Disney to take part in Narnia film

Walt Disney’s announcement that it will be co-financing and distributing the movie version of The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, comes as no surprise after Lord Of The Rings swept the Oscars on Sunday .

It’s expected that the movie will be an enormous blockbuster when it comes out at Christmas 2005.

There’s already talk in Hollywood about the the legendary CS Lewis series becoming even more successful than director Peter Jackson’s trilogy - if that’s possible.

Disney, together with the production company Walden Media who are making the film, took out a double page advert in Tuesday’s LA Times promoting the movie saying: “There are a thousand stories in the land of Narnia ....the first is about to be told ” – neatly leaving room for lots of sequels.

The series of seven novels has sold more than 85 million copies worldwide.

Andrew Adamson, who made Shrek, will be directing the live-action film.