Prince Caspian Coming to Theaters May 16

Hard core fantasy fans of C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" will be making their way to theaters starting May 16, 2008 to see the second movie installment from Disney and Walden Media, "Prince Caspian."

"Prince Caspian" was directed by Andrew Adamson, who also directed "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and will feature Ben Barnes as Caspian. Movie sites are speculating that Barnes will add a considerable amount of sex-appeal to the next two movies (he is playing the same character in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"), and that will have the daughters and even some of the moms in the audiences swooning and eager to see film number three. Liam Neeson will again provide the voice of the great lion, Aslan. The original cast making up the four Pevensie children in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" will also return for this second installment.

For those who haven't read the book, the second of the seven chronicles involves the four earthling children returning to the magical kingdom of Narnia a year later in their time, but 1300 years later on the Narnian calendar. Soon after their arrival, they discover that much of the "magic" of Narnia is gone. The land is ruled by a tyrant and the wonderful talking animals have been driven into seclusion. The children embark upon a mission to restore the rightful heir (Caspian) to the throne of the kingdom.

The success of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in theaters obviously dictated that the second book would become a major motion picture as well. Work is already in progress for the third in the series, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". There is little doubt that all seven of the famous children's books will see their day on the silver screen.

The most recent fantasy film to hit the screens in a major way was "The Golden Compass". It was met with an incredibly strong email campaign from the Christian population due to the author Philip Pullman's atheistic views. The film debuted at the top spot, but came in under the production company's expectations overall. It will be interesting to see if "Prince Caspian" does better, since it will certainly attract the same audience as "The Golden Compass" and the much earlier "Lord of the Rings" trilogy but will also bring in the Christian crowd that refused to support "The Golden Compass" with their entertainment budget.

A trailer for "Prince Caspian" can be viewed at the official movie site, http://www.narnia.com