If there’s going to be a The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film it won’t be coming from the Mouse House.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed Disney has opted out of financing and producing what would be the third and likely final entry in the Narnia film series with Walden Media.
Pre-production on Drawn Treader is already well underway with concept art appearing on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian DVD and Blu-ray Disc release earlier this month. The film was scheduled to begin shooting this spring with a 2010 release.
Now Walden must find a new partner or dump the film altogether. The likely candidate is Fox who already distributes Walden films under its banner.
The big question is will Fox be willing to eat what is guaranteed to be a budget north of $150 million? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe cost a hefty $180 million while Prince Caspian tipped the scales at $200 million. Both films made their budgets back and then some when factoring in international ticket sales, but Prince Caspian’s overall take was $326 million less than Lion’s, or 44 percent.
With The Golden Compass tanking and other fantasy films failing to reach takes anywhere near that of Harry Potter films, the odds are stacked heavily against Dawn Treader at this time.
