There has been a lot of discussion over the decision to make the next film out of either The Silver Chair or The Magician’s Nephew. While Silver Chair is the next logical film in the series, Magician’s Nephew ties in pretty well to the first film in the series thus far: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Some have said that it was a pure business decision, and as it turns out, this isn’t true. Last week saw the release of a podcast called Inside Out. They interviewed Walden Media’s Micheal Flaherty about Narnia and more, and the discussion turned toward the dark nature of Prince Caspian as both a novel and a film.
Micheal Flaherty: “Yeah, and this is the paradox when you want to do faithful adaptations. That book is a dark war kind of novel. And we actually pulled back a little. In one scene, Peter beheads a couple of people. At the end they run into some Greek gods who give everybody wine and they get drunk. So it’s amazing because I think a lot of us, in our minds, have this perfect image of these Narnia books because we grew up with them. But there are some elements in there that are a little tough, and Caspian is the darkest, and Silver Chair is pretty dark too, physically and tonally. A lot of it takes place underground. That’s why, for the next one, we’re really hoping to go in the direction of The Magician’s Nephew.”
Flaherty goes on to talk about something he’s mentioned before. The film ticket sales very closely mirror the book sales for the Chronicles of Narnia. It’s another factor that I am sure goes into the decision to do Magician’s Nephew next.
Micheal Flaherty: “Yes – and pretty close – sort of nipping at the heels of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s amazing and it’s a great origin story. And I like the way that [Narnia author C.S.] Lewis did it and that’s what we’re trying to do with our film, which is: you actually start in the middle of the story. So then when you tell the origin it’s much more interesting. You can say to yourself “that’s where the lamp-post came from!”
But that’s not all. It seems that we’re bound to get another Narnia film, but the biggest question is still which way to go next. We know that Walden Media wants to move forward with The Magician’s Nephew, and now we know why. We also know that negotiations are also ongoing with both 20th Century Fox and the C.S. Lewis Estate. He is asked if they have a script yet for The Magician’s Nephew, and responds:
Micheal Flaherty: “No, we don’t. We’re still in our conversations right now with 20th Century Fox, and the C.S. Lewis Estate who own the rights to all the books. So, we’re all trying to come to an agreement about which film to do next and how to film it. So, we’re waiting to see where that goes.”
So, we continue to wait, patiently or impatiently, until more information is available. Now we know that nothing has been greenlit yet, and that discussions are still ongoing. We know the direction that Walden Media wants to take and why, and we’re not sure of who wants The Silver Chair to be next: Fox or the Estate (and let’s not guess). We did run a poll a while back that put Silver Chair far ahead of Magician’s Nephew, according to what fans would like to see.
The Silver Chair – 75%, 2,796 Votes
The Magician’s Nephew – 25%, 923 Votes
These results show that it wasn’t a landslide in favor of The Silver Chair, but it was extremely on that side. I’ve just created a new poll, though, that I think is a bit more fair. Now that we know the reasons that Walden Media has to do Magician’s Nephew, and we know why we’d love to see Silver Chair. There are three options instead of just the two.
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I wished they had made the MN movie right away, that is by far my favorite book. The creation of Narnia is just so beautiful I can’t wait to see how they portray it.
I just want to see another Narnia movie. I don’t care which one, as long as it is either one of these. Bring on another Narnia, with Adamson please.
Abren says:
May 24, 2011 at 10:20 pm
… AS LONG AS MICHAEL APTED IS NOT DIRECTING!!! get some one who acually care about and understands what Narnia is about.
pbart1026 says:
May 24, 2011 at 8:16 pm
…Bring on another Narnia, with Adamson please.
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Hear hear! Agree!!!! 🙂
Personally, I loved what Apted did with VotDT way more than what Adamson did with PC. Don’t get me wrong, Adamson killed it with LWW!! I loved his view of LWW, but he just twisted so much in PC. Attack on Miraz’s castle? Peter and Caspian hating each other? Caspian and Susan kissing? The White Witch coming back? NO! All of this was not true! There was no fight at the castle, Peter and Caspian were best friends from the start, absolutely no love chemistry with Caspian and Susan, and they only TALKED about bringing the White Witch back and she never actually comes back to “tempt” Peter and Caspian! Now Apted twisted a lot in VotDT too, but I think he stuck more to the storyline than Adamson did with PC. Either way, they both twisted the story, but I would love to have Apted with SC. I think he would do great with it and it’s the next book logically and I think they should save MN for later.
I don’t think you can really compare PC to VDT. Out of all the movies I think that LWW was the most well done. PC and VDT just strayed farther and farther from the books and while I know that that is needed sometimes, they did it to much In my opinion.
VDT strayed further than PC in my opinion. I mean come on – Green Mists and Swords? What the heck was wrong with the original plot? Did you have to change it completely?
You’re probably right…
I like all of them, and I think for me personally to try and choose my favorite, I would just give myself a huge headache ;)(trust me, i’ve TRIED!)
i dnt agree wid u PC and VDT are different..PC is reputed to b the darkest one..so u cant expec mch..moreover even if the book LWW was the most popular.. Apted did not get out the best from it there still need sme fings…the music for example is not as perfect as the last 2..u cnt blame Adamson…he did the best he can … a book is not same as a movie…thre mst b sme difference..admason gave us his beat …im sure..i dont agree wid u caspian and susan romance are 1 of thr fings i love the most in PC..it epic and give a sense and some epic sauce to PC..anyway as u say LWW is killing and Adamson was the one who did it soo?y not him again…adamson kills and is the best..but Apted too did a vry great job…it was extremely good.. however we wnt the first maker…god bless u all…b good to urself and t the world
sory for the ist part for apted its not LWW is VDT..im sowii.. made a mistk..god bless
How long do you spend texting and chating? Because you got a bad case of texting language xD
pleaz capitalize God. it is respectful. God bless you!!;)
NarniaLover Says: “but he just twisted so much in PC. Attack on Miraz’s castle? Peter and Caspian hating each other? Caspian and Susan kissing? The White Witch coming back? NO! All of this was not true!”
Yo narnia lover! You can’t blame everything on the directors, All the alterations from the storyline on that movie was almost 100% of the script (screen?) writers fault!
Also, I do agree they made some alterations that weren’t necessary but look at VotDT about half that movie is TWISTED, more so than PC!
wat do u mean by a bad textin language?FYI i txt and chat all day long…u fink fr u is betta?anyway wer nt here to fight but were together for a fing that we all have in common*we love narnia* ya everthn is nt on directors but on writers youre right but adamson like apted are directors and im sure they gav ideas for the movies as they hv mch experience sooo? stop making fun out of people…this is not good…God bless..
Michael is TOO old to be directing too… He’s probably a grandpa
Why should that matter? There are many brilliant filmmakers that are as old as he is. Being a grandpa doesn’t mean that you just give up.
Narnia novels as all know has no principal character, so why the direction has be just one? Cant they co-work? Adanson got all world with lww and apted got some back after pc.
One see it as magical another as its meaning between darkness and “holyness”. After its greenlited it should forget about money while making a script, afterall lewis dont needed milions to write a movie, and thats the important, the story!
Reply please. Thanks.
I agree, that WAS a bit mean, but personally I like Adamson better, and Caleb, we’re all entitled to our own opinions, but saying Adamson made the kids act like people from Twlight is just a LITTLE extreme.
@ Fernando, I disagree with you, Aslan is the principal character, He doesn’t really appear as most principal characters do but he is the main character. The mistake I think this film makers make is that they make us fall in love with the characters that come and go rather than the one that stays throughout the series (Aslan.) Aslan appears most in LWW, and PC had less of him and Vdt even lesser.
It’s kind of hard when Aslan doesn’t appear all that much in the books either. However, he did appear much more in VDT than he did in PC.
@reepicheep_fangirl Maybe a little, but mostly I meant Susan and Prince Caspian. Susan even had her eyes colored the same way 😛 Not saying that’s bad, but I think the problem was that Adamson thought it would do better if it was more like HP or Twilight, and it made many people not like the film. I’ve heard someone say that they didn’t like PC because they thought Peter had the wrong personality compared to the book, and I agree.
I understand, Caleb. Although, please don’t try to say stuff like “Adamson PROBABLY thought…” and “He thought that it would be better if…” because we don’t know for sure. Therefore, we shouldn’t make prejudgements about people and their ideas. 🙂
I totally get how you feel about the Suspian and Peter’s behaviour though.
I liked him better. Andrew Adamson made the kids act TERRIBLY out of character compared to the book in Prince Caspian. They made the kids act like people from twilight or something. But Michael Apted got there personalities perfect, especially Eustace. And he had more comedy which is what I think C.S. Lewis would want.
I agree with you on that caleb…it was funny!
I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!
Make another beautiful movie and make it Narnian!
I quite liked Michaels directing, he directed the acting more than the sfx. He trusted them to do their own job
I am for Adamson!!!!
What about The Horse and His Boy? I really would love to see that one. It would make an epic movie, even though it doesn’t fit directly into the whole story.
I agree. Plus it has the advantage of having the Pensevies as young adults.
Yeah! That would be cool too! It makes alot of sense to do Horse and his boy before doing SC or MN.
I think it would give a little bit more character to the pensevies….
I think they had better keep HHB for later, I just think that it would be a great one for pulling the series out of the mud if/when it starts flagging.
However I don’t know much about these things, so I could be completely off course with this, but that’s just what I think.
I’d like the timing of HHB to be determined by how old Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley are (and William Moseley if they can work in a cameo that fits the book e.g. seeing him heading off to fight the giants). Wait for them to be the right age to play their roles, then lights camera action.
I say, the Horse and His Boy! The best Narnia book!
Honestly I want them to go for Silver Chair. It’s for personal selfish reasons. It was the first book I’ve read in the series as a kid and I loved it to death though the BBC adaption kinda killed it for me … hence I’ve been dreaming for a major hollywood film production for this book in the series.
If all else goes to the intended plan with Magician’s Nephew, i don’t mind. It’s quite an epic book. It gives me the “Never Ending Story” kind of feel. I’d love to see how they adapt that.
Anyway, voted for the Silver Chair.
Just keep in mind that there is a possibility that Fox and Walden may “kill it for you” as well.
If it’s already been killed, there’s only one way for it to go, and that’s up. I feel the same way as Josh does. I can’t stand any of the BBC versions (as accurate to the books as they are). I’m hoping for a new Silver Chair so I can ditch my BBC versions forever.
I totally agree with Josh and Paul, although I’ve never seen the BBC versions, nor do i want to. I would like to see BOTH made movies, eventually.
I would really like the Silver Chair too. As for the BBC versions, I thought they were fun and funny to watch. Technology has changed so much since then, so it will be great to see some CG owls instead of costume ones. (=
No-one has ever done a movie of MN I say its about time
I agree. Why not do it? It would be awsome! I would love to see MN instead of SC. Sorry SC fans…I think MN is better.
Well I originally had my mind set on SC, but now I have my mind set on MN! lol… So I think MN is the logical choice IF they spend a couple of years on it… I mean they can spend a couple of years on it, make it AMAZING… and I mean they have such a HUGE production budget, with the extra money Perry Moore Raised, that means Fox doesn’t have to spend a dime on this and they can just use that money right? Its genius it will get them lots of money (which seems to be one of their only goals) and it will be a good quality movie… I have high hopes for this movie, because VotDT had to adjust to the new directer/Fox… Now this time, it will seem a little more natural… I HAVE REALLY high hopes for MN, and I think the poles will show a significant difference for voters for MN than last time… Does anyone agree with this theory/have any objections?
i think the plot of MN is totally cool, SC is just meh, to me. /MN would make a gorgeous movie! though i would like it if in SC they would show caspian and LIL get married. -which i had looked forward to for vdt.
Yeahhh….I agree with both of you…
There’s so many scenes I want to see, that I could probably make an entire (ahem, VERY random) Narnia movie out of those alone! I think I speak for all of us, though… 🙂
I vote Magician’s Nephew. If the movies were all making tons of money, I would vote SC. But SC is not popular, and it might do bad and rop the series.
Still, they could finish off the caspain trilogy with SC
But if they did, people who haven’t read the books may think it’s the last book? Then after seeing MN then LB would come out and they’d say, another one! And might not watch it. But any way they do it is fine, as long as they have a narrative by someone at the beginning of MN telling that it’s before the time period of the Pevensie’s.
I LOVE this thought! here here!!
For MN, I’m sure they’ll have some kind of narrative through the movie or people won’t understand.
But what if they JUST finish the Caspian trilogy, as in what if they make SC, and then they don’t have the initiative to make more?
I voted Silver Chair, I think the movies should be written in the same order the books were written.
I vote Magician’s Nephew. In that original poll from a while back, I had voted for SC; however, seeing Walden Media’s reasons for doing MN next, I agree with them. In my opinion, making MN next is the best business decision; it’s much more likely to do well than SC, and that could determine whether or not any more CoN movies are made.
Magician’s Nephew all the way. I feel like Andrew Adamson might be good to bring back for this. Or maybe an entirely new director, like…Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick? (anyone remember April Fool’s Day on NarniaFans this year?) 😉
Did you HAVE to go there, Daniel? I remember it TOO well, and I hope you’re happy. 😉
But on the topic of the next Narnia movie, I think I agree. I originally wanted SC to because the order would’ve been correct, AND i would’ve gotten to see Will Poultler as Eustace again! (that wins BIG points in MY book ;)) But now after all this talk of MN, and AHEM, the cast :D, I really have my heart set on it now. It looks like I got talked into it! Hmmm….I don’t know about the new director idea. But this i DO know, it’s NOT Justin Bieber, so don’t even TRY to pull THAT one. 😉
Magician’s Nephew definitely. If they were to go with the Silver Chair, it would most likely make less money than PC and VOTDT which will cause the whole series to be discontinued. MC would help boost the chance to continue with the other books.
I’d love to see them do either one. However I’m still wondering if they will ever do “The Horse and His Boy”. I Think it would be such a fun movie to go see. We would get a brief glimpse into the golden age of Narnia which I think would be really cool to see. With the exotic almost Asian feel of Calormen combined with the splendor of the Narnia Kings and Queens it would be breath taking. Winding it all up with us getting to see The High King Peter and King Edmond in all their splendor on the field of Battle.
I haven’t even gotten to Bree yet, the magnificent dappled stallion. Of course care would have to be taken to not make it just another cheesy talking animal movie. Yet I’m confident it could be done as the writers have done a really great job with all the books so far.
I want SC next, partially because I think it’d be really cool to see the movies come out in the same order the books did. But mainly so they don’t have to get another actor for Eustace. Remember SC takes place less than a year England time after VotDT, in the first chapter Eustace talks about how he’s changed since “last term” and C.S. Lewis said terms are 13-weeks long.
I agree
me too.
Diddo!
I prefer it to be The Silver Chair… I’d like to see the same kids play in it and they do grow up fast! So I think they should do Silver Chair, then The Last Battle, then go back and do The Horse and His Boy and finally The Magician’s Nephew. The only book without the Pevensie children or Eustace or Jill (appears in Silver Chair) is The Magician’s Nephew. In the Horse and His Boy, the children are grown up.
I believe MN needs to go before LB as Polly and Digory need to be introduced. Also, to keep interest with the main story, I agree that HAHB should come after LB. The most important thing to consider with which movie should come next is what will keep viewers the most interested.
I believe that LB should be just that, the LAST battle, it sums up the hole CoN, and I think if they do it before other ones, they would refer to some senes that they won’t end up even putting in the movies and they would leave out other senes that will have a significance, that at the moment they can’t even imagine.
At first, I wanted them to go with SC because it seemed the logical choice. But now I want to see MN next. I like the book MN significantly more than SC, and long to see it realized on screen. The more I think about it, the more I want to see MN next. Either way, I just want more Narnia. But I feel that MN will be the best one to go with next. Personally, I feel that it would be the best choice in order to engage the audiences. SC kind of scared me as a kid. Made into a movie, it would be even darker, and could possibly alienate families with younger or more sensitive children. Better to save it until after MN, if you ask me.
“Some have said that it was a pure business decision, and as it turns out, this isn’t true”
Not sure what you mean. Once again, he is saying it’s a pure business decision. They want to stay with the magic of LWW (which made $745m) and avoid the darkness of PC (which made $325m less than LWW). Therefore, they are more attracted to MN than SC. MN also has a much stronger LWW connection than SC.
He also reveals something about their adaptation philosophy. When they come to a “tough” bit like Bacchus and Silenus, their solution is to avoid it altogether. Therefore, they are trying to avoid SC because they see it as being tough.
Avoiding the “tough” bits altogether robs the series of things that make it unique.
What you’re referring to with regard to the magic of LWW and darkness of PC is more of a creative decision than a business decision. It is a business decision, but not a “pure” business decision because those are creative reasons as well.
I think he was referring directly to you when he wrote that…
As much as MN is my favorite book of the series, followed by H&HB, I think it would be a bit more logical to make SC first. Though maybe they shouldn’t be too worried about it being too dark, but rather not rob the series of it’s excellency.
If this were going to be the last movie made, I would rather see MN be made. However if they intend on eventually making all the books, I would not mind seing it last as it was the last book to be made. I really hope to see Last Battle as a movie. The ending in the book brought tears to my eyes.
Acually, I dont mind, I think the Silver Chair might be an easier film to make plot/story/continuity-wise, but ultimately, I dont care…AS LONG AS MICHAEL APTED IS NOT DIRECTING!!! get some one who acually care about and understands what Narnia is about.
typo: cares about**
Have you ever watched Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace? It’s amazing! (No pun intended) Every director brings his own vision to the screen a I feel Apted did a good job. Let’s not criticize someone’s hard work. Bringing an epic Narnia book to the screen is no small task.
Also he keeps the Christianity, which I’m sure C.S. Lewis would consider a top priority!
I agree on that; aboutthe Christianity part…
Definitely Magician’s Nephew. I started reading the books after seeing both of the movies. (I like to do things backwards.) Having read The Magician’s Nephew made LW&W soooo much more enjoyable, magical and meaningful. I know it is going backwards (chronologically), but I think it would also renew interest in LW&W both the book and the movie.
In my opinion, the “darkest” book in the entire series is “The Last Battle”. I am totally opposed to deviating from the order of the original books. It is disingenuous to suggest that this idea is anything but a business decision. It would be a shame if they don’t do “The Silver Chair” next, “The Horse and His Boy” after that and so on. Besides, they need to use Eustace (who I guess they’ll have to replace for “The Last Battle” because by then the original actor will be too old . . . if they even ever make that movie, which I doubt).
“It is disingenuous to suggest that this idea is anything but a business decision.”
Considering that Flaherty said it was about the tone of the film as well, that makes it more than just a business decision.
About the tone is a business decision. Darker = less money.
Tone = Creative. Darker doesn’t = less money. PC and VDT made roughly the same total box office worldwide.
Less than LWW. Parts of VDT were darker than either of the previous films.
harry potter is dark and makes tons of money.
it was foolish of them to try and toughen up narnia for PC, that just alienated people looking for an anti-harry potter. better to go with MN to get the series back in the public’s good graces.
LB should be made last.
I would think that’s obvious, but it appears that they really want to switch up the order…
But hey, I’m all for surprises. 😉
otherwise it would be Middle-/Battle. LOL
I think I’ve actually reverted back to my previous decision for the Silver Chair. At first I wanted to see eustace’s story continue and I wanted to see an old caspian… then I thought that the MN was pretty much decided and I grew to like that idea (it is probably my favourite of the books and the first one I read,) but now I have a new reason for wanting to see them do SC. It’s Dark, I do dislike that in the book, but I realised that I like how the darkness was portrayed in Prince Caspian the movie, and I’d like to see how they would do with Silver Chair… If they would tone it down, I would enjoy it more. Plus it would give them good pairings, LLW light PC dark, VOTD light SC dark, MN light LB dark, and then HHB which is fairly middle of the road I’d say…
I have to admit I get really angry when I read Michael Flaherty’s comments. He shows a gross misunderstanding of the Chronicles of Narnia. The only poll I want to vote on is one that excludes his participation in the project.
Howso?
there probably would have been no narnia movies with out him.
I would suggest that ‘Jack’ decided that several decades ago.
I think they should do Silver Chair next. The Magician’s Nephew should really be the last film of the franchise because it was the last book to be written and it answers questions that crop up from the other books.
I do wish they would do all the books as films, they have been such great films so far.
lb was actally the 1 made last
I’d rather have SC than MN because it would have finished a whole part of the Caspian-story and as Eustace and Caspian is there, it may have connected to the audience more. Still if they’re onto MN, I’m not against it. Just hope they make the right decision..And if it’s still not finalized the movie will come out only by 2013, I guess 🙁 Let’s pray,wait and watch 🙂
I want the silver chair and please, please with andrew adamson!!! He’s better!!!
Too bad SC and MN can’t both be made at the same time! Adamson should direct MN while Apted should direct SC. Adamson is better with “magical moments”, and MN has tons of those. But SC is more of an adventure, action type story. Which I think Apted would do better.
What about a new director? We tend to get trapped into thinking that it’s gotta be this one or that one, or never this one or never that one. I’ve seen people point fingers in the wrong direction so many times when it comes to the director of these films and how much total creative control they have. Each film is a collaborative effort, with the director, writers, producers, studios and the estate. The way a movie comes out isn’t all on the director, unless that director is the only credited writer and is doing the film independently (by contract or otherwise) from the studio. It’s really complex. What the director has done on these films is helped to form the outline of the story with the writers, who have then taken the outline to script form. The script is then budgeted by the studio and changes are likely (this is also about six or seven drafts later). On the set, the director is focused on the performances of the actors, while everyone else does their jobs to make sure that they can capture what the director wants. What I’m trying to say is, as much as we want to blame / credit Andrew Adamson and Michael Apted for everything that went right / wrong with the films so far, we also can’t forget that they’re only part of the team. A big part, but part. (There’s a much longer essay here, but I figured I’d spare you.) So, what about a new and completely different director for each of the following films? Each book here on out is completely different from the last, so each film could have an entirely different director.
i,d say the biggest issue is the writing, you can only direct what is decided in the script.
I’ve been thinking (HOPING!!!) there will be a new directer…
what about James Cameron….?
I voted Silver Chair!!!!! 🙂
don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see whatever movie they decide to do next, but SC would be awesome to see next. and Will Poulter’s only getting older…..
ditto
Personally I feel that either Andrew Adamson or Michael Apted Would be the best Director. As far what Narnia movie they pick I personally don’t care. I just think it would be difficult to film an origin story like MN then try to go back and film SC and explain that it’s not a sequel story to MN. A Better question is this when Disney was making the films, why didn’t they start with MN and then do LWW ? Besides unless they had huge success with that film then they could have done PC and if that had been done better, then Disney would not have dropped out. But thats not the case here, but I don’t care what 20th Century Fox and Walden Media decide as far as the Next Narnia film but If I really had to make a choice, I would choose SC and then do HHB then TLB and then do MN. Personally I want to see MN but logically speaking I would like to see SC. Besides the actors are getting older its not like there going to get any younger not unless we turn back time. But thats just my perspective and opinion.
I don’t care I just want more Narnia now!!!!
But if I had to choose I would say MN. We’ll see what they pick MN, SC,HHB, or no Narnia.
I WANT MORE NARNIA!!!!
Come on! All the Narnia website polls are all saying the same thing, “We want SC!”
listen to this then decide if u want sc. if the do sc they will have to make mn and hb before lb which wounld leave a 7 or more year gap in wills age that would be a huge age difernce than if they did mn sc hb lb
typo: would
I WANT THE SILVER CHAIR!!!! 🙂
I feel torn between these two. I love all of the Chronicles of Narnia series and these two books are my favorite. I would love to see these made into films.
I understand why they want to do MN, but I think they need to continue on and do the SC. I feel uneasy, worrying that if they do the MN then they wont do the rest of the books and leave the series hanging-
But on the other hand, when I think about it, if they make MN and it does well in the theaters, then they will have enough profit to do the rest of the series.
-Again, I’m torn.
But, I’m believing that my heart is telling me they need to stay in order, so I voted for the SC.
IMHO you HAVE to do The Silver Chair next – why on earth would you change the order to a book that has none of the characters we have seen so far? I think that is franchise suicide – take that into consideration with your “Business Decision.”
MN has the more popular characters in it- aslan and white witch. plus for the christian audience it’s the creation of the “good vs. evil” eternal battle. more important topics than what happens to caspian’s son we,ve never met before.
MN can come later..Anyway SC has to come sometime and then too, Rilian will be a stranger to the audience. And Eustace is in SC and Aslan too, of course, plus Caspian
The Silver Chair is deep – they shouldn’t just bypass it!
Literally..ha ha!
“The Magician’s Nephew,” I say. I can totally see this one hitting the big screen. Not only because it should “do well,” but it’s such a majestic book by itself and it’s just so viaully descriptive. It’s probbaly more likely that ‘Silver Chair’ will be made once ‘Magician’s Nephew’ is. Not that I’ll be bumbed if ‘Silver Chair’ I kind of just wanna see the other one more, first.
I totally agree with Heidi that The Silver Chair should be made next and have these books made into movies afterwards: The Last Battle, The Horse and His Boy, and The Magician’s Nephew. It would also be wonderful if The Silver Chair and The Magician’s Nephew could both be made into movies in the same year by two directors. All that matters to me is my dream: All seven Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis are made into movies.
I really would like to see Silver Chair because it goes more logically and plus I worry about Will Poulter’s age.
However I also know that Magician’s Nephew would perhaps boost the chances of getting the other films made and would bring back the same attention Narnia had with LWW.
So knowing both sides are valuable reasons to be made and all must be taken into consideration for both of them. So at this point I voted for either one. I originally picked SC for the first poll, but now I’m not so sure.
I dont really care which one is made as long as they bring Andrew Adamson back!!! Im so sick of people saying how stupid PC was and all because they added a battle scene, the witch, a 2 second kissing scene and a rivalry, PC was the shortest of the books and you cant make a 2 hour movie without adding a few things,everything else was just added to make a deeper plot. if you ask me VDT was THE WORST of the series, it had the most changes to it and had the most shallow plot i have seen in a movie since i was 7. Andrew Adamson brought Narnia to life and i think he should continue to do so…
Ironically, I feel the same way about VDT as you feel about PC. I think the plot was solid, and that the swords and mist are as big of additions as the castle raid and kiss, as far as impact on the storyline.
it did come a across as a movie for seven year olds…
Someone said, that Apted turned VDT into some kind of video game, where nothing matters except collecting swords. I agree with that. Yes, Eustase turned out rather well, but the rest of charaters… They are completely different from previous books and sometimes looking stupid – like kids, through in LWW and PC Adamson made me believe that those kids are kings and queens. And that’s how it feels in the books.
Adamson loves Narnia, and I suppose that’s because he’s a believer (or close). Apted is an atheist, it’s obvious. He made a blockbuster and no one likes it because Harry Potter or Lord Of the Rings is cooler, deeper, as a blockbuster. Narnia will never be a good blockbuster, because it isn’t meant to be one. It’s a story about different kind of thing (LOTR too, but Jackson also made a blockbuster of it).
Adamson made some changes to PC, but they weren’t so dramatical, as changes, made to VDT. Who cares about the kisses? Even better. Who cares about battle, if it doesn’t change the point. But this green mist thing… that’s different. It changes everything.
That’s why I vote for Adamson. You can’t get worse than VDT with him.
You do realize that under Adamson’s direction they would have had the Green Mist, right? He was a producer on the film. It would have been the exact same movie with slightly different blocking and acting. (And Caspian might have kept his spanish accent.) But that’s about it. The story would have been the same under Adamson as it was under Apted.
Producer organises people, he doesn’t make a movie.
The producer does a bit more than that. It’s a wide range of things. But that’s not the point. The point is, Adamson’s VDT and Apted’s VDT would have been pretty similar in plot. Adamson even called Apted after watching the first rough cut and thanked him.
From my experience they all thank each other all the time (it’s like diplomacy), but then do what they want to do. Probably you’re right, because on VDT director didn’t do the story, as Adamson on previous films. But that only makes it worse – judging by VDT – if studio bosses are going to keep approving scripts like this – Narnia series is doomed.
He thanked Apted for keeping the spirit of his movies with the feel of this one in how he directed it.
I honestly though VDT was the best of all of them.
Even thought it wasn’t like the book in some area’s , it was better than PC.
I don’t know much about this stuff, but wouldn’t it have been the script-writer-or-what-ever-you-want-to-call-him who put the mist/castle raid/kiss in? I didn’t think the director had much of a choice in which way the plot goes. Like I said I don’t know much of this stuff I just don’t think it’s fair to be blaming the director if he didn’t have a choice.
Concerning the choise between SC and MN -it’s difficult. But if they want to keep Apted – then please make SC! If they will make a secular humanism adaptation of the first Narnia book – I will cry big tears, seriously.
Anyway, doing SC without finishing with LB is strange. Doing LB without MN (Diggory and Polly appear in LB) is even stranger. So, probably, the best option is to make MN, and if it will be good – than finish. If they can’t make MN – they can’t make LB, definitely, because the ending is very difficult to film, I suppose.
I don’t care which one is first, but I really REALLY want Adamson back. He was amazing for LWW, and PC….well, I know It’s not close to the book, but you got to admit it is a well done movie.VDT had the magic, but did not have the style I was looking for. I thought that the script was cheesy, and the story line a bit….weird, you could say. Adamson did a superior job with the first two, I would love to have him back for the next one.
yeah,Adamson knew how to draw better performances out of the pevensies, and left time for reaction shots and showed better pacing. His direction looked way more professional, more epic. vdt looked like a made for tv movie. can;t believe he approved that dopey dialogue.
I found the best performances to be in VDT. Also, Adamson wasn’t limited by as short a running time as Apted was.
I too think VDT performances were great. Complete agreement with Paul.
does anyone agree with me?
Its up to the filmaker…..besides we just want to see another narnia movie…
why not do what lord of the rings did. film them at the same time, or straight after each other. they’re both popular books, you’ll need different actors anyway and you have two ditectors who both want to film another narnia movie (from what i heard)and it’ll be great for us to get two more narnia movies together. i’d say do these two together, then HB then LB unless u want to use the same actors for the Pevensies in HB then maybe the other way around (as they’re suppose to b older)but im not an expert so i dnt really mind about the last two
but i would say KEEP WILL POULTER! he needs to stay! so as long as he’s still in narnia, im happy.
oh and get johnny depp for puddleglum its got he’s name written all over him 🙂 just a thought
The Lord of the Rings took seven years of pre-production, followed by a huge eighteen month shoot, and then pick-ups each summer before each film in the trilogy came out. They used the same cast, writers, director, production teams and in many cases locations were used and reused. Sometimes they were shooting up to seven different things all at once. On top of that, they had their own effects studio.
Could you imagine what it would be like to attempt to do that with vastly different casts, stories, sets and producers, as well as some others in the production, such as costuming and creatures to keep continuity up. It would be immense and nearly impossible. The plan before was to have one ready to film each year for an average three-month shoot. That was when it would be one per year.
that would have been great to have them all done by now!
I don’t think doing HHB before LB will be a problem as far as the Pevensies ages go, they can do so much with make-up nowadays.
I think MN!!! I did think SC would be good, but I think MN would be even better…
This is a hard one… I would LOVE to see SC next (the same reason as everyone, Will Pouter isn’t getting any younger and it just makes sense all ‘round I think), but I have a 3yo sister who is crazy about Narnia, but can only watch LWW because the others are too dark for her and I would LOVE to take her to the movies when the next one comes out but I think SC would be too dark for her as well. Also of they make 3 dark movies in a row, I’m worried that they will make all of them like that. Idk, that’s just my 2 cents bit
all I know is I want the series to continue with the same attention to story and production quality shown in film two and three… I’d prefer Silver chair -more adventurous, versus the magicians nephew being more story and insight to the series but either would work… just continue making the stories… and this time, market and release it better than what was done to dawn treader, and prince caspian (my favorite)
The only little thing that I wish they continued with VDT was Aslan roaring at the end of the film. In LWW it was the wardrobe opening on its own a little, shedding light, and we hear him roar. In PC is was as the train rolled away into the tunnel and he roared. In VDT you would expected as soon as they closed the bedroom door, it would open a little, and he would roar. Instead just a boaring white door and Carrie Underwood’s song starting up.
I liked the ending, how the boat leaves the painting 🙂 It’s pretty cookl, but I do agree. Aslan’s roar is almost a “trademark” of the films.
Yeah, but if he roars every time that’d be awkward. VDT ending was perfect according to me .
Well like Caleb said it was beginning to form into their personal trade mark like Star Wars always has the news reel rolling up with the same song for all six episodes. Yeah hearing it and seeing it all the time can get annoying if you watch them all in a row, but its like the series’s signature trait. As soon as you hear the Star Wars tune and see the info rolling up you know it is Star Wars. If you hear that roar anywhere you would be Narnia.
The ending was good don’t get me wrong, but I just they could have added that bit in.
I know!!!! I totally missed Aslan! Priorities first people, Aslan THEN Carrie Underwood! 😉
But then again, I do kind of agree w/ voyager though…
VDT was already emotional enough already, at least, for me. 😛
VDT wasn’t a good movie, it wasn’t. I really wanted it to be too.
I think that they’re better off sticking to the original stories 100%. If you change them, even a little, you can really ruin it. These stories are already perfect and need NO changing at all.
I don’t think it’s right to change people’s stories, without their permission. People watching the film see the way you tell the story, and they think that it’s the same as the book, and (because the movie sucks) they think the book sucks. But the book is great, and now you have given a false portrayal of the book.
Check out Peter Kreeft, a brilliant writer/thinker and C.S. Lewis scholar, explain what went wrong when they changed VDT.
Best,
Mark
The problem is that books and films are entirely different medium, and unfortunately for VDT and PC, they both make very weak films when portrayed as written in book form. The evidence is found in the BBC versions, which do a good job of being very similar to the books, and terrible films.
Here is Peter Kreeft explaining what went wrong with VDT, when the movie changed the story of the actual book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KtZw5FhNHw
Awesome. I love Peter Kreeft’s writing. Though I may not agree with him all the time, I find him to be one of the greatest philosophers of our time. Thanks for sharing this!