Director Michael Apted has begun shooting The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Dawn Treader was initially in the early stages of pre-production at Disney before the studio pulled the plug over budget concerns in response to Prince Caspian’s box office receipts. The project sat idle until Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment stepped in with Walden Media to continue the Narnia series on the big screen.
Returning to Narnia are Georgie Henley as Lucy, Skandar Keynes as Edmund, and Ben Barnes as Caspian. Will Poulter will play the new character Cousin Eustace, while Liam Neeson returns to voice Aslan the Lion.
The supporting cast includes Gary Sweet (Stingers), Bruce Spence (Road Warrior), Arthur Angel (Ghost Rider) and Shane Rangi returning as the Minotaur.
Here is the official Dawn Treader film synopsis provided by Fox: Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb – find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world. Joining forces once again with their royal friend Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflepuds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted merfolk. Only an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan’s Country – a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader – can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate.
Filming will run through November of this year with a theatrical release date slated for December 2010.
