Fox To Develop Narnia 3

[Blu Titan]

Great news for those of us that love the first two Narnia films! From Variety:

Fox to develop 'Narnia 3'
One month after Disney decided to pull the plug on co-financing the third movie in Walden Media's "Chronicles of Narnia" series, Walden has found a new partner in 20th Century Fox.
Fox, which was entitled to first crack at "The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" after Disney dropped out because of the shared Fox Walden marketing and distribution label, has made a commitment to develop 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.

Fox 2000 will spearhead development and production matters from the Fox front. Topper Elizabeth Gabler had pursued the "Narnia" franchise but was beaten out by Walden. The Century City studio seems to be an ideal fit for the "Narnia" books given that it's been looking for a family-friendly, lit-based franchise for years -- Fox 2000's "Eragon" failed to catch on with audiences and died after one installment.

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).

Still, "Caspian," which is considered the least commercially appealing of the seven C.S. Lewis "Narnia" novels, ranked No. 10 in global box office performance last year. "Dawn Treader" is considered to be a more family film-friendly book, and the goal is to get back to the magical aspects present in the first "Narnia" pic but mostly absent from "Prince Caspian."

Ultimately, Fox's commitment to the summer start date is contingent upon Walden's selection of a writer. Richard LaGravanese penned the most recent draft that both Walden and Fox were happy with, but there's a question about his availability because he has been adapting Sara Gruen's bestseller "Water for Elephants" for Fox 2000.

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, where, ironically, it was going to be shot at the Fox-owned Baja facility called Rosarito used for "Titanic" and "Master and Commander." "Dawn Treader" will instead likely shoot in Australia because of concerns for the drug violence and kidnappings that are taking place near Baja.

Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley are reprising their roles as Caspian, Edmund and Lucy, respectively. New to the production is Will Poulter ("Son of Rambo"), who will portray Eustace Clarence Scrubb. Pic is being directed by Michael Apted, with Mark Johnson and Andrew Adamson producing.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

[saginawjuggalo]

I'm glad Warner Brothers didn't buy the rights to Narnia 3, at least we can count on the third being another reference quality Blu-ray once it comes out.

[DeadDog]

Glad its going to continue. I find them to be enjoyable films.

[borninusa]

I figured this would happen w/ at least one of the big studios picking it up. May it be done well.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by saginawjuggalo

I'm glad Warner Brothers didn't buy the rights to Narnia 3, at least we can count on the third being another reference quality Blu-ray once it comes out.

Good t

I agree with you, thank god.

Now lets see if fox can surpass what disney has done with the last to movies. theatrical, and on blu-ray.

[doctorD]

Great News!

[LORDs_angellos]

I'm a huge CoN fan and lemmie tell you, this is great news. The future of the franchise was never in much doubt, but the suspense was still there. NewsCorp owns both Fox and HarperCollins (the Narnia book distributor), so Fox is an excellent studio to pick up the franchise.

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Fox 2000's "Eragon" failed to catch on with audiences and died after one installment.

That's just because the adaptation of the book was terrible. It would've done a WHOLE lot better if they just stuck to the flippin' book more. I'm a big fan of those books too and Fox bombing the movie really ticks me off. Maybe once Narnia 3 does really well they'll give Eragon another shot with a proper adaptation. It could come out with the release of book #4. The books are just too popular to leave them without a movie franchise. There's money to be made!

[jk1138]

This is good news

[Blu Titan]

I am sure that Jasonbird and Owa will be happy.

[masob98]

Good to know that Fox picked it up, but I really dont think they will match up to what Disney did with the first two. I could be proven wrong though.

[Rantlers]

Excellent news, I was getting worried! Hopefully it does well as The Silver Chair and especially Last Battle would make excellent fantasy flicks.

[Blu As Hell]

Originally Posted by saginawjuggalo

I'm glad Warner Brothers didn't buy the rights to Narnia 3, at least we can count on the third being another reference quality Blu-ray once it comes out.

Yeah, the blu-ray will look good, but with Fox's track record with fantasy films it does have the potential to suck a little bit more than usual. Jumper,Max Payne anyone?

[t0nythebeat]

Very excited but I believe it will come out good.
This is on Walden's terms ... as for the potential of the franchise I'm hoping FOX doesn't screw it up.

[jkwest]

as long as Walden stays around, the movies will be fine...hopefully Disney doesn't try to lock up any of the actors...

[Sid]

Can't wait for production!

[kdn1221]

I'm hoping for a well developed script that lives up to the quality of the previous 2 Narnia movies as well as a very well supplemented BD release like Disney had done.

[liam1972]

Originally Posted by Blu As Hell

Yeah, the blu-ray will look good, but with Fox's track record with fantasy films it does have the potential to suck a little bit more than usual. Jumper anyone?

I thought Jumper was a pretty good movie. Not an excellent movie, but a damn good fun popcorn flick. I don't know why so many people have to hate on that movie. I personally am hoping for a sequel.

[Tcan21]

Originally Posted by liam1972

I thought Jumper was a pretty good movie. Not an excellent movie, but a damn good fun popcorn flick. I don't know why so many people have to hate on that movie. I personally am hoping for a sequel.

I agree, I enjoyed Jumper quite a bit, not the best, but still enjoyable. I would personally like to see what they would do with a sequel, the storyline is there to be continued

[_Bolt_]

oh well

[DrrnHarr]

Fantastic news. I grew up reading the books and was hoping another studio would pick up the third movie.