Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) had been in talks to direct Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but it appears that talks may have either fallen through, or he just decided to go with another project entirely that would be filmed at the same time.
According to Variety: Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena will star in “The Return,” which Neil Burger will direct.
Lionsgate won out as North American distributor this week and is eyeing a December rollout. Production is set to begin in May.
Burger co-penned the screenplay with Dirk Wittenborn. Story follows three soldiers returning from Iraq who become companions on an unexpected road trip across the U.S.
Bill Block, whose QED Intl. is financially backing the project, will exec produce with Paul Hanson and Adam Merims.
“Ocean’s Thirteen” scribes Brian Koppelman and David Levien are producing with Rick Schwartz (“The Departed”) and Burger.
Following “The Illusionist,” on which Koppelman and Levien were also producers, Burger had been in talks to helm the next installment of Disney’s “Chronicles of Narnia” franchise.
“Neil had many opportunities,” said Block. “But it is a credit to his vision and validation in sticking with this project.”
UPDATE: The Return released September 26, 2008 under a new title: The Lucky Ones.
