KEY POINTS:
Prince Caspian, the sequel to the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film, will be filmed in New Zealand early next year, according to the Narnia website.
New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who made the first movie, will also direct Prince Caspian, to be shot in Auckland in February and March followed by four months of production in Prague, Czech Republic.
Prince Caspian, first published in 1951, is the second book in the seven-book series written by C S Lewis. The Pevensie children are pulled back into the land of Narnia where a thousand years have passed since they left, and join the creatures of Narnia in combating an evil villain who will do anything to stop the rightful prince from ruling the land.
Adamson will use the same quartet of British actors: Georgie Henley, 10, Skandar Keynes, 14, Anna Popplewell, 17, and William Moseley, 18, who appeared in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
He told the website "If we don't make [the film] now, we'll never be able to because they'll be too old."
The website said the cinema release of Prince Caspian has been moved back from its original Christmas 2007 release slot to mid-2008 so as not to clash with another family movie filmed in New Zealand, The Water Horse, due to be released on December 8.
The Water Horse was filmed by Walden Media at Queenstown, then moved to Wellington for shooting at Stone Street Studios, with post-production being completed at Weta Digital and Park Road Post.
- NZPA
