I am still surprised anyone is trying to revive the Narnia franchise as it just seems interest will only get less and less the farther away we get from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the most recognizable and I am sure for most the only recognizable story from the C.S. Lewis novels. However, after Disney dropped the franchise it looks like 20th Century Fox and Walden Media are keeping hope alive as Variety announces Michael Petroni has been brought aboard to write a new draft of the screenplay as it appears the Richard LaGravanese draft has been scrapped.
The third film will be The Voyage of the Dawn Treader should things work out and focus on Lucy and Edmund Pevensie as they return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.
Walden is eyeing a summer start date for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.
Michael Petroni’s writing career isn’t exactly filled with hits with the 2002 adaptation Queen of the Damned as his only recognizable screenplay, but apparently the reason he was brought aboard was based on work he has done on three films for Fox including Kevin Lima’s Afterlife, an adaptation of Markus Zusak’s novel “The Book Thief” and a rewrite of the Julia Roberts starrer Daniel Isn’t Talking. They must be looking good because Queen of the Damned sure wasn’t.
Hopefully the franchise will abandon the attempt to be Lord of the Rings for kids and focus on storytelling and things may improve.
As far as I know Michael Apted is still aboard to direct and I expect we will see familiar faces in the lead role should shooting get underway this summer.
