One month after Disney bailed out of the franchise, Fox agrees to co-finance 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader'
When Disney announced on Christmas Eve that it would no longer fund the Chronicles of Narnia movies, some wondered if the franchise was dead as Walden Media was left holding a very expensive ball--essentially all dressed up with no place to go (and not enough money to spend).
Various stories have circulated about exactly why Disney bailed--everything from economic reasons to disagreements with Walden founder/funder Phil Anschutz--but the big question still remained: Would any major studio pick up the ball? Because Walden didn't have the money to move forward without any help.
That question was answered Wednesday when several publications--Variety, the LA Times, and the Hollywood Reporter--all ran stories saying that 20th Century Fox will pick up the tab to co-finance the third Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Variety reports that Fox and Walden "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 and Walden have partnered on most of Walden's other releases; only the Narnia films--The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian--were released through Disney.)
The Variety article also notes that while Caspian didn't earn nearly as much money as LWW, Caspian is also "considered the least commercially appealing of the seven C.S. Lewis Narnia novels" but nonetheless "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."
Posted by Mark Moring on January 28, 2009 11:46PM
Comments
One of the delights of living in a free (or even merely semi-free) society is that if one individual chooses not to cooperate with a proposed project, perhaps others will -- if motivated to do so within the context of their values (spiritual, economic, or other).
Posted by: Burgess Laughlin at January 29, 2009
Excellent new. I applaud Fox for its decision.
Posted by: Don Clerico at January 29, 2009
Encouraged to hear that the Chronicles will continue with the help of Fox.
Very difficult to find a series that Christians can champion. We've jumped on the bandwagon with this one.
Aslan is on the move,
jv
Posted by: John Voelker at January 30, 2009
"When one door closes, another opens"!
Praise God and the value that He has kept with this Christian series!
Lord please put Your hand in more movies and television shows that aren't just "of this earth", but for Your purpose and Your glory!
Posted by: RM at January 30, 2009
I feel Disney didn't promote the film enough. Hopefully Fox will give the film a bigger push. Fox probably won't be able to invest the amount of money in the film that Disney could. Sad Disney couldn't reorganize the franchise and give it another shot. I think lack of funds from Fox will result in a less-than-deserved film for this book. I hope I am wrong but the reported 140 million budget is too low!!
Posted by: Andy at July 26, 2009
Post a comment