Ben Barnes is battening down for the tidal wave of fan attention that already is starting to come his way as “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’s” title star prepares to launch the flick opening May 16.

The 26-year-old already has wound up in a clutch of “hunk-on-the-rise” lists. Web sites and YouTube video pictorials have been created in his honor already.

“It is a little strange. William (Moseley) and all the other guys from the first movie have been through the fame and the fan frenzy, so they know, and I watch the way they handle it. Colin Firth said, ‘I’ll tell you the important thing: Just be comfortable with what you’re doing,’” says the London-born Barnes, who also has the feature adaptation of Noel Coward’s “Easy Virtue” in the can, co-starring with Firth.

This month’s Comic-Con convention in New York “was the first time I’ve ever been face to face with the avid fans who can’t wait to see the movie. They’re so keen to know all about the visual effects, the tiny discrepancies between the movie and the book. It’s cool to know that the work we put into those seven months is appreciated. Everyone was respectful.”

Barnes already is scheduled to begin the third installment of the “Chronicles” — “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” — this fall. “We’re supposed to start shooting in October or November, a lot in Mexico. It’s a whole different type of movie, an action-adventure.”

Source: The Hollywood Exclusive