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Well, we recently talked about the first Chronicle of Narnia … the book! Yet many fans found or rediscovered this series thanks to the Disney-distributed, Walden Media–made film from director Andrew Adamson. Want to feel old? That was two decades ago! So now we shall look back at Narnia’s journey to the box office with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which released twenty years ago on Dec. 9, 2005.

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• Coming in January: our book quest through Stephen Lawhead’s fantasy novel Taliesin

Backstory: Mark Joseph

Mark Joseph is a music and film producer, author, columnist and founder of MJM Entertainment Group, a multi-faceted entertainment company with interests in film, publishing, music, TV production and film consulting.

Joseph got his start in television as an anchor for NHK and CNN’s The Entertainment Report in the 1990’s and his company MJM produced documentaries and supervised the international release of over a hundred albums by various pop and rock artists.

In addition to producing his own films, he oversees a marketing team that has marketed 75 films since 2001. From 2000-2005 he worked in development and marketing for Walden Media and Crusader Entertainment and oversaw a grassroots marketing team.

He has served as a producer on 15 films, including Max Rose starring Jerry Lewis, The Vessel starring Martin Sheen, America, Japan: Searching For The Dream, Frank vs. God and others.

Joseph is the author of four books including The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia’s Journey To The Big Screen and has been a regular contributor to publications like Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, USA Today, The Huffington Post and FoxNews.com.

He is currently a senior columnist for Newsweek and hosts the podcast The Mark Joseph Show.

Most recently, he produced the film Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid and published the book Making REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie. He also produced the film’s two soundtracks including songs from Bob Dylan, Clint Black, Gene Simmons of KISS, Tanya Tucker and others.

Mark and his wife Kara have six children and reside in Southern California.

• YAF.org: Mark Joseph
• Facebook: MJM Entertainment Group
• Instagram: @markjoseph00
• The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia’s Journey To The Big Screen
• Making REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie

1. Narnia’s journey from book to screen …

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe got one TV animation (1979)
• Then the story (plus two more) came to live-action BBC TV (1988)
• Yet it was the Walden Media–made film that went bigger (2005)
• That film released just twenty years ago in the U.S., Dec. 9, 2005
• Mark Joseph’s role from those early days as Narnia pre-producer

2. … Through the winter of production …

• Stephen first learned this was official in a NY Times ad Dec. 2003.
• Early rumors included Disney aid (true), Kidman’s Witch (untrue).
• Director: Andrew Adamson. Early casting. Scriptwriters and team.
• In the afterglow of LOTR, Narnia also filmed much in New Zealand.
• WETA Workshop did armor work. Other studios did visual effects.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film released Dec. 9, 2005.

3. … And into the spring of fan acclaim

• Teasers and trailers pleased fans, with only a few early hiccups.
• Against a $180 million budget, earned $745 million worldwide.
• Led to two sequels that earned less. Ended. Restart didn’t work.
• Now we have Greta Gerwig starting with The Magician’s Nephew.
• Any informal shared advice, constructive criticism, final memories.

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Top question for listeners

• How did you first see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)?

Terri Hamilton recalls her Narnia origin tale (ep. 289):

I found the Narnia series in my school library when I was in 4th grade, and yes, they were in the proper order. It was a watershed moment for me. I bought myself a boxed set a few years later. Boy, did I look for portals! When I get into a discussion about the book order, I point out The Magician’s Nephew is a prequel, explaining the back story of the first book.

Next on Fantastical Truth

“We do not celebrate Christmas that way.” “We do not read those kinds of books.” “We ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.’” We know our world is full of rebellion against God’s law. But many people overreact to moral license with a strict imposing of out-of-context or made-up laws. Faithful saints call this legalism, and Christian fantasy fans know plenty about this. When that social-media pastor rebukes your favorite sci-fi, or that relative raises a judgy eyebrow at holiday dinners, how you can respond with grace, truth, and love for legalists?

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