Tragic news has been making the rounds that Perry Moore, the co-producer of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” was found dead in his New York City apartment on Thursday at the far-too young age of 39. Found on his bathroom floor by his partner Hunter Hill, it’s being reported Moore may have had an accidental overdose on the painkiller OxyContin, having suffered serious and chronic back pain for years, although the initial autopsy is still inconclusive.
Besides being pivotal in bringing C.S. Lewis’ beloved fantasy series to the screen in 2005, Moore also recently wrote, produced and co-directed the independent film Lake City with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garrity, along with Hunter Hill. Moore also wrote “Hero,” a book about a gay superhero, as well as an illustrated book about the making of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
Narnia movie specialists NarniaFans found a bit of related news on the Virginia Beach radio site WTKR stating that Moore had been very upbeat because he had found financing for a fourth Narnia film, which would be The Magician’s Nephew, and was working on other projects including an adaptation of “Hero” for Starz:
“The night before he died, he had an hour-long conversation with his mom,” father Bill Moore said as he waited at the airport for a flight to New York. “He had gotten all the good news he could possibly get.”
Perry Moore told his family he’d secured financing for another Narnia movie, “The Magician’s Nephew.” He was also working with Starz, a cable-movie company, to adapt his novel, “Hero,” and he was preparing to meet with actress Julianne Moore on another project.
“He had everything in the world going for him,” his father said. “He was very upbeat.”
The future of the film franchise was in question due to the less-than-spectacular showing for the third installment The Voyage of the Dawn Treader domestically, grossing just over $100 million. The international gross for the film tells another story and in fact, it had grossed $376 million globally based on a reported production budget of $155 million, which certainly made it a profitable venture.
The New York Daily News secured quotes from many of Moore’s close friends, family and business associates including “Narnia” co-producer Marc Johnson, which you can read here.
ComingSoon.net has had a number of chances to meet and interview Perry Moore over the years and we offer our deepest condolences to his friends and family.
