BY MATTHEW STONE

Staff Writer

When "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" premiered at movie theaters in 2005, the flick was a hit at Regal Cinemas in Augusta, theater manager David Wallace said.

"We were packed on that one," he said.

On Thursday, the theater was gearing up for the midnight premier of "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second movie based on the classic, seven-book series by C.S. Lewis.

"We're staffed for being packed," Wallace said.

But there was no sure way to tell on Thursday whether the second "Narnia" installment would come close to the $30.1 million in national box office sales during the movie's first weekend in theaters in December 2005.

"We have high hopes for it," said John Moore, who owns Farmington's Narrow Gauge Cinemas and Skowhegan's Strand Cinema. "It's always hard to tell exactly how well or how poorly a film will do."

Mariah Daigle, the assistant manager of Waterville's Flagship Cinemas, said just six people had purchased advance tickets for Narnia's midnight showing by 4 p.m. Thursday.

"I don't think it's going to be that big of a midnight show," she said. But "I think it'll be a big movie."

Moore said "Prince Caspian" is one of four major movies to premier this May, making the month a strong one for theaters.

"We haven't had a May like this in a while," he said. "This is a solid May."

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Iron Man" and "Made of Honor" are the three other major films premiering this month.

A "Prince Caspian" video game is also set to premiere when the movie hits theaters today.

Eric Rossignol, who owns Video Game Exchange in Augusta, said the game has not sparked much interest among customers.

"People aren't really excited about games made after movies, because one comes out for every movie," he said.

The two-hour, 18-minute "Prince Caspian" pits the polyglot Narnians -- dwarfs, centaurs, minotaurs, flying gryphons and intrepid fighting mice -- against an evil group called the Telemarines.

A combined cast and crew of nearly 2,000 worked on the production, creating elaborate battle sets. Producers also enlisted some of the most prominent special effects houses in the world to produce more than 1,600 computer-generated-image shots.

Still, the film makes sure that no blood is shed in those battle scenes. The movie is rated PG.

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com