By Brendan Swift
The latest installment in the blockbuster Narnia series will begin filming in Queensland later this year providing the state’s biggest production in several years.
It follows the announcement that Green Lantern would film in New South Wales after several US studios have scouted local locations in an attempt to take advantage of the weak Australian dollar.
Premier and Minister for the Arts, Anna Bligh, said the Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC) is in final negotiations with the film’s production companies Walden Media and Twentieth Century Fox.
"The production will provide considerable economic benefit not only to the Queensland film industry, but also to our transport, tourism and hospitality sectors," she said in a statement.
The first two installments of the classic CS Lewis novels were backed by Disney and racked up a reported $US180 million and $US225 million respectively in production costs. However, the third film’s production costs are expected to be lower, at around $US140 million. It is likely to be the biggest production since Peter Pan was filmed in Queensland in 2003.
The production offices of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are based at Warner Roadshow Studios and filming in expected to begin in late-July and finish in early-November.
The film, directed by Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough, Gorillas in the Mist, Nell), will use Warner Roadshow Studios’ tank facilities and sound stages and shoot on location in and around the Gold Coast, Redland City and Whitsundays.
Premier Bligh confirmed that Warner Roadshow had offered financial incentives to secure the project while the Gold Coast City Council’s Film Gold Coast had also provided support and assistance during recent location scouts.