It’s comin’ home, it’s comin’ home, it’s coming, Narnia’s coming home. OK, not the most catchy chant in the world ever, but it’s very early in the morning yet and it’s the best we can do. The point is that the next film in the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, is set to shoot here in the UK – at Pinewood specifically – instead of in New Zealand like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before it.
Andy Bird, president of Walt Disney Entertainment, made the announcement late last week that shooting will begin in February, with post-production also slated to take place in Britain. That's presumably bad news for director, and native New Zealander, Andrew Adamson, and there's no word yet on whether / how WETA will still be involved, but it's good news for Blighty's ever-beleaguered film industry.
It comes hot on the heels of Chancellor Gordon Brown’s announcement, in the pre-budget report last week, of new tax breaks for filmmaking in this country. This came as welcome news for the industry, which was left reeling in 2004 after the government closed a tax loophole used by many production companies to part-finance films here. With the news that a friendly new tax regime is about to be put in place, it seems that happy days are here again and companies are being tempted back.
Whether the industry can hope to return to the halcyon days of 2003, where spending on filmmaking in the UK reached a peak of £1.15 billion, remains to be seen, but the news that a big franchise like Narnia is to join loyal old Harry Potter and Bond (and even they threatened to move abroad) in this green and pleasant land has got to be a step in the right direction. Now if we can just persuade Michael Bay to move over here, we’ll be laughing. We can see it now – exploding doilies during afternoon tea with the vicar! Car chases on double-decker buses! Tony Blair, with an AK-47, fighting off terrorists in the House of Commons! Why, production in this country would hit £3 billion no problem – whadya think, Mike?