Ben Barnes Reflects on Prince Caspian’s Disappointing Box Office

In a recent interview with Variety, Ben Barnes (Caspian) said he expected his role in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian would take his career to “the top.” But the movie underperformed, grossing $420 million worldwide.

It was the kind of part (a rakishly handsome man of action) in the kind of movie (the second installment in a global blockbuster franchise backed by Disney) that was supposed to catapult Barnes into instant A-list stardom. Stories about Barnes from that period, in fact, couldn’t resist declaring him to be “the new prince of Hollywood.”

“Naively, it felt like a mark of things to come,” Barnes said of the sudden rush of fame he received from the film. “Princes become kings, you know? You get on the escalator and if you work hard and you commit to your characters and do it in good faith, DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are at the top and that’s where you end up.”

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Ben goes on to describe the peace he has found and how he has used the experience to mentor younger actors.

Ben returns to the fantasy genre in his latest project, Shadow and Bone, a series which released on Netflix yesterday. View the trailer:

8 Responses

  1. Icarus says:

    All things considered, Ben Barnes has done pretty well off the back of Narnia.

    Westworld, The Punisher, Sons of Liberty, and now Shadow & Bone, are all high quality shows with prestige appeal and international recognition.

    Sure he perhaps hasn’t really had the sort of big budget movie success that James McAvoy achieved, but he’s still far from a slouch career wise.

  2. Just Queen, not High Queen says:

    Of all the actors who played children characters in the Narnia films (even though they aged Caspian up, I still count him), he’s probably had the most successful career so far and much closer to being a household name. Also, the film may have underperformed, but it was still in the top 10 highest grossing films worldwide that year. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

  3. Lisa Kiraly says:

    Ben Barnes is awesome actor.i love watching him. Makes my day .

  4. That mysterious active music in the middle section of the trailer sounds a lot like the music in 2005’s LWW trailer!

  5. Holly says:

    Exactly. He may not have had the best career possible but hes had a fantastic one and I love watching his films. While not every role is in a “blockbuster” , hes not really had a “bad” role. Hes created an incredible audience with his choices and I cant wait to see where he goes next.

  6. Andy Harrelson says:

    I honestly think the movie did great DESPITE Disney’s poor marketing. I honestly see no reason as to why they sold the rights. But on the other hand, It’s nice to see Ban learned some humility from it, and he’s actually made quite a career for himself!

  7. EJH says:

    Yes, it is nice to hear about how Ben’s career is going well. I guess he’s not as rich as Brad Pitt, but he was in two of my favorite movies, and I’d much rather meet him than Brad Pitt if I was into going to conventions. Once a Narnian, always a Narnian.
    It’s good to aim for the top, though, but there are so few spots. I think that if you can make a living doing what you want to do, then you are successful.

  8. Just Queen, not High Queen says:

    I know. Despite the marketing and bad release date, it did well despite those obstacles. Not enough people consider that (outside of Narniaweb, at least).