The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 high fantasy film directed by Andrew Adamson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the 1951 novel Prince Caspian, Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, the second published and fourth chronological novel in the children's book series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The sequel to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), it is the second installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series.
William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Liam Neeson, and Tilda Swinton reprise their roles from the previous film, while new cast includes Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Eddie Izzard, Warwick Davis, Ken Stott, and Vincent Grass. In the film, the four Pevensie siblings return to Narnia to aid Prince Caspian in his struggle for the throne against his corrupt uncle, King Miraz.
Work on the script for the film began before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released, so filming could begin before the actors grew too old for their parts. Director Andrew Adamson wanted to make the film more spectacular than the first, and created an action sequence not in the novel. The Narnians were designed to look wilder as they have been hiding from persecution, stressing the darker tone of the sequel. The filmmakers also took a Spanish influence for the antagonistic race of the Telmarines. Filming began in February 2007 in New Zealand, but unlike the previous film, the majority of shooting took place in Central Europe, because of the larger sets available in those countries. To keep costs down, Adamson chose to base post-production in the United Kingdom, because of recent tax credits there.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian premiered on May 7, 2008, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, before it was theatrically released on May 16 in the United States and on June 26 in the United Kingdom, by Walt Disney Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Many praised the performances and visual effects; however, the film's darker tone and mature themes drew polarizing opinions. It was a moderate success at the box office, grossing $55 million during its opening weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed over $419.6 million worldwide, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2008.
Prince Caspian was the last The Chronicles of Narnia film to be co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures as 20th Century Fox became the distributor for the next film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), due to budgetary disputes between Disney and Walden Media, but as a result of Disney eventually purchasing 21st Century Fox in 2019, Disney now owns the rights to all the films in the series.
