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Prince Caspian Director Andrew Adamson Talks Convergence (XB360)

We sit down with the man behind Shrek and Chronicles of Narnia to talk about movie and games convergence and working with the game makers on Prince Caspian.

by John Gaudiosi on Friday, May 16, 2008

Before embarking into live action Walt Disney Pictures' epics based on C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia novels, writer/director/producer Andrew Adamson ushered in the era of the computer-generated blockbuster with Shrek and Shrek 2—two films that poked plenty of fun at Disney Pictures. Adamson's latest summer blockbuster, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, debuts in movie theaters worldwide May 16. Disney Interactive Studios also brings Prince Caspian to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo DS, marking the next generation debut for the Chronicles of Narnia franchise.

Prince Caspian Screenshots

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game takes players to the locations from the blockbuster film. A year after the events of the first film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," but 1,300 years in Narnian time, Prince Caspian finds the Pevensie children returning to a more savage land where the Narnian creatures have been driven into hiding and Narnia is under the rule of the evil tyrant Miraz.

Disney Interactive Studios

Developer Traveler's Tales worked closely with the New Zealand director, as well as the team at Peter Jackson's WETA Digital to share digital assets between the new game and film. The additional next generation console technology allowed for more fluid sharing between mediums. But given the spectacle and size of this film, which moved from Australia to Europe and spanned months of principle photography, Adamson found synergy challenging.

"I think the way that TV is interfacing with movies and movies are interfacing with games and online games are interfacing with PCs... all those things are coming together in a way that you get to sort of experience a world beyond necessarily just the film experience."

"I think the difficult thing that was reflected in this case is that I literally didn't have a lot of time to work with the games people because our release dates were basically the same," said Adamson. "They were drawing inspiration and information as quickly as I was shooting it. They would come to set and scan them or we would provide scans for them. You know we'd be there shooting and the very next day they'd be there collecting data for the game, so it was a very symbiotic relationship, but it was one that didn't allow me to have as much interface as I was able to on the last one."

With the first game, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Adamson established a working relationship with the game makers. In addition, that first film's Christmas release gave the director more time to work on both projects.

Quick Links for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Moviefone: 12 Questions With Ben Barnes

Moviefone: Prince Caspian movie page

GameDaily: Interviewing Prince Caspian

"The post production schedule was a little bit longer last time, but then again it was the same group of people so I didn't need to have the same level of interaction as I did on the last one," said Adamson. "We had already had a certain level of language. There were certain trusts that were already established where I felt like they had done a good job of representing the film in an accurate way last time, so I felt like I could actually let more of it go this time."

When it comes to the convergence of Hollywood and games, Adamson believes it's a good thing for consumers.

"I think it's inevitable," said Adamson. "I mean, entertainment is many different forms and I think the way that TV is interfacing with movies and movies are interfacing with games and online games are interfacing with PCs...all those things are coming together in a way that you get to sort of experience a world beyond necessarily just the film experience. And I think that's very exciting. I think it's fun to be able to interact with these characters that you're seeing in the movie."

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