Source: Netflix’s Narnia Still in Development
It has been nearly three years since Netflix announced they were developing “new series and film projects” based on The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
Filmmaking takes time, and the pandemic has put even the most high-profile projects on hold. But, understandably, many fans have grown weary of waiting for news about Netflix’s Narnia. And some have started to wonder if the project has quietly met the same fate as Joe Johnston’s The Silver Chair movie. There have been no official announcements from Netflix since Matthew Aldrich took the helm two years ago.
According to a source close to the project, Netflix’s Narnia adaptations remain in active development. We cannot provide any additional details. It is possible there is still a long road ahead, but at the time of this writing, things are moving forward.
Hopefully, it will be worth the wait.
Aslan is on the move.
Here is everything that is known about Netflix’s Narnia.
What do you want to see in Netflix’s Narnia? Here is our wishlist.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN?
When Narnia gets a release date?
**It’s been 84 years….**
I suppose this is a good post for me to make a reappearance (Hey everyone!).
So… countdown: 2 years, 4 months, 6 days until…
Hey, that’s my line!
Just kidding, but still… maybe we could countdown until we get to start the countdown until we get a release date? XD
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS IT’S STILL ALIVE!
(Waiting for this comment section to blow up.)
I was beginning to wonder about the series of Narnia. ALso, it would be wise to make the first book in The Chronicels of Naria instead of The Silver chair. Because the first book is how Narnia came to be, just makes sense. But I’m excited that its still in active development with Netflix.
Magicians nephew is the first book in The Chronicles of Narina.
As with Avatar 2, I’ll believe it when I see it lol
Will there’s be a The Silver Chair ?
HAHA! #Titanic
Great movie – it was trhe highest grossing movie ever for 10 years. I hope Netflix’s Narnia will be so popular!
I am not surprised it is still going ahead. I know that it can take years for films to get to production & release. There was a 2020 film Son of the South and the script was written over 15 years ago.
Plus, I imagine the pandemic has slowed down things a lot. A lot.
I also would be surprised if they shut down development since it has been reported that Netflix paid about $250 million for the rights, and it would cost less than that to produce it. Say we get a miniseries of 8 episodes for one of the books. That could be made for less than $100 million. So why would they sit on the rights they’ve spent so much money on, when they could use that property for less money? And if it is popular, they can always make the next one.
I won’t doubt it until we get confirmation that it is not going ahead, or til about 6 years after the original announcement. We ended up getting confirmation from Douglas Gresham that The Silver Chair was not being made. I assume we will get some kind of confirmation if the Netflix show is not in production. So I would not say that “no news” means nothing is happening.
It is also commonplace for Netflix shows to have very little news released until just a few months before release when the marketing starts happening. Why should Narnia be any different?
Whilst it’s good to hear that the project isn’t completely dead, I think it would be a mistake for people to assume that there is loads of work going on behind the scenes that we aren’t aware of.
Once pre-production actually begins they will need to start forming LLC companies, hiring staff, issuing casting calls, signing deals with filming studios and locations, etc etc, all of which will easily show up in the public record and on the internet in a massive way.
At the moment Narnia has yet to do any of those things, so we are still a long long way from seeing any content.
I also think it would be a mistake to assume this sluggishness in production was entirely due to the Pandemic.
To put things in perspective, Netflix announced their TV show adaptation of “Shadow & Bone” a full 3 months after they announced Narnia (Jan 2019 Vs Oct 2018), and yet Shadow & Bone has not only already been released (earlier this year) but it’s already began work on Season 2.
That was the 5th book, wasn’t it?
And thus, the wait continues. Honestly, I’d rather they take their time to make sure it’s the best version of Narnia they could possibly make than half them rushing out a half finished product.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book written, released, and first in the original series; Magician’s Nephew is the 6th, but yes chronologically it’s when the story begins. They started changing up the original order by chronological order when they released a new omnibus like 10 years ago.
6th actually… the story makes more sense that way, the silver chair is personally my favorite in the so I would like to see what they do to it in the movie.
I really want the Magician’s Nephew to be done first. Personally I’d say they should find good child actors for the Pevensies (and start searching for Eustace and Jill, though not as high priority) and start shooting LWW, ASAP, then continue to shoot the others in the timeline as Lewis had (a year between each). During this time, also do the Magician’s Nephew, and release it first. But plan for doing everything, and if they want to do Golden Age spinoffs, shoot them while the actors/actresses are at the right age. But definitely release MN first; everybody knows LWW, nothing new there, but interest could be piqued with the creation story.
Definitely.
really hope they dont ruin the series
Glad to hear it’s still happening – I’d rather they cancel it than completely mess it up though!
Hopefully, but not as… adult as I’ve heard that film is. And hopefully without their sacrificing the real spirit of Narnia, either! or the theological aspect as used by Lewis.
‘Cause Narniaweb? They can get a lot of fans really excited and waiting for it and spreading the word if they tell them earlier? I dunno.
I agree
I don’t know if you had this happen to you but i got a lot of people when i went to the movie theater asking how Narnia started and I simply told them you have to read the Magician Nephew because that’s where it begins. Most of the people were like why didn’t they start that more first and i told them good question. But i think since the Lion and the witch and Warobe is definitly a popular book but yes they changed up the order.
Something I have been waiting for !!!!!
I’m pretty sure $250 mIllion is how much Amazon paid for the rights to Lord of the Rings. I don’t believe we know how much Netflix paid for Narnia.
Honestly, I think the walden filmmakers made the right choice to stick with publication order, making Wardrobe into a movie first. Making Narnia into movies was always going to be a challenge, and solidifying publication order as a viable way to experience (both bills & films) was a positive side effect of that.
Forgive me if I’m repeating myself, but I like to share this idea: Years ago, I made a ‘series & films prediction’ for Narnia Netflix: They adapt it in Chronological order, making the 3 stories we’ve already seen (as movies) into Netflix exclusive series, with the next 4 stories (which we haven’t seen adapted yet) into long feature films, hopefully released in theaters before going to Netflix.
Magician’s Nephew (movie!)
Wardrobe (Netflix miniseries)
Horse and His Boy (movie!)
Caspian (Netflix miniseries)
Dawn Treader (Netflix miniseries)
Silver Chair (movie!)
Last Battle (movie!)
End of rant.
Netflix may just be waiting for Amazon to adapt Middle-Earth so that they know what their competition is. Ugh. 😉
Or maybe they noticed how amazon changed the course of their middle earth series after the death of Christopher Tolkien, and netflix is now waiting for Doug Gresham to kick the bucket so that they can do what they want with Narnia.
Just kidding.
I know, awful idea.
Netflix wouldn’t do that. Every year they wait on Narnia, the 250 million they paid for it loses some value. Creepy idea though.
🙁
I’m not saying I believe it (at all). It was meant to be black comedy. I guess dark humor is lost on Narniaweb if it’s not translated well. Sorry to have made a scene. 🙁 😉
It’s forgiven, just be careful Frodo, keep on livin.
🙂
Hahaha. Thx. 🙂
That would be so messed up. DG having at least some say in the project is what gives me hope!
With each passing year, the more I feel Narnia stands no chance in this new world of film entertainment, where everything must be questioned or reinvented.
Will Netflix really be interested in a series where the protagonists don’t look to themselves for direction and purpose but instead to a wise authority figure like Aslan? Is there still room for a black and white fantasy series that doesn’t try to make their heroes more edgy and their villains more sympathetic?
Netflix original programming based around classic stories seems more interested in updating them to fit social and political trends. And Narnia’s worldviews do not seem to align with theirs. Maybe I am being a “wet blanket”, but I’m worried Netflix bought Narnia not because of what the stories already promote but instead to use the property to promote whatever they want.
How many things has Netflix done based on classic stories BTW? The only one I’ve heard of is Anne With an E.
Anne with an E was a Canadian CBC production. Netflix merely distributed it, but had no role in its production.
I think most people would be surprised how little content Netflix directly produce. Alot of the content which is branded as “Netlfix Originals” is simply content from other producers for which they have exclusive distribution rights.
So in answer to your question, – how many genuine Netflix original productions based on classic literature are there? I’m struggling to find any….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Netflix_original_programming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ended_Netflix_original_programming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Netflix_original_films
A Series of Unfortunate Events comes to mind. While that series seems to be close to the books from what I’ve been told (correct me if that’s not the case), Anne with an E had a lot of inappropriate “twists” to the characters and the much darker tone. It’s obvious it was made with an agenda that the books never had. The same can be said about Netflix’s “The Little Prince” which also had blatant revisionist material that offended book fans.
So, I suppose it could go either way. But I’m still leery about Netflix having their hands on some of my favorite books.
What were the revisionist parts of The Little Prince?
They titled it The Little Prince, but the focus is actually on a little girl character not in the book at all, who does amazing things. To show girl power, maybe? Also, they put in some commentary on how awful rich people and big businesses are.
Basically, Netflix used the original story as a vehicle for what they wanted to tell and kept the original book title to draw people in.
The Little Prince was not a Netflix Produced movie. They merely acquired the distribution rights after it had been completed.
Likewise Anne with an E. That’s a Canadian produced show for CBS.
amen!
Have the fans who objected watched the movie or read the book? Because while it’s not a straight adaptation of The Little Prince, it’s a very affectionate tribute to it and it’s not revisionist or subversive the way you suggest. The themes and messages are the same as those in the source. So is the negatively portrayed businessman, though it’s true that he has a larger role in the movie’s story. It’s true it has more prominent female characters than the book does (by which I mean it has two) but that doesn’t mean the message is about gender.
I’m not saying any of this to suggest that Netflix is a great company to produce Narnia adaptations. I wouldn’t have picked them out. It’s just that I don’t feel they’ve done enough adaptations of classics specifically to say that there’s a pattern with them.
Hello! Thank you for telling us about this and sharing your experiences Netflix’s Narnia adaptations, according to a source close to the project, are still in the works. We are unable to offer any further information. It is conceivable that there is still a long road ahead, but at the time of writing, things are going forward.
I can anecdotally add that, although the humor and tone somewhat differed from the books, ASOUE turned out leagues closer to the books than the movie. However, Daniel Handler worked VERY closely with Netflix and is credited with much of the writing. (interestingly, Handler would actually argue for certain changes to be made when the rest of the writing team wanted to keep certain plot aspects the same).
I would also add that Netflix’s Daredevil is some of the best story telling I’ve ever watched, and was an adaptation of the Marvel comics (albeit used as a mythology to pull from, not a straight adaptation like Narnia or ASOUE should be). I am also under the impression the writers and producers were heavily invested fans.
Silver Chair is the 4th book not the 6th.
I have a hard time believing that much of anything is happening until they start filming and casting. The wait has been way too long already. If there isn’t some real movement in the next six months then i have a hard time believing they are really working on it, in my opinion.
It’s good to hear that they haven’t forgotten Narnia. We can pray that they find good locations to film and good actors. These things take a lot of planning.
No so sure on Netflix, but I loathe the idea of Pureflix getting their hands on it.
Jack Lewis was not fond of evangelical fanaticism. And Pureflix would definitely ruin his books with their overt sappy preaching and sanctimony. Not to mention, some fundamentalists hate the Narnia series because of how it blends religion with magic and pagan mythology.
Yeah, my sister had a Sunday school teacher that told her class that Narnia was evil because it had centaurs and fauns in it and that because those were from Greek mythology, that made Narnia evil. At that time, we had already been reading the Narnia books for years, so we found this position ridiculous.
You can tell when Christian allegory is pushed too much in a story. It can become a shortcut to where things are left unexplained and the emotional content relies on the reader’s knowledge of the Gospel.
That is why Lewis didn’t like people saying Narnia was allegory and preferred that it be called a supposal. If you say it is a Christian story, then you have to deal with the mythical elements Lewis connected to it and if you say it is a pagan story then you wind up with an incomplete comprehension of what’s happening. Then there is the fact that Lewis was Anglican, which is a different denomination and view than most Christians in the USA have.
Hopefully, Narnia makes sense to the Netflix writers so that they don’t veer in a direction of changing the balance Lewis has in the stories. That way, it will hopefully be enjoyable by both Christian and Non-Christian audiences.
Maybe when the copyright expires Narnia fans can create our own adaptions.
The adaptations of Narnia that I consider the best (not the best possible, mind you, but the best the fandom has been given so far) were actually made by Focus on the Family, which many would consider a fundamentalist Christian organization. (Of course, “fundamentalist” is one of those words that doesn’t have a super solid definition. When people use it colloquially, it just means “someone who isn’t an atheist and with whom I happen to disagree.”) Also people who hate the Narnia books, whether they’re Christians, Secularists, or what have you, aren’t going to want to do an adaptation anyway. So I don’t think fans need lose sleep over that possibility.
I just don’t want Pureflix to get their hands on Narnia because if I’m getting a messy adaptation of the story (something I’m quite certain would happen with a Pureflix Narnia, judging off of the few snippets I’ve seen from them) I at least want nice visuals. I give Walden’s adaptations a hard time but aesthetically I always thought they were very solid
Hi, I ‘m loving this thread. And I love the news of the production still being actively developed. By the way, the chronological order has been the numbering the publishers have used since 1994, thought I would let you know. At this Narniaweb article it explains all about it 🙂
https://www.narniaweb.com/books/readingorder/
Focus on the Family is a conservative Christian organization. I think they are good morally, although some of their political views might be a bit extreme (sometimes too far to the right). I think they did a great job on the radio theatre and especially the adaptation of the Narnia books. When it comes to political parties I am a moderate and think we should definitely avoid making political parties our religion. But getting back to their wonderful audio dramas, I think Focus on the Family has made some of best audio adventures ever created and not only of the Narnia stories but also tales from authors such as Charles Dickens and George MacDonald.
To be honest. Don’t hold your breath. Netflix are anti-Christian. They portray Christ in disgusting immoral ways whenever they have anything to do with Him
I’m REALLY shocked that Mr Gresham let them own the rights to the series. They will either release it as a completely different occultist type series – or as the enemies of Christ do, use their right of ownership to prevent any film being made.
Sorry to sound so negative, but I’m sick and tired of being sent protest petitions to sign regarding Netflix’s demonic blaspheming of Jesus. Farewell. God Bless.