The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter
| The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter | |
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International theatrical release poster by Renato Casaro
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| Directed by | George T. Miller |
| Produced by | Dieter Geissler |
| Screenplay by | Karin Howard |
| Based on |
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Robert Folk |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
| Edited by |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $17.4 million |
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter is a 1990 German-American fantasy film and sequel to The NeverEnding Story. It was directed by George T. Miller and stars Jonathan Brandis as Bastian Bux, Kenny Morrison as Atreyu, and Alexandra Johnes as the Childlike Empress. The only actor to return from the first film was Thomas Hill as Mr. Koreander.
The film used plot elements from Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story (primarily the second half) but introduced a new storyline.
Upon its American theatrical release in 1991, the Bugs Bunny animated short "Box-Office Bunny" was shown before the film. This short was also included on the VHS and Laserdisc release later that year.
Bastian Bux is having troubles at home: his father Barney's busy workload is keeping him from consoling Bastian's fear of heights. As such, he then heads to an old bookstore where he again meets Mr. Koreander, who proceeds to help find a book on courage. While waiting, Bastian rediscovers the Neverending Story's book, and is shocked to see its words disappear off its pages. Deciding to take the book instead, Bastian returns home and finds himself able to claim AURYN right off the book's cover while hearing the Childlike Empress summon him to Fantasia.
Aware of his arrival, an evil sorceress named Xayide orders a creation from one of her servants to stop him. The servant creates a memory machine that will strip Bastian of a memory each time he uses AURYN, until he is unable to remember where he came from, or why he is in Fantasia. Xayide then sends a bird-like creature named Nimbly to persuade Bastian into making him wish. As the two arrive in a populated area of Fantasia called Silver City, the sorceress sends large monsters referred to as giants to attack. Despite Nimbly's attempts to make him wish them away, Bastian is able to escape from them without doing so. After falling into a secret passage, Bastian is contacted by the Childlike Empress, who tells him of a new threatening force to Fantasia, which is keeping her prisoner in her own castle as well as causing the stories of the ordinary world to disappear, and that he must identify and defeat it.
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