Another grand example of how a corporation can get so incredibly out of touch with its consumers
One of the more interesting interviews I’ve had recently was with a Disney executive on its upcoming film, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
“We absolutely have not made a religious film,” Senior Vice President Dennis Rice said about Walt Disney Studios’ hoped-for blockbuster, to be released Dec. 9. “We don’t think we’ve made a movie from a book that was a religious book,” he continued. “C.S. Lewis [its author] would say he didn’t intend to write a religious book, and if there’s been meaning taken from the story by religious groups, that’s their interpretation.”
Well, hmmmm. If the book isn’t about religion, what is it about? “It’s just a great piece of cinema that is true to a great piece of literature,” Mr. Rice insisted.
That is sort of like Ford saying they have developed a new car that seats 1, has a 427 cu in engine with 4bbl carb (the heck with electronic fuel injection!) and this car is very suitable for a family of 4. Uhhh...right.
Good luck with the movie...it's so incredibly obvious the only reason you chose to do this film in the first place is because of the success of Harry Potter...and you want to get in on the action. It's called 'being a follower'. Develop something new and exciting, perhaps audiences will want to view it.
But then, maybe not:
* Box Office: down by 7% this year (tickets per capita have fallen every year since 2001).
* Newspapers: circulation, which peaked in 1987, is declining faster than ever and is down another 2.6% so far this year.
* Music: Sales are down another 5.7% this year; although digital downloads (still just 6% of the business) are climbing nicely.
* Radio: down 4% this year alone, continuing a multi-decade decline.
* Books: down by 7% in 2004 (but see comments below for discussion)
I remember having the book read to me at infant school as a six or seven year old so that makes it bloody old, I have also seen a fairly recent TV adaptation, at no time have I ever thought of the work as religious at all.
The book is a part of a series called the Chronicles of Narnia so could go the way of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings and spurn a load of movies.
Posted by: Stevo in Taichung | November 13, 2005 at 08:05 PM
Ahhh...that is the beauty of the book. It is the way it is written that gets its message across as a fantasy...when, in fact, the book is a replication of the Bible.
So take that you agnostic scumbag.
Posted by: GZ Expat | November 14, 2005 at 04:10 AM
Actually I'm an atheist, thank God.
What has a wardrobe to do with the bible? it's a closet right?
Posted by: Stevo in Taichung | November 14, 2005 at 06:56 PM