BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: As the latest Harry Potter movie rakes in more millions with its stories of the supernatural, another movie about a famous imaginary world opens on December 9. It is THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, adapted from the first of a series of books by the British and avowedly Christian writer, C.S. Lewis. Conservative Christians are busy promoting and using the new picture as a tool for evangelism. The producers hope its Christian symbolism does not limit its appeal to the widest possible audience. Kim Lawton reports.

KIM LAWTON: It's an epic tale of good versus evil, and now the advance buzz is also reaching epic proportions as audiences anticipate Narnia's arrival on the big screen.

Hollywood's own extensive marketing campaigns are being bolstered by many Christians who have long revered author C.S. Lewis and his CHRONICLES OF NARNIA books. Some evangelical Protestants in particular see THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE and its Christian symbolism as an opportunity to spread their faith.

Columnist and pop culture analyst Terry Mattingly says such support may well produce a blockbuster.

TERRY MATTINGLY (Author, POP GOES RELIGION): The expectation for this film among that core audience is just totally off the chart. To me, it's a slam dunk if they leave it intact and just basically make it an adventure film for children, but leave the symbols in.

LAWTON: C.S. Lewis's CHRONICLES OF NARNIA books have sold nearly 100 million copies since they were published in the 1950s. THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE is the first installment of the seven-volume series. It tells the story of four children who discover a wardrobe that leads them to Narnia, a land of magical creatures and talking beasts. An evil witch has cast a spell so that in Narnia it's always winter, but never Christmas. The witch tempts one of the children, Edmund, to betray his siblings and friends, and a terrible battle begins. Edmund is sentenced to die, but the great lion Aslan, son of the emperor, offers himself as a sacrifice instead. But then Aslan comes back to life, bringing about the ultimate defeat of evil.

Mr. MATTINGLY: The major symbolism, of course, is the death and resurrection of a Christ figure. And all of this is interpreted with language that is not out of the Bible, but you would have to be pretty blind not to see what the symbols mean and to hear what the words mean.

Professor ALAN JACOBS (Author, THE NARNIAN: THE LIFE AND IMAGINATION OF C.S. LEWIS): Aslan is not a metaphor or a symbol of Jesus. He is Jesus. In the same way that God chose to save people in this world, he chose to save people in Narnia. It's just that the son of God appears in the form of a lion rather than in human form. That's the only difference. So it's not an allegory. It's, instead, telling the same story in two different worlds.

LAWTON: Wheaton College professor Alan Jacobs is the author of a new biography of C.S. Lewis. He says Lewis didn't intentionally set out to write a doctrinal book for children.

Prof. JACOBS: It was never part of a plan. It was never part of an attempt to produce an evangelistic message or a Christian message. It was just the kind of story that he told because that's the kind of person that he was.

LAWTON: Indeed, Lewis is perhaps the most widely-respected and most widely-read Christian writer of the 20th century. An atheist for many years, he came to faith while a literary scholar at Oxford. He described his conversion as a lengthy intellectual battle.

Prof. JACOBS: He was not emotionally attracted to Christian belief. It was not something that he wanted. In fact, he fought very hard against it. He says in his autobiography that on the night when he got down on his knees and admitted that God was God, he says "I was perhaps at that time the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."

LAWTON: But once convinced, Lewis became an active defender of the faith. He wrote many books explaining and advocating Christianity and was a much sought-after lecturer and debater. But according to Jacobs, by the late 1940s that success was taking a toll on Lewis's personal spirituality.

Prof. JACOBS: His own faith was suffering because he was always out there as a warrior contending for the faith, and I think what he needed was something restorative. What he needed was something that could enchant his own spirit. And first and foremost, I think that the Narnia books were almost like a self-medication for Lewis -- an attempt to give himself a world, a place where he could have his soul restored.

LAWTON: Lewis may not have intended Narnia to be an evangelistic tool, but many evangelicals are intending to use it as one. Hundreds of churches across the country have been sponsoring sneak-peak events to generate enthusiasm for the movie. During this sneak peak at New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California, local pastors were shown exclusive advance scenes from the movie and given ideas about ways they can use the film for evangelism. They left loaded with promotional materials.