Fox picks up Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Variety reports:

One month after Disney decided to pull the plug on co-financing the third movie in Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series, Walden has found a new partner in 20th Century Fox.

Fox, which was entitled to first crack at “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” after Disney dropped out because of the shared Fox Walden marketing and distribution label, has made a commitment to develop the project. The two sides are still working out budget and script issues, but the hope is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label. . . .

Fox and Walden will split production and P&A; costs for “Dawn Treader,” which is projected to go into production at a $140 million budget. That’s considerably less than the $215 million or so spent on last year’s “Prince Caspian,” which was considered something of a box office disappointment as compared with the first “Narnia” pic, 2005’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” ($419 million vs. $745 million worldwide, respectively).

Still, “Caspian,” which is considered the least commercially appealing of the seven C.S. Lewis “Narnia” novels, ranked No. 10 in global box office performance last year. “Dawn Treader” is considered to be a more family film-friendly book, and the goal is to get back to the magical aspects present in the first “Narnia” pic but mostly absent from “Prince Caspian.”

Ultimately, Fox’s commitment to the summer start date is contingent upon Walden’s selection of a writer. Richard LaGravanese penned the most recent draft that both Walden and Fox were happy with, but there’s a question about his availability because he has been adapting Sara Gruen’s bestseller “Water for Elephants” for Fox 2000. . . .

I believe this is the first I have heard of LaGravenese’s involvement in this movie. The last screenwriter I was aware of on this project was Steven Knight, who previously collaborated with director Michael Apted on Amazing Grace (2006).

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times has posted a story of its own, which covers most of the same basic points.

UPPERDATE: And now the Hollywood Reporter chimes in, noting that the film “faces creative as well as budgetary challenges” because the story lacks “a clear antagonist.”