The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (film)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is an upcoming fantasy adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third published novel in 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series. This movie marks the first Narnia film not to be distributed by Disney; both The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian were under the Disney banner. Instead, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be distributed by 20th Century Fox. On March 23, 2010, Fox announced that the film will be released in Digital 3D in select theaters.

The film will be released in theaters in the United States and United Kingdom on December 10, 2010.

Plot
The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, their cousin Eustace Scrubb and Caspian to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea. Their mission - on which rests the fate of Narnia itself - takes the courageous voyagers to mysterious islands, a river that turns objects to gold, confrontations with magical creatures and sinister enemies. They will meet Lilliandil the half-star and reunite with their old friend and protector, the great lion Aslan.

Main Protagonists

 * Ben Barnes - Caspian X
 * Georgie Henley - Lucy Pevensie
 * Skandar Keynes - Edmund Pevensie
 * Will Poulter - Eustace Scrubb
 * Liam Neeson - Aslan, (voice)

Narnians

 * Simon Pegg - Reepicheep


 * Shane Rangi - Tavros the Minotaur
 * Tamati - Jemain the Minotaur
 * Ryan Ettridge - Caprius the Satyr
 * Steven Rooke - Nausus the Faun
 * Morgan Evens - "Randy" the faun
 * Chris Cruickshanks - "Cruickshanks" the Dwarf

Telmarines

 * Gary Sweet - Lord Drinian
 * Bruce Spence - Lord Rhoop
 * Terry Norris - Lord Bern
 * Tony Nixon - Rynelf
 * Arthur Angel - Rhince
 * Mirko Grillini - The Belligerent Telmarine

Lone Islanders

 * David Vallon - Governor Gumpas
 * Colin Moody - Pug
 * Arabella Morton - Gael
 * Catarina Hebbard - Gael's Aunt
 * Ozzie Devrich - Slaver
 * Michael Foster - Gumpus' Money Collector

Coriakin's Island

 * Billie Brown - Coriakin
 * Roy Billings - Chief Dufflepud
 * Greg Poppleton - Dufflepud 1
 * Neil Young - Dufflepud 2
 * Mary Bradney-George - Dufflepud 5
 * Scott "Ryctor" Brewer - Dufflepud 7

Other

 * Anna Popplewell - Susan Pevensie (Cameo)
 * William Moseley - Peter Pevensie (Cameo)
 * Tilda Swinton - spirit of The White Witch (Cameo), which will be a test for Edmund to overcome


 * Laura Brent - Ramandu's Daughter, (now named) Lilliandil

Production
Michael Apted was announced as director on April 17, 2007; Andrew Adamson, director of the series' first two films, and Mark Johnson are slated as co-producers. Apted grew up reading the Narnia novels. Bob Beltz of Walden Media said the production company deliberately set up a fast-paced, staggered shooting schedule for the Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair films "in a way that it won't have to be two and a half years between them. We'll be able to bring them out sequentially a year apart". Michael Apted described taking over direction of the series as easy, "What’s fascinating about this particular franchise is how different all the stories are... there’s no element of Narnia in it at all. This is a journey that Caspian the Tenth is making into the islands, outside to the east of Narnia. So it’s interesting, it’s a whole different tone to the other things".

Production designer Roger Ford was replaced by Jan Roelfs. The owners of an AUD 2.1 million 40 metre by 30 metre by 5 metre water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios in Queensland are negotiating with the production company, in the hope that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be filmed there. Filming began in May 2009.

Due to Prince Caspian (Disney movie) grossing less than expected, Disney wanted a $100 million budget. However, Walden Media wanted a $140 million budget. On December 24, 2008, Disney chose not to go through with the much anticipated movie. On January 28, 2009, Fox 2000 decided to pick up the franchise, joining Walden Media for the production.

Filming 

In a February 2010 interview, Bill Nighy revealed that he would be the new voice of Reepicheep. In the following June however, Simon Pegg was confirmed to replace Nighy.

Marketing
In late November 2009, three stills from the film were released on the social networking site, Facebook. In February 2010, Narnia.com, the official domain, returned after a nine-month period of being down, bringing with it exclusive reports from the set. The first official teaser poster was released in May 2010. The first official public trailer for the film was released online on June 17, 2010, before being attached to Toy Story 3 on June 18, 2010. A second trailer was released to the Internet August 05, 2010, after being attached on the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid DVD.