Two Beloved Nerd Franchises Are Not Dead Yet

  • Share
  • Read Later

1. Red Dwarf. It’s coming back, in the form of a two-part special with the original cast that will take them back to Earth. I never got into Red Dwarf — I was in college when it was on and never really watched it. But everybody says it’s good. So it must be good. Now all that’s left is to bring back Quark. Or sorry, I meant Quark. Yeah, I’m that old.

2. The Narnia movies. Disney dropped its plans to make Voyage of the Dawn Treader about a month ago. Which felt like an odd decision to me. The first two movies had an uneasy relationship with fans — I grudgingly tolerated Wardrobe and actually kind of liked Caspian, even though it was less strictly faithful to the original in that Caspian was suddenly French. But both movies were profitable. And Dawn Treader is a fan fave! With major Reepicheep action!

Anyway it’s back on. Fox picked up the property and is aiming for a 2010 release, according to Variety. Let’s break it down:

Cons: It’s being made by Fox 2000, which is responsible for that sin against fandom, Eragon.

Pro: They’ve retained the original cast — Dawn Treader has Edmund and Lucy in it, and they’ll be played by the smouldering Skandar Keynes and the winsome Georgie Henley, as before. They’re also apparently keeping the director — not Andrew “Shrek” Adamson, like the first two, but Michael Apted, who should bring some much-needed fresh blood to the franchise.

Maybe by 2020 they’ll be making The Last Battle. Look out for some hard-R footage proving that Susan is really no longer a friend to Narnia. If you know what I mean.