It was at a talk he gave at Oxford. He would love to continue making the Narnia films, but there is a seven year moratorium on the series if Walden Media is not involved. We’re into the second year of that moratorium, and possibly the third. Plus, if Walden Media releases the moratorium (something that I’m sure takes loads of legal paperwork), it could be sooner. The purpose of a moratorium at all is to protect a studio from having the production make only one movie with them, and jump to another studio with the next film and so on.
Let’s put it this way: a series like Harry Potter was made at Warner Brothers for all eight films. After the first film was wildly successful, another studio may offer more money to make the sequel without a moratorium in place. This could be dangerous to any successful series, as the cost to actually make each subsequent film could go up.
He said he may have them made independently, enabling him to have a full say on everything that goes into the script. He spoke specifically about The Silver Chair, indicating quite clearly that he wants to see it made next rather than The Magician’s Nephew. He also said he would like to see Andrew Adamson taking on a directing role again.
I am hopeful that this means I can replace my BBC Silver Chair DVD sooner, rather than later.
Regarding other films based on the works of C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters is again being adapted for film, with work being done on that. We’re not sure how far out that is, though, as it’s been attempted many times in the last ten years or so. Part of the problem could be that it’s not a specific story and each screenwriter would get something different out of it.
The Space Trilogy is something that I asked him about back in 2008. Douglas Gresham gave me a similar answer to the question: “find me a billionaire with really deep pockets and I’ll get them made.”