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The third Chronicles of Narnia movie is tipped to be made outside New Zealand because of a lack of studio space here.
Tim Coddington, the New Zealand production manager of Prince Caspian and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, said the third movie in the fantasy series would probably go to a country with more studio infrastructure.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is likely to be filmed mostly in the studio. Because the story takes place on a boat and a series of fantasy islands, it will require large indoor sets.
Only about a third of Prince Caspian was filmed in New Zealand. However, landscapes from the South Island and Coromandel Peninsula appear alongside scenes from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Studio scenes were filmed in Prague.
Almost all of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was filmed here.
Screenmark consultant Tim Thorpe said a lack of studio space was an ongoing issue in New Zealand. The Government had done its bit by investing in studios in Auckland and Wellington, but studios were not generally good money-spinners.
Mr Thorpe said Kiwi Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two movies but will not direct the third, was always keen to film in New Zealand but money managers would decide.
Baja in Mexico, where the third film is tipped to be made, has three or four studios the size of that used in Henderson.
The Ministry of Economic Development says The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe makers spent $133.8 million in New Zealand. Just under $17 million of that was repaid by the Government under its large budget screen production incentive scheme.
Interim figures from the ministry show Prince Caspian makers spent $52.3 million here, $6.7 million of which was paid back in a government grant.
The United States producers of the Narnia series, Walden Media, did not respond to messages from the Weekend Herald.
