MUMBAI: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third in the series of films based on the bestselling books by C.S. Lewis, has begun principal photography on location in Queensland, Australia from 27 July.

The production, a joint venture between Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Walden Media, continues the franchise which commenced with the spectacular, Oscar-winning 2005 release, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and its 2008 follow-up, Prince Caspian, whose combined global box office gross tops $1.2 billion.

Veteran filmmaker Michael Apted is at the helm of the new Narnia venture. It will star Georgie Henley as Lucy and Skandar Keynes as Edmund. Ben Barnes reprises the role of Caspian. Cousin Eustace will be played by UK native Will Poulter.

The supporting cast includes several veterans of the Aussie film world, including Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Arthur Angel and Kiwi native Shane Rangi. Lending his vocal talents again to the project is Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson as the all-powerful ruler of Narnia, Aslan the Lion.

While relinquishing the director’s chair this time out, filmmaker Andrew Adamson will return as one of the film’s three producers, reteaming with his colleagues from the first two Narnia films — Academy Award-winner Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer.

Production on "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will take place entirely in Queensland, Australia, primarily at the Warner Roadshow Studio facility in Gold Coast, which houses the Southern Hemisphere’s largest water tank facility, crucial to the production’s needs. Filming will conclude in November 2009, with a year-long post-production schedule leading to the film’s global release in December 2010.