Voyage of the Dawn Treader Docks at Fox 2000

Disney may not have seen much profit in making the third and final “Chronicles of Narnia” movie, but Fox 2000 seems to think there is still blood to be squeezed from this particular stone. The studio has picked up the Disney cast-off with an eye toward a 2010 release date, says The Hollywood Reporter. Director Michael Apted and actor Ben Barnes, who plays Caspian in the second installment’s “Prince Caspian”, are expected to return. One imagines all the kids from the previous two films would return as well, as I don’t think their characters actually ages all that much throughout the series.

So why did Disney dump “Dawn Treader” in the first place? Here’s THR’s take on it:

Because of the epic scope — and accompanying production costs — of the books, Walden partnered with Disney to produce and co-finance the adaptations. Disney backed out of “Dawn Treader” after failing to come to an agreement with Walden over budgets and release-date issues. Although the first installment, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” was an unabashed hit, the second, “Prince Caspian,” ran over budget and performed below the studio’s expectations.

Two things can happen here: either “Dawn Treader” breaks big the way the first “Narnia” movie did, or it’ll go down in flames ala the second one. The Mouse house will either look brilliant or stupid when the film is released in 2010. I’m hoping for the latter. That Mouse has been getting too big for his britches lately…

Below: “Say, kids, did anyone remember to bring the really big harpoon?”