‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ Set For Box Office Crown
Two weeks after “Iron Man” opened to $99 million at the North American box office, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” will likely earn almost as much this weekend.
Industry observers expect the fantasy sequel will gross $85 million or more during the three-day period beginning Friday. Its 2005 predecessor, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” opened to $65.6 million, and finished with $292 million.
The Disney release has been scoring high in prerelease surveys for must-see sentiment among all demographics and has drawn solid early reviews from critics.
The second book in a 1950s children’s literature series written by the theologically rooted C.S. Lewis, the sequel features a more adult central character via the title role, played by Ben Barnes (”Stardust“). Both films were directed by Andrew Adamson.
Disney distribution president Chuck Viane said:
“This is the quintessential general-audience film — moms and dads, families, date-pic couples, teens by themselves — this plays to everybody”.
Walden Media, a family-friendly production company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, is a co-financer and equity partner on the film, which totes production costs of nearly $200 million.
After two weekends at No. 1, “Iron Man” will pass the $200 million mark. As of Wednesday, the Paramount and Marvel superhero saga had earned $188 million.
But the Warner Bros. dud “Speed Racer” will likely crash again, a week after the costly adventure opened at No. 3 with just $18.6 million.
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‘Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ to premiere at O2 arena
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will debut at a record-breaking premiere in London, the BBC reports.
The film will get its first showing at the O2 arena in front of an audience of 10,000.
A giant cinema screen will be installed at the venue, making the Disney film’s premiere the “biggest single screen, shared audience experience ever”.
Based on the book by C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian is the second entry in Disney’s Narnia franchise following 2005’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Liam Neeson and Tilda Swinton reprise their roles from the first film while newcomer Ben Barnes plays the titular Prince.
Tickets for the premiere go on sale from tomorrow (May 9) with a portion of the money raised being donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
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‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ Franchise Ending After Third Film?
The Chronicles of Narnia franchise will reportedly end after the third film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is released.Based on a series of seven novels by C. S. Lewis, the first film adaptation, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was released in 2005. Its follow-up, Prince Caspian, is scheduled for release this summer, with Dawn Treader expected in 2010.
First Showing reports that producer Mark Johnson told an audience at the New York Comic Con that there are “no plans” to adapt the remaining four novels following Dawn Treader.
Disney and Pixar are reportedly planning to replace the Narnia franchise with a trilogy of films based on the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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Sigourney Weaver - Alien (again) in ‘Wall - E’
Disney/Pixar showed some new footage from their upcoming movie “Wall-E” during the New York Comic-Con.
Some of the footage also introduced a new character, M-O, which is an anal-retentive cleaning droid. In the clip, Wall - E, a cube-shaped robot, sneaks aboard the Axiom, one of the luxury liners that has transported the human race off the planet Earth. Wall - E takes offense at M-O’s attempts to clean him.
The news is that Sigourney Weaver has a role in “Wall-E”. Weaver will voice a character, the computer of the starship Axiom.
“We kind of geeked out at the thought of having a little wink to Alien, instead of fighting Mother, Sigourney has become Mother,” said producer Jim Morris.
Other voices in Wall - E: John Ratzenberger, Fred Willard, Kathy Najimy, Paul Eiding, Ben Burtt, Kim Kopf, Garrett Palmer
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‘Up’ and ‘Rapunzel’ - more photos
From the Academy Award-nominated team of director Pete Docter (”Monsters, Inc.“) and co-director Bob Peterson, who wrote 2003’s Finding Nemo, comes “Up“.
click for larger version
Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. “Up” takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures.
‘Up’ will float its way into theaters on May 29th, 2009.
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Disney’s ‘Tinker Bell’ Logo & Pics
Disney Animation Studios have recently announced their plans, which include theatrical (both Disney and Pixar) and straight-to-DVD releases, for the next four years. One of these straight-to-DVD titles is a Tinker Bell movie, which will appear in stores on October 28th.
The film will be followed by three more, entitled “Tinker Bell North of Neverland,” “Tinker Bell a Midsummer Storm” and “Tinker Bell A Winter Story.” The plan is to release one movie per year, until 2012.
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Disney to release 10 new animated movies, all Pixar movies in 3-D
Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, John Lasseter made the announcement in New York at a presentation of Disney’s upcoming lineup of animated movies.
The Walt Disney Studios previewed 10 animated movies that it will release during the next four years, including further installments in the “Toy Story” and “Cars” series and two new fairy tales.
With the exception of “Wall-E” and “The Princess and the Frog” the remaining eight movies will be made in digital 3-D.
Pixar movies will be released in 3-D and the traditional two-dimensional format beginnin with ”Up”.
The lineup from Walt Disney Animation Studios also includes ‘Rapunzel‘, a retelling of a fair tale set Byfor release for Christmas 2010,
and ‘King of the Elves‘, based on a 1953 short story by Phillip K. Dickset for release for Christmas 2012.
Disney showed a 30-minute clip of Wall-E, the first Pixar release since last summer’s ‘Ratatouille‘, which grossed more than $620 million at the worldwide box office.
”Ratatouille” was the last independent Pixar picture in development prior to Disney’s acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios in May 2006 for $7.5 billion in stock.
The first Disney digital 3-D movie for release is “Bolt,” the story of a dog of the same name who thinks he has superhero powers. John Travolta gives voice to Bolt while Miley Cyrus is voicing Bolt’s owner Penny in the movie, due to open on November 26.
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