December 2010?!

That is the release date for the third installment of Chronicles of Narnia.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the name of the book.

Some may find the Narnia franchise a little overhyped. Yeah, it's C.S. Lewis, so what. It's a children's book. I got no time for kiddish fantasies. Then explain to me why you watch Harry Potter. Or The Golden Compass, or any Disney movie (except Pirates) for any of that matter?

But lo and behold, though it takes more than one year to release the film, it'd be interesting to know that there were some major changes to the film.

No, I'm not talking about the story itself. It's still in production, so can't talk much about the script. Besides, Douglas Gresham is still producing the movie. Don't think he would want his stepfather's story to go wayward now would he?

All this are old news by the way, but the changes make me very excited to anticipate the film.

First off, never mind if Lion, Witch and Wardrobe was a little "meh". I personally find Prince Caspian better but it didn't fare well enough in the box office. Read: enough.

But Dawn Treader is an epic. Cause it's a seafaring thing. And if you watch Pirates, Titanic, Master and Commander, and all those seafaring movies, you'd be sure that it's gonna be BIG. Sure, there are less war in DT but that doesn't mean it isn't cinematically beautiful enough. Read the book and imagine...there are just so many islands they have to go to...Eustace turning into a dragon, fighting a sea serpent, sea people, Dark Island, the magician and his Dufflepuds...it's a book waiting to be transformed into visual language.

2nd off, Disney came out, back out, cabut lari. Okay maybe not cabut lari, but because they were fearful of a 2nd flop and some creative differences, Disney no longer co-produce the film. Guess who's in the reins now?

20th Century Fox. Yup, that's another biggie with lots of money to spare. :P Besides, they do good films and are more widely distributed.

So don't know whether Disney made a right move, many say it's a bad move, and I hope it's a good move, so that 20th Century Fox can expand Narnia's horizon.

3rd off, the crew changed much. Andrew Adamson, the previous director now sits in the producers' seat along with others. Michael Apted, the man who directed first three episodes of HBO's ROME and recently Amazing Grace now holds the megaphone. I've watched the first episode of Rome and the direction is just amazing. Imagine what he can do with Narnia.

Composer also changed. From Harry Gregson-Williams to David Arnold. The man who composed for Independence Day (the Will Smith one), 5 James Bond films, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Four Brothers and also Amazing Grace. Now if you like the James Bond score (think Tomorrow Never Dies onwards till Quantum of Solace), safe to say that he's good.

Visual supervisor also changed. If you liked the visual effects of Lord of the Rings, think no more. Jim Rygiel is the man in charge now.

Cinematographer also tukar-ed. From Karl Walter Linderdaub to Dante Spinotti, the man behind X-Men: The Last Stand (which I thought was very nice), The Last of the Mohicans, Mirror Have Two Faces and Prison Break pilot episode.

And most of all, the scriptwriter also changed to Michael Petroni and I think another person. But yeah, haven't heard of his stories, so can't say much about him.


It's a Dawn Treader for sure. Let this be a really good Voyage!