“Bungee jumping off the highest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere.

Conquering the third highest canyon swing in the world.

Diving off Auckland’s Sky Tower’s terrifying 630-foot cable drop.

The act of a daredevil?

No, just that of a curious and fearless teenager.

His name is Skandar Keynes.

This time, his feats of daring are playing “Paper-Scissors-Rock” 24 feet underwater!

When it was proposed (or mandated) that Skandar and co-stars Will Poulter and
Georgie Henley don a wet suit to earn their scuba PADI (Professional Association of
Diving Instructors) certificate before filming commenced on “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the teenage trio dove right in, you might say, to yet another adventure and challenge.

The third book in C.S. Lewis’ series begins when the two youngest Pevensies, along with their irritating cousin Eustace, are swallowed into a bedroom wall painting, which depicts a ship sailing on the high seas.

To create the effect of the bedroom flooding with water, the production’s mechanical SFX crew, under the direction of veteran movie magician Brian Cox, and working with Barry Robison’s and Ian Gracie’s crack art department and construction crew, duplicated the sound stage bedroom set on an elevated platform which was then dunked into the smaller of Warner Roadshow’s two exterior studio water tanks. The three actors were then instructed to swim out of the bedroom door and windows to the surface.

Weeks before their scenes were filmed, Keynes, Poulter and Henley underwent a three-day scuba diving course under the supervision of Aussie diving instructor Andrew Allen. The actors trained in a local swimming pool and at sea.

You can say they all took to the lessons like fish to water.

After a relatively short rehearsal period in the studio tanks, filming began on the bedroom water scenes in late July, the first week of production. A short time later, the three young actors dove into a second studio tank, to enact the moments where they surface in the ocean and are saved by Caspian and his crew aboard the Dawn Treader.

One might assume the cast would wait until all camera angles were set before jumping into the tank. Not so. There were several situations where the actors were required to wait underwater until director Michael Apted (the new skipper at the helm of the “Narnia” franchise) called “action!” In these instances, stunt coordinator Allan Poppleton’s safety dive crew rigged scuba tanks to the floor of the studio water tank, 24 feet underwater. The actors would then dive to the bottom of the pool, don a mask and regulator, and breathe normally until they were ready to film a take at the water’s surface.

The actors became so adept and comfortable staying underwater for long periods that, to pass the time, they would play “Paper-Scissors-Rock!” while awaiting their filming cue. The game simulates a coin toss in selecting something for a desired purpose – such as determining who would make it to the surface first once Apted rolled cameras.

Now certified to dive anywhere in the world, one wonders if about the cast’s next seafaring pursuits?

Did anyone say “surfing?”

Indeed. Skandar has used some of his daily meal money to purchase a surfboard, which he confirms he will ship back to his London flat — probably for use on either the Thames or the English Channel. Perhaps he’ll decide from a game of Paper-Scissors-Rock!”

The ceremony takes place at Globe Theatre at Universal Studios, Universal City with the winners being announced on March 29th.

Variety and The L.A. Times are reporting that 20th Century Fox has picked up the option to co-finance Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader just a month after Disney decided to pass on helping to finance the third film in the series. Budgeting and script issues are being worked out although there’s hope that the film will start shooting at the end of summer for a planned holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

Fox and Walden will split the production and P&A costs for “Dawn Treader,” which is projected to have a $140 million budget, down from the $215 million spent on last year’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. “Caspian” grossed $419 million worldwide, compared to the $745 million earned by its predecessor “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.”

As planned, the third film will be directed by Michael Apted with Mark Johnson and original director Andrew Adamson co-producing. Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley will be returning as Prince Caspian, Edmund and Lucy while Will Poulter from Garth Jennings’ Son of Rambow will play Eustace Clarence Scrubb.

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Happy holidays, everyone! We are also approaching 3 years online, and I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has visited and supported us over that time

The studio had been committed to co-produce and co-finance The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader alongside Walden Media.

However, the studio has now revealed that for budgetary and logistical reasons, it will not be involved in production of the next movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The first film in the franchise, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, cost $180 million (£122 million) to make and made around $745 million (£505 million) at the worldwide box office. Second instalment Prince Caspian had a budget of $200 million (£135 million) but grossed just $419 million (£284 million) worldwide, a significant drop from the previous movie.

Dawn Treader is already in pre-production, with an anticipated release date of May 2010. All and key characters from the previous instalments are thought to have signed on.

Walden Media is expected to go ahead with the production, with Fox studios a likely contender to replace Disney.

Earlier this year, it was rumoured that the Narnia franchise would end with Dawn Treader after producer Mark Johnson said that there were no plans to adapt any of the remaining four books.

Also, just a reminder – if you are in the UK, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be showing on BBC1 on December 26 at 5.50pm!