Via the LAT: Why Disney pulled out of ‘Narnia’.
I enjoyed the first film, but have yet to see the second. I had wondered if the less than successful second film was going to lead to the demise of the series. Apparently not, but Disney is no longer involved:
Walden is moving ahead with plans to make a third film in the series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” which will have a new director, Michael Apted, but also much of the cast, including Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian), from the previous films. The story is said to be far more commercial than the last installment, being more of a classic boy’s seagoing adventure story, complete with fantastic sights, dragons, wizards and sea serpents, not to mention Eustace Scrubb, who I hear on good authority is one of the most inspired rotten kids in English literature. The real fascinating question is: Who will release it? Walden could announce a new deal as early as later this week.
We saw the second a while back. It was perfectly fine but there’s no burning need for a third installment. I own the book series, which I bought as a boxed set perhaps twenty years ago, but “Lion Witch and the Wardrobe” is by far the best known of the series. Indeed, most likely dont’t know it’s part of a series.
Comment by James Joyner — January 22, 2009 @ 12:44 pm