Disney has announced that the studio will not co-finance the third installment of Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” franchise, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”
It is widely believed by Hollywood insiders that Disney dropped the project because of the lower than expected box-office take for the second “Narnia” flick, “Prince Caspian.”
The first “Narnia” piled up $745 million internationally while “Caspian” only raked in $419 million.
Although the economic downturn is making Disney execs a tad more timid, they’re partly responsible for the skimpier “Caspian” numbers.
Unlike the first “Narnia,” rather than a Thanksgiving or Christmas release the sequel came out in the spring, and it was up against superhero summer fare like “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones.” Disney tried to market it as an action flick with limited success.
Thankfully, Walden remains committed to C.S. Lewis’ remaining books.
And if Fox is as clever as its name it’ll jump into Disney’s old spot, snag a profit and hoist entertainment content higher at the same time.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A. in Media Psychology, is a media analyst, teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University and professor at Trinity Law School.
