Andrew Adamson is set to return to the director’s chair, having just inked a deal to helm “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” Adamson also will serve as a producer and co-writer, collaborating with returning scribes Christopher Markus and Steve McFeely. The principal cast is coming back, as is producer Mark Johnson.
A screenplay is not yet written, but production is scheduled to begin this year with an eye toward a Christmas 2007 release. “Caspian” finds the four Pevensie siblings pulled back into the land of Narnia, where 1,000 years have passed since they left. The children are again enlisted to join the colorful creatures of Narnia, who have been driven into the wild, unfriendly parts of the land. The Pevensies must struggle to overthrow a usurping king named Miraz and restore the rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian.
“Caspian,” published in 1951, is the second book in the seven-book series written by C.S. Lewis.
While it’s no surprise that Disney and Walden would move ahead with a sequel, the behind-the-scenes negotiations have been drawn out. “Narnia” has grossed more than $637.8 million at the worldwide boxoffice. Internationally, it ranks as Buena Vista’s top-grossing live-action release of all time, surpassing “Armageddon” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” with its gross to date of $359.4 million. The film has grossed $278 million domestically and is the studio’s third-highest-grossing live-action film. It is on track to surpass “Pirates’ ” worldwide gross of $655 million to become Buena Vista’s all-time top live-action grosser. The movie also received three Oscar nominations Tuesday.
“I’m unbelievably relieved that what we hoped has happened,” Walden Media co-founder and CEO Cary Granat said about the success of the first film. “It reminds me of when I was kid and saw clouds and wondered how it would be to touch one. And when you’re an adult and you’re on a mountain and actually have a chance to touch one, all you can think is, How cool! We’re incredibly elated right now.”
About Adamson returning, Granat added, “To me, the most exciting aspect of all of this is that there is so much that Andrew wanted to express and do in the first film, and now he’ll have a chance to.”
