The Chronicles of Narnia: LWW is having a phenomenal run at the box office: $248 million so far during 5 weeks of release (and that’s just the U.S. box office; the total is twice that worldwide). Some moviegoers have enjoyed making this the battle of the Lion v. the Ape. King Kong is also doing extremely well, although so far the lion is out front. Kong’s take in its first four weeks is $193 million. Keep in mind that Kong’s 3+-hour length means fewer screenings daily, so its revenues by necessity are on a slower track than the typical 90-minute to 2-hour movie (Chronicles is 2 hours, 7 minutes).
I enjoyed both movies. The special effects in King Kong were amazing – better, I think, than anything Star Wars ever threw our way. I enjoyed Chronicles more than I expected to. I’ve never been a big fan of fantasy tales, but LWW has interesting characters in an interesting story. The allegory-of-Christ element, of course, makes Chronicles especially interesting to us believers. I’ll definitely be there for the sequel (which this Narnia site says will be Prince Caspian for Christmas 2007).
