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We're only a couple weeks away from the release of The Chonicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and...what's that? Oh, you weren't aware of that? Well, I can certainly understand that. The release of the Narnia sequel is coming under entirely different circumstances than the first film, and although all signs point to this one being a far superior film, most people may miss it for a variety of reasons.

First of all, the timing of the film isn't great. Iron Man kicked off the month with positive reviews and a strong box office. Plus it has a lot of good word of mouth buzzing, so it should have some staying power at least until Indiana Jones hits theatres. You also have the unknown factor of Speed Racer. This Wachowski Brothers production may not be a sequel or a popular comic book super hero, but it does have the potential to surprise a lot of people the same way the original Matrix film did. Speed Racer is also rated PG, and from early accounts, is an extremely family friendly film that will appeal to a broad cross section of movie goers. Plus, it's ground breaking special effects may be enough of a curiosity draw to bring people into the theatres, and if it starts building some positive word of mouth, it might be able to hang around as well. So you have Iron Man and Speed Racer already in theatres, and then Prince Caspian rolls in...almost unannounced. Quite frankly, they should have just saved the film for the holiday season. There's already been plenty of delays on this production, so why not one more to position the movie in a stronger spot?

This may just be me, but has anyone heard much about The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian? I know we've covered it well here at HJ, but where's the media blitz? Where's the hype? Where's the anticipation? Aside from a recent string of interviews with Douglas Gresham (C.S. Lewis' stepson and one of the producers of the film), there hasn't been much going on. Perhaps more importantly, I haven't seen nearly as much effort to get churches and the Christian community behind the sequel as there was for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Maybe Disney feels they don't need to put in that kind of effort this time around assuming that those fans will come anyway, but that seems like a risky assumption to make.

The realtive flatness of the hype for Prince Caspian is especially glaring considering the month it's being released in. Not only could there be strong hold overs from previous weekends with Iron Man and Speed Racer (which I'm still convinced could be the sleeper hit of the summer), but then there's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls opening the weekend right after Prince Caspian. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe did well because it had staying power at the box office, and it had staying power because it didn't have much competition. True, there was King Kong, but that really wasn't intended for the same audience as the Narnia crowd. This time Narnia has to face off against strong competition both before and after it's release, which is not an enviable position to be in. This is where all those delays in the production are really going to hurt, and why I think one more delay to a less crowded holiday season couldn't have hurt.

So what am I saying; that The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is going to flop? Absolutely not. There's enough of a fan base to give it a solid opening weekend, and it'll also have a strong showing in DVD sales when it comes out just in time for Christmas. However, I'm a bit concerned about what happens after it's one weekend as king (or prince) of the box office. Whether or not Iron Man and Speed Racer will have an impact opening weekend isn't for sure, but I wouldn't count against it. Indiana Jones affecting its box office take the following weekend seems a foregone conclusion, and with more family fare on the way in June with Kung-Fu Panda, it's possible that the adventures in Narnia may be quickly forgotten this summer. Then again, maybe all of this speculation is needless and it'll surprise everyone with the biggest box office take of the summer. I wouldn't count on it though, because even as I started this article, you didn't even know the film was opening this month, and that's not a good sign. But maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?