How Do You Think A New Narnia Film or Series Will Order The Series

[jasmine tarkheena]

Even though a lot of Narnia fans are dead set on reading the books in publication order, the same rule doesn't really have to apply for a movie or series. I've actually heard that there are some who read LWW first (the most logical way to start) and MN second (given that it's a prequel to LWW).

Here's what I'm kind of thinking-
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and The Horse And His Boy as a pair (like what BBC did with PC and VDT... hopefully they don't rush through it, though). HHB takes place during LWW, so I wouldn't see why they wouldn't pair those two. If done as a pair, then we would get to see what is going during the Pevensies reign, and move the scene with the Hunting of the White Stag from the end of LWW to the end of HHB.

The Magician's Nephew as a stand alone prequel. MN is a prequel to LWW. Well, given that Hollywood is known to do prequels (Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, and 3, The Dark Knight Trilogy, even Indiana Jones had a prequel), it would be no surprise if they would want to make MN as a prequel movie.

Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair as a trilogy. All these stories features Caspian, and they could have the same actor for all three (counting the scene where he is resurrected in Aslan's Country). They could end up using three actors (when he's a little boy at the start of PC, a youth for the rest of PC, all of VDT, and the final third act of SC, and an old man for most of SC). It could be called "The Caspian Trilogy."

The Last Battle as a stand alone sequel. It is the sequel to all the stories and the final saga. It would be the most logical ending, obviously. It was a common thing to split the final sagas into two movies (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Mocking Jay). I don't know if it is still is, though it wouldn't surprise me if LB got split into two movies. It may or it may not.

Any ideas on how a new film or series will order the Narnia series? Publication or Chronological?

 

[MrBob]

Somewhere here, I wrote an idea on how I thought it should go with a Narnia TV series rather than a series of films. However, the following could work with a little workarounds if done as a series of films. LWW first. The coronation scene eventually leads to Aslan running away down the coast faster and faster until he leaps into the water and helps a small boat with a dead soldier and a baby boy to shore only for a poor fisherman to find it in the middle of the night. Cue twelve years later to Shasta living with the same man, leading to the H&HB part.

After H&HB, they do another time skip of the adult Pevensies chasing after the White Stag, going back through the wardrobe and finding themselves back at the Professor's estate. After a short time the Professor realizes something happened to them and they confide in him what happened to them. He then tells them he believes them because the same thing happened to him. He then narrates his Narnia story, perhaps even inviting Polly to the house, leading to the TMN part. This ends with him telling the Pevensies that it is likely they will return.

The good part with this is that the actors who play the Pevensies would not be needed for either of the latter two parts and they could film at least PC, VotDT in the interim. They complete the Caspian trilogy. The finale would be TLB and, if they had Polly in the telling of TMN, they wouldn't have to introduce her elderly self in the finale and we could also have some interesting dialogue between her and Susan before Susan's turning away in TLB.

 

[jasmine tarkheena]

There are certainly different options for the order of the Narnia films or series.

Publication would be the most logical way to go, given that most Narnia fans are dead set on reading the series in that order.

Chronological order would be a fresh start, given that LWW has been done so many times. It would make sense to start with something different, MN.

An order can just be random for a film or series. Even if it starts with LWW, it could be followed by HHB (or LWW and HHB as a pair) and MN. MN could explain the origins of the lamppost and the wardrobe. "The Caspian Trilogy" with PC, VDT, and SC could have the same actor to play Caspian (counting the scene where he is ressurected in Aslan's Country in SC). LB would be still be the final saga.

 

[jasmine tarkheena]

I think at one point, Walden Media had thought about reversing the order of The Horse And His Boy and The Magician's Nephew, so that The Magician's Nephew was after The Silver Chair, and The Horse And His Boy was between The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle. I think that's still possible to do- in publication order but doing The Horse And His Boy between The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle.

Another order I thought of were-
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
3. Prince Caspian
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
5. The Silver Chair
6. The Horse And His Boy
7. The Last Battle

It's kind of tricky to do a side story in a franchise, especially if it doesn't involved any children traveling from earth to Narnia and back.

Another possibility-
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
The Magician's Nephew
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse And His Boy
The Last Battle

You can actually put the prequel (The Magician's Nephew) and the midquel (The Horse And His Boy) at any time into the mix without having any affect. Audiences will most likely get it still. Well, obviously, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe will have to be before The Horse And His Boy and both The Magician's Nephew and The Horse And His Boy will certainly have to be before The Last Battle. Even if The Horse And His Boy was filmed between The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle, it would not have any effect.

 

[tirian_son_of_erlian]

I like your ideas and predictions. I guess ideally I'd like to see the adaptations in publishing or chronological order, although I don't have any qualms on some tweaking on that.

In fact, when I read the books the first time through, it wasn't in either order. As I wasn't much of a reader early in grade school, I think it took me a couple of tries each before I committed to LWW, and then PC. I believe I jumped to HHB next, mainly out of curiosity. MN was somewhere in there too, for the same reason, around 8th grade, before rounding out with VDT, SC, and then LB, all before my freshman year of highschool if I'm not mistaken. So, any one of the stories really has the potential to propel the reader's/viewer's interest.

One thing that really strikes me in the Chronicles is when, where and how often Lewis includes a given character. I've seen how marketing for that can be propelled by familiarity (as in the White Witch), yet I hope the promoters of the next series will stick to Lewis' prescription. So, for example, Trumpkin is a main character in PC. When VDT comes out, at most give him a cameo or short scene back at the Cair. Then having him again in a minor but pivotal role toward the beginning of SC feels right, echoing the more coming of age tone of that story. Even if Trumpkin is played by a talented actor, let's hope they don't later somehow stuff another actor or CGI into a timelapsed ending of HHB as a Baby Trumpkin for the sake of marketing appeal (not knocking cute Yoda). Neither would we need a ghost of him in LB to confront indecisive dwarves. There's plenty of characters and material to work with to keep things in their proper place and still make it exciting. Although sometimes there is a fine line between whether a referenced or flashbacked character should be cast in the production, so I'd be interested to know your take on any examples that might generally or even remotely fit that scenario.

You mentioned some really good ideas for the order itself. Including films that have never been adapted a little earlier in the overall production is definitely a good strategy. And like you indicate, as long as the main storyline is kept on track, they have much good stuff to work with, and I agree it will make sense to audiences.

 

[jasmine tarkheena]

Here's something I've thought of: if it was done chronologically, they could possibly move the scene with the hunting of the white stag and the Pevensies coming back out of the wardrobe from the end of LWW to the end of HHB. If they did that, it could possibly give the Pevensies more to do in HHB. In The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy, they moved the scene with Shelob from The Two Towers to The Return of the King, perhaps to give Frodo and Sam more to do. So the Pevensies could probably given more to do in HHB if they were to move the scene with the Hunting of the White Stag from the end of LWW to the end of HHB. I'm not saying it will happen, but it's a possibility.

LB does give some references to the other books, given it's the last one in the series. It wouldn't surprise me if an LB movie gives some references to the previous ones. Tirian goes through Narnia history, as whenever it was stirred up or in desperate need, how things turned out alright when the children from our world came to help, which are in references to LWW, PC, and SC. Perhaps Rishda could be going through Calormene history to revisit Rabadash's attempt on Archenland and Narnia, in reference to HHB. Then Digory and Polly are mentioned as being in Narnia at the Dawn of Time. Not sure how an LB movie would make reference to VDT. Perhaps where the stars fall in place, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace could recount on how they met two stars, Coriakin and Ramandu.

We shall see what happens when it comes to the order of the new Narnia franchise.