Interview with "PC" producer Mark Johnson

Here is an interview Mark Johnson had with Infuze Magazine (if you want to read it in full, just register for free). The exerpt regarding "The Chronicles of Narnia" follows below:

Very few people have had the success in Hollywood that producer Mark Johnson has enjoyed. Whether working on Oscar-winning pictures such as Bugsy or Rain Man or blockbusters such as the Narnia series, The Notebook or What Lies Beneath, Johnson seems to have the Midas Touch.

Johnson's latest projects include the recently released How To Eat Fried Worms and the upcoming Prince Caspian. Recently, he sat down to talk to Infuze's Matt Conner to discuss these films, the power of storytelling, and the role of producer.

What can you tell us about the upcoming Prince Caspian movie?
Well, we're not even shooting yet. We start shooting shortly after the first of the year. February actually. We have moved the movie and it is now being released in the summer of 2008.

Working with Andrew Adamson again?
Yes.

How is this process differing from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?
You know, it's an interesting challenge. Many of the elements from the first film will be involved in Price Caspian, but it's also an original story on its own. Some of the characters from the last one will be back in the new movie and some of them will not repeat.

The children are coming back for this film...

Yes, all four of the Pevensie children are coming back.

Is that a challenge since they are obviously growing up?
Yes, but we are very lucky because C.S. Lewis created a distance between The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. The children are meant to be a year older. So what ends up happening is that we, as the film, are allowed to cheat a bit because the children aren't supposed to look the same.

What about these books? Have you read them?
Yes, definitely!

Did you read them as a kid?
Yes, but I don't think I read all of them. Honestly I can't remember why I didn't' read them all. But I definitely read The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I also know that I read The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. That's the one we are doing third. Actually, I should say that if we do a third one, that will be the one we choose to do.

What do you think it is about the Narnia series that made the film so successful?
I think Lewis did a masterful job of creating the world of Narnia. It's a world of all of us would like to visit. It's a world in which our heroes were really disempowered or unempowered children. All of a sudden, their father is away at WWII and they are lost and they find themselves in a magical world in which they are required to save it. It's just a fantastic place and yet the heroes are just like us.

What would you say is your career highlight?
Hmm... I can't think of one. Isn't that funny? I mean, I'm not sure. There are so many movies that I am so proud of. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe would be one, And A Little Princess... That's as close to a perfect movie as I'll ever come. It's not a perfect movie, but for me it is. Rain Man. Galaxy Quest on some days still makes me laugh. It all depends on what you're doing, I guess. It comes and goes. (Laughs.)

Ok, do you have a personal favorite film you've worked on?
Yes, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was a great experience. We were in New Zealand and it was just great there. We had a cast and crew made up of New Zealanders, Australians, British and Americans and it was just a magical event. We were all setting out in doing something that was important to us all. I think we all felt an obligation to get it right.

Because of C.S. Lewis?
Yes, because the book meant something to all of us.