Third Narnia epic only treads water in the US

The Narnia franchise is, in financial terms, shaping up into one of the odder Hollywood phenomena. When, following the indifferent US performance of Prince Caspian, the second film in the series, Walt Disney stepped away from the adaptations of CS Lewis's allegorical novels, more than a few experts expressed surprise.

Yes, the film (whose marketing budget was astronomical) only made $141 million domestically, but it went on to soak up $278 million in – as Hollywood would have it – the Rest of the World. By taking 66 per cent of its money overseas, Prince Caspianexceeded the usual out-of-US haul by about 10 per cent. Twentieth Century Fox, who then took over the enterprise for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, clearly had its eyes on punters in Europe, Asia and South America.

Dawn Treaderonly took in a comparatively measly $24 million on its US opening weekend. To put this in perspective, the first Narnia took $65 million on its first weekend and the second $55 million – all this without the 3D surcharge boosting Treader. The sages decided that Fox had screwed up.

But what’s this? The overseas haul over the first few days was a staggering $81 million. You don’t need a maths degree to work out that the picture, thus, took nearly 80 per cent of its lolly in the Rest of the World. This is close to unheard of. Rupert Murdoch certainly hires some crafty beggars.