moviefone's latest exclusive three-minute clip? Watch as the Pevensie kids' attempt to cross a thawing river is thwarted by a pack of snarling wolves. It's always something. [More]

The magic ice land of Narnia has been recreated in Belfast for the Irish premiere of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The first Irish screening of the story by Belfast-born author CS Lewis is set to raise about £100,000 for Queen's University's new library. The main building of Queen's was transformed into Narnia for a gala dinner afterwards. Guests at the premiere included Irish President Mary McAleese. [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (* * * out of four) is an engaging and exciting family film that at times feels a bit like The Lord of the Rings Jr. Based on the classic children's series by C.S. Lewis, Narnia is an adventure in a fantasy world filled with talking animals, unicorns and centaurs who join in a climactic battle between good and evil. Its epic scope and elaborate battles will raise comparisons with Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, though the clashes are much less violent. Shrek director Andrew Adamson makes an impressive live-action film debut with this energetic adaptation of the 1950 novel. Although much has been made of the film's Christian subtext, Narnia is first and foremost an action-packed fairy tale. [More]

DISNEY'S first Narnia film opened in London yesterday, launching what promises to be one of the hottest box office battles in years as the studio takes on the hugely successful Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings franchises. Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were among the guests on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall for the world premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on C. S. Lewis' classic children's story. [More]

Hollywood takes a vampiric glee in draining every last drop of blood out of moneymaking trends. So it's easy to imagine the pitch for Andrew Adamson's long-awaited family adventure, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." It's "Harry Potter" meets "The Lord of the Rings," with a kid-friendly dash of "The Passion of the Christ"! [More]