A month after Disney severed ties and financial backing for the third “Chronicles of Narnia” film, 20th Century Fox has partnered with Walden Media to make and distribute the third installment in the series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”
Variety reports Fox had the right of first refusal on the project. The two sides are still working out budget and script issues, but the hope is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.
The production will be headed by Fox 2000, which produced the family-friendly fantasy film “Eragon” a few years ago.
Fox and Walden will split production and P&A costs for “Dawn Treader,” which is projected to go into production at a $140 million budget. That’s considerably less than the $215 million or so spent on last year’s “Prince Caspian,” which was considered something of a box office disappointment as compared with the first “Narnia” pic, 2005’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” ($419 million vs. $745 million worldwide, respectively).
After budget and script concerns are settled, Fox and Walden are expected to greenlight the film. The intention is to move the production away from Mexico
All of the cast members from the first two installments in the franchise are expected to return to “Treader.”
Whee! Someone figured out that there’s still money to be made. Sorry, Diz-Knee!
Let me get this straight…. Prince Caspian brought in nearly double it’s cost and was considered a disappointment? Wha??
oh geez, I’ve heard about how the accountants really do manage the movie making process at FOX, this should be interesting
Well, given the hatchet job done on Eragon, I am not all that hopeful.