‘Narnia’s’ Johnson Rides Hot Streak

From Variety.com:

Johnson’s against-the-grain taste for PG fare like “A Little Princess” and “My Dog Skip” paid off bigtime when he landed the Walden Media/Disney franchise “The Chronicles of Narnia,” plus a first-look deal to produce family films for Walden; the pact covers much of the overhead on Johnson’s four-person Beverly Hills office.

On this morning, he and “Narnia” director Andrew Adamson are going over studio notes from a preview of sequel “Prince Caspian” the night before in La Verne, Calif. Even though some 65 non-civilians from Walden and Disney comprised a third of the test audience, Johnson is a model of calm.

That’s one reason why he landed the gargantuan gig in the first place. He’s a hands-on producer with a steady gaze, easy manners and a firm handshake.

With a budget heading toward the $200 million mark, “Prince Caspian” tested just fine, Johnson says, while admitting that this second installment in the C.S. Lewis series is a darker, more dramatic, boy-friendly action piece than the $180 million “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” which grossed $745 million worldwide.

Read the rest of the article here. NOTE: The release date given for Dawn Treader is incorrect. We hope to get confirmation on the filming dates soon.

UPDATE: We have contacted Disney, and they have confirmed that the dates given in this article are errors. Filming is still set to begin this Summer, for a May 2010 release.