By Patrick Luce Dec 29, 2008, 11:25 GMT
Disney has left the world of Narnia and will not co-finance the third movie in the Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” franchise.
Disney dropped out of the third Narnia film, but Walden Media could shop the film to other studios.
Variety reports Disney was set to co-finance the next Narnia installment, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” but has pulled the plug following the weak worldwide box office return of the second Narnia film, “Prince Caspian.”
“Prince Caspian” was released in May and earned an estimated $419 million worldwide – which fell short of the $745 million run of the first Narnia film, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” in 2005.
In Variety, a Disney spokeswoman stated: “We are no longer going forward with the movie due to budgetary considerations and other logistics.”
Walden had cut the planned budget of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” to be in the $100 to $150 million range. The budget was a large drop compared to the estimated $200 million-plus that “Prince Caspian” cost to bring to the screen.
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” had Michael Apted attached to direct and was scheduled to start shooting sometime in early 2009. Walden Media reportedly had plans to adapt all seven Narnia books
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