Shooting for second Narnia film to begin

The second film in the Narnia series will begin production in New Zealand within the next month.

Prince Caspian, which like the first film in the series will be directed by Auckland filmmaker Andrew Adamson, will have several New Zealand locations used.

But unlike the first film in the series – The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – much of the studio work and a greater proportion of the outdoor scenes for Prince Caspian will be filmed overseas.

Adamson and the film's producer Mark Johnson told a media conference in Auckland today that they wanted to shoot continuously in summer and this would be easier to do if some of the film was shot overseas.

"Summer seems to be a lot later in New Zealand – in February and March – than I remember in my childhood," Adamson said.

"We want to take advantage of summer in both the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere."

Locations in both the North Island and South Island will be used but the filmmakers would not reveal them because they didn't want crowds turning up to watch them shooting.

Adamson said the lack of top quality sound stages in New Zealand made it harder to shoot studio-based scenes here.

"For the last film we were using equestrian centres and sheds with tin roofs and every time it rained or a car drove past it cost us time," he said.

The four child stars from the first film will be returning – William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), Skandar Keynes (Edmund) and Georgie Henley (Lucy).

Another young English actor, Ben Barnes, has been cast as Prince Caspian.

The film is based on the second book of the Narnia series written by C S Lewis.

A third film in the series will begin shooting soon after production is finished on Prince Caspian but Adamson will not direct it.

It was important to get filming done as quickly as practicable before the children grew up too much, he said.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which had a budget of about $US180 million ($NZ267 million), grossed an estimated $US739 million worldwide.

Meanwhile, Adamson said the third movie in the Shrek series was due to be released in May.