The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), the third novel in C. S. Lewis‘s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia (and fifth in internal chronological order). It is the third and final installment in the original Chronicles of Narnia film series, and the only film in the series to be released in Digital 3D and the only one not to be co-produced and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

The film is set three Narnian years after the events of Prince Caspian. The two youngest Pevensie siblings, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley), are transported back to Narnia along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter). They join the new king of Narnia, Caspian (Ben Barnes), in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island. Each character is tested as they journey to the home of the great lion Aslan (Liam Neeson) at the far end of the world.

Development on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader began in 2007, while Prince Caspian was still in production. Filming was supposed to take place in Malta, Czech Republic and Iceland in 2008 with Michael Apted as its new director, for a planned release in 2009. But production was halted after a budgetary dispute between Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures concerning Prince Caspian‘s performance at the box office, resulting in Disney’s departing the production and being replaced by 20th Century Fox under Fox 2000 Pictures.

Filming later took place in Australia and New Zealand in 2009 and was converted into 3-D in 2010. It was released in traditional 2D, RealD 3D, and Digital 3D, and a limited release in 4D. The screenplay based on the novel by C. S. Lewis was written by Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus.

The film premiered on November 30, 2010, at a Royal Film Performance in London and was released worldwide on December 10, 2010 and was commercially successful but met with mixed reviews praising the performances and visual effects but criticizing the script and pace. The film received moderate success in North America with a gross of $104 million, which was lower than its predecessors. However, it fared better than Prince Caspian internationally with $310 million.

The film was the 12th-highest-grossing film of 2010 worldwide with nearly $415 million and received a nomination at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. It then became 20th Century Fox’s highest-grossing film in 2010. The Magician’s Nephew was to be the fourth entry to the series, but in the fall of 2011 Walden Media‘s contract with the C. S. Lewis estate expired.