The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (film)

The sequel to the Disney and Walden media film of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is due to be released to theaters May 16, 2008 in the United States, June 5, 2008 in Australia, and June 27, 2008 in the United Kingdom. It budgeted 200 million.

Plot
One year has passed in Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie's world, but unknown to them about 1,300 years has passed in Narnia, where they had their last adventure in it's hills. The land is now ruled by the Telmarines, a brutish human race who drove the old Narnians into hiding.

On the night a baby is born, Professor Cornelius tells his student, Prince Caspian, to flee to the woods. Because his uncle Miraz now has an heir, he can get rid of his nephew. Caspian flees into the woods, followed by a number of guards sent to kill him. But he soon falls off his horse and encounters two dwarves, Trumpkin and Nikabrik who attempt to kill him until the assassins arrive. Reminded by Cornelius that he should blow a horn in his most dire need.

Back on Earth, the Pevensies are still trying to adapt to their life back on Earth. Then suddenly, as the train comes by, the tunnel turns into one of Narnia. The Pevensies soon recognize the location as Cair Paravel, their old castle, but it was destroyed in a siege. Luckily, they locate the Treasure Room, which contained their possessions from Father Christmas and their Narnian clothes that fit them during their beginning, except Susan's horn, which she left while hunting for the White Stag.

Meanwhile, Miraz receives proof that the Narnians weren't extinct, in the form of a captured Trumpkin. This gives the council enough issue to raise and army to exterminate the Narnians once and for all. He has two men go to drown the dwarf but he is rescued by the Pevensies. To prove that they are the Kings and Queens of Narnia, Trumpkin fights against Edmund, who beats him. They soon learn that the trees are sleeping and few animals can talk anymore.

Caspian wakes up in a hollow tree, overhearing a talking badger, Trufflehunter and Nikabrik talking about what to do with him. As they take him to the Dancing Lawn, they are chased by Telmarine soldiers, who are quickly taken out by Reepicheep. Caspian then convinces the Narnians to allow him to lead them in exchange for giving back their land.

En route to Aslan's How, Lucy claims to see Aslan, though the others did not. After many twists, obstacles and turns, they rest. Lucy has a dream that the leaf petals dance and Aslan appears. When she wakes up for real, she goes looking again but almost encountered a minotaur. Peter goes to strike an old enemy, only to be stopped by Caspian. They make up and come to Aslan's How, which is built over the Stone Table. To win the war, Peter proposes they strike at the Telmarine castle. But Caspian spoils the plan by freeing his teacher, learning that Miraz killed his father and tries to get the truth from his uncle, alerting the palace to their presence. The castle is breached, but crossbowmen kill over half their number, and the rest retreat. As a result, Miraz is crowned king.

Returning to the Stone Table, Nikabrik offers Caspian the means to retake his throne. With the help of a hag and werewolf, they use black magic, they summon the White Witch from within a wall of ice. to free, her, they required a drop of Adam's blood. Luckily, Peter and Edmund shatter the spell before the ritual could take place.

With a massive Telmarine army arriving at the How, Caspian suggests that Peter fight Miraz in a duel to the death, the prize surrender, in order to buy time for Susan and Lucy to find Aslan. As the two combatants fight, Susan is forced to let Lucy go on alone as they were being followed by Telmarine horsemen. She holds back the enemy cavalry but is almost overpowered before Caspian arrives.

Soon, Peter wounds Miraz and leaves his fate to Caspian, who refused to take his uncle's life. But one of his general's, Sopespian, stabs Miraz with a Narnian arrow and blames it on the Narnians. The Telmarine forces bombard the How, then charge with horsemen. But Caspian and his troops cause the earth beneath the enemy to collapse, Susan rallies archers to shoot them down,and Peter leads a massive charge.

Lucy finds Aslan while being chased and he awakens the trees to aid in the Narnians' fight, driving the Telmarines to Beruna river. He then summons the river god, who destroys the majority of the army.

At the Telmarine village, Aslan revealed that the Telmarines originally came from Earth, who were once pirates who found a portal to Narnia. He offered them a chance to return to their homeland or stay in Narnia. Using his breath, he turns a tree into a portal. Prunaprismia is the first to go and as soon as she steps through, she vanishes. Some are doubtful and fear that they may be sent off to their doom. The Pevensies offer to go through but reveal one shocking secret: Peter and Susan can't come back, as they had learned all they needed to know. They know that Narnia is in good hands. The Pevensies walk through the portal, back to Earth.

Differences between book and film

 * Caspian's nurse is not seen or mentioned.
 * There are still some Telmarine lords living during the movie.
 * The bridge across the Fords of Beruna is built during the film.
 * There is no town where the Battle of Beruna was fought.
 * In the book, the Narnians do not raid the Telmarine castle
 * Peter and the others show up well before the White Witch is nearly summoned.
 * It takes the Pevensies a very short time to realize where they are.
 * The Pevensies quickly discover they are in Cair Paravel.
 * Trufflehunter is not wounded by the Telmarines while they are on their way to the Dancing Lawn.
 * The Telmarine army arrives far later than in the book.
 * The White Witch is actually nearly summoned, instead of them almost preparing for it in the film.
 * Reepicheep comes onto the scene fighting, instead of meeting Caspian politely.
 * Caspian, Nikabrik, and Trufflehunter are chased while going to Dancing Lawn.
 * Susan and Caspian kiss near the end of the film.
 * Peter and Edmund get into a fight while waiting for the train.
 * Susan meets a boy in the beginning of the film.

Cast

 * William Moseley - Peter Pevensie
 * Anna Popplewell - Susan Pevensie
 * Skandar Keynes - Edmund Pevensie
 * Georgie Henley - Lucy Pevensie
 * Liam Neeson - the voice of Aslan
 * Ben Barnes - Prince Caspian
 * Sergio Castellitto - Miraz
 * Alicia Borrachero - Queen Prunaprismia
 * Peter Dinklage - Trumpkin The Dwarf
 * Vincent Grass - Doctor Cornelius
 * Warwick Davis - Nikabrik The Dwarf
 * Shane Rangi - Asterius the Minotaur
 * Ken Stott - the voice of Trufflehunter
 * Eddie Izzard - the voice of Reepicheep
 * Pierfrancesco Favino - Glozelle
 * Damián Alcázar - Sopespian
 * Simón Andreu - Lord Scythley
 * Stewart Kenneth Moore - Lord Stewert
 * David Bowles - Lord Gregoire
 * Predrag Bjelac - Lord Donnon
 * Juan Diego Montoya Garcia - Lord Montoya
 * Cornell John - Glenstorm
 * Lejla Abbasová - Glenstorm's wife (Windmane)
 * Yemi Akinyemi - Ironhoof
 * Carlos Da Silva - Suncloud
 * Ephraim Goldin - Rainstone
 * David Walliams - one of the three Bulgy Bears
 * Tilda Swinton - White Witch
 * Klára Issová - The Hag
 * Jirí Krytinár - An Old Narnian Dwarf
 * Gomez Sandoval - Lightning Bolt the Child Centaur
 * Jan Pavel Filipensky - Wimbleweather
 * Harry Gregson-Williams - The voice of Pattertwig
 * Sim Evan-Jones - The voice of Peepiceek
 * Joseph Moore - Train Station Bully
 * Ash Jones - Geeky Boy
 * Douglas Gresham - Telmarine Crier
 * Mana Hira Davis - Telmarine Soldier in Boat
 * Winham Hammond - Telmarine Soldier in Boat

Filming
Filming took place in Auckland starting February 12, 2007. Other filming locations were Cathedral Cove, Barrandov Studios in Prague, and the Soča region In Slovenia. Filming ended September 8, 2007.

Music
Composer Harry Gregson-Williams is returning to score this film as he did The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Rating
Prince Caspian is rated PG for epic battle sequences and violence. It was expecting a PG-13 rating.

Marketing and Release
The film was originally was supposed to be released December 14, 2007, but was pushed back to May 16, 2008. The first official trailer was released December 4, 2007 on Narnia fan sites, such as NarniaWeb, to potentially 400 million people on the fan site NarniaWeb, alone. A spot for the movie was shown at Super Bowl XLII. It aired at about 7:38pm EST. The ad can be seen at NarniaWeb here: http://narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=1416&dl=15129960 in qualities from QT Low, QT 1080p, WMV High, and on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLjw_x-6owM.