Johnson: 'Narnia is a whole new franchise'

Producer Mark Johnson has revealed that the forthcoming third instalment to Narnia is "a whole new franchise".

Filming recently got under way in Queensland, Australia on next part The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. 20th Century Fox agreed to back the film after Walt Disney Pictures decided not to produce further adaptations of the C.S. Lewis novels.

Johnson said that the switch in studios has given the picture a look that differs from the first two chapters of the series.

He told Coming Soon: "It's a whole new franchise, I think it's really benefiting from it.

"It's a slightly different look. This one is different from the others, it's in that [Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, old Harryhausen films] league and they go from island to island having adventures. I'm very excited about it."

The new movie will centre on Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes) returning to the magical land with their cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) through a painting. The trio travel with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) and a warrior mouse named Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard) on the titular ship to Aslan's Country (again voiced by Liam Neeson).

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is scheduled to open in cinemas on December 10, 2010.