Honestly, I think it has to be "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" next (its the most well known and most popular book in the series).

However, I think it may be a better long term decision to do The Horse and His Boy first.

1. The Horse and His Boy has never been adapted to film (or television as far as I know), while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been adapted In 1967, in 1979, in 1988 and in 2005.

2. The Pevensies are basically the same age in The Horse and His Boy as they are at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (both Prince Caspian and The Horse and His Boy make reference to the Calormene ambassadors and the planting of the fruit trees at Cair Paravel - making it clear that is was only a short time after the events of The Horse and His Boy that the 4 Pevensies returned to our world).  If they filmed The Horse and His Boy first, then the adult Pevensies could easily return for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and keep the continuity.  (Against this, is movies generally like to match adult and kids to look like the same person - you would probably want to match the adults to kids that are good actors rather than the other way around).

3. Once you begin filming The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - given how long it takes to make a film and how long it takes for kids to grow up - you have basically committed yourself to beginning Prince Caspian straight after it as fast as you can (or else you skip making Prince Caspian) because the kids are meant to be only one year older in Prince Caspian. Then The Voyage of the Dawn Treader needs to be made quickly after Prince Caspian (due to the kids being only a year older than in the previous story).  Of course The Silver Chair takes place only a few months after the events of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so that needs to be made quickly after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Because The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the most popular book, both the BBC and Waldon productions had momentum after adapting this first book.  The momentum was lost when Waldon adapted Prince Caspian (and BBC paid lip service to Prince Caspian to get it out of the way as fast as possible).  Maybe I am biased, but I think The Magician's Nephew, The Horse and His Boy and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are all cinematic stories.  Adapting The Horse and His Boy second could allow the Netflix productions to gain momentum with audiences in their first three films before they have to deal with Prince Caspian (which seems to be more difficult to adapt and thrill the audience).  If the first three films are successful, then Netflix could possibly invest more in getting Prince Caspian right.

4. When movies are released in the order that the books were released, audiences perceive the books as being the Pevensies' stories.  (I waste too much time listening to people on youtube watching movies 'for the first time' - yeah, it's because of people like me that they keep making that nonsense.)  When people watch the Chronicles of Narnia, it is really common for them to get the "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and say, "What happened to Peter and Susan?  Why is this Eustace character here?  Get rid of Eustace and bring back Susan and Peter!  This is supposed to be stories about the 4 kids!" If you adapt The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy first, then the sense that these should be 'the Pevensies' stories' is greatly lessened and helps to manage audiences expectations when time comes to hand the baton to Jill and Eustace.  (To put it another way, I think we are more likely to get The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle made if The Horse and His Boy is made next, whereas I think it is more likely that audience interest will wane and it will not be profitable for Netflix to continue the series if they do not.)

5. The Horse and His Boy is my favorite book in the series and selfishly, I would just like to see it 😀

I totally think Gretta Gerwig will adapt The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe second, but I think there are better reasons to go with The Horse and His Boy next.

Posted by: @icarus

You can even deal with whatever time jump you want by just having Digory and Polly revert to their childlike appearance via magic (which potentially happens at the very end of the book anyway? i forget).

No, they are not childlike when Tirian meet them after he has crossed the door to the stable. They are young adults, not old any more, but certainly no children.

Then he [Peter] led him [Tirian] to the eldest of the Queens - but even she was not old, and there were no grey hairs on her head and no wrinkles on her cheek - and said, "Sir, this is that Lady Polly who came into Narnia on the First Day, when Aslan made the trees grow and the Beasts talk." He brought him next to a man whose golden beard flowed over his breast and whose face was full of wisdom. "And this," he said, "is the Lord Digory who was with her on that day.

Tirian also thinks about Jill when he meets her there

at first he thought she looked older, but then didn't, and he could never make up his mind on that point.

It also reminds me of what Lewis says at the end of Silver Chair when they meet Aslan on Aslan's mountain, that people don't seem to have any particular ages on that mountain.

Is it OK if I say that I want Greta Gerwig to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe next?  

I get that this thread is supposed to be about other, more surprising choices but I'd rather see her do LWW. Let me explain. 

When Gerwig fans talk about her doing an adaptation of Narnia (or any property), they tend to use words like "fresh" and "different" to describe their expectations. (To be fair, I don't remember Gerwig saying anything like this herself as of yet, so maybe those expectations are totally wrong.) And I don't really want a different or innovative adaptation of any of the books that haven't been adapted to film yet like The Magician's Nephew or The Horse and his Boy or The Last Battle. Sheesh, you could even argue we've already gotten "creative" adaptations of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so we don't need another for those. LWW, on the other hand, I feel there have been enough faithful adaptations-or adaptations that were trying to be faithful anyway-that I'd be interested in seeing a rock 'n roll version. Maybe I wouldn't actually like it when I saw it but I'd be interested. Hope that makes sense. 

@davidd 1. The Horse and His Boy has never been adapted to film (or television as far as I know), while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been adapted In 1967, in 1979, in 1988 and in 2005 (as @icarus noted).

I can't help agreeing with you, when there have been so many changes to how Greta is filming Magician's Nephew, from the tone of other Narnia reproductions, that for her to do LWW very well might jar by comparison with either the highly successful Walden version or the BBC TV series, not to mention the cartoon 1979 animation, that I fear that invidious comparisons might really be made. Besides, to an extent, filming LWW at all is becoming a bit hackneyed, and comes with complications if filmed live, such as the need to do PC next, to include all the 4 Pevensies, and HHB might then be missed out entirely.

As @icarus did point out, in her introduction in this thread: "It's the one book that can almost be done entirely as a standalone, so it is worthy of consideration". This is also why age won't matter for child stars needed for subsequent films, as it very well might do, if LWW was filmed next, when all we see of the three Pevensies in HHB, is of them as adults, with Peter, in particular, though hosting Rabadash's Calormene delegation, is subsequently away, fighting giants, whilst Lucy deputises at Cair Paravel, in the absence of Susan and an escorting King Edmund, who returns with adult Lucy at the end of HHB, having relieved the siege of Anvard. And this is ostensibly a grown-up Susan, beautiful no doubt, but of marriageable age in our terms, unlike Aravis fleeing from an arranged marriage, when the 15 years of time the Pevensie reign was coming to an end, as disclosed by the Tisroc, who also mentions Jadis, as someone whose grip on Narnia had deterred the Tisroc from going anywhere near Narnia, previously.

The real advantage of deferring LWW until after HHB is that once HHB is done, the adult Pevensies can then be brought back to play the last scene in that movie, which marks their transition from Narnia back to the children who entered the wardrobe, allegedly 15 years earlier, when they defeated the White Witch. It would also give Greta or whoever else wanted to try LWW as a third film, considerably more freedom to explore their vision and their casting options for not only LWW but also a subsequent PC, in particular, which, like LWW, has both a Walden & and a BBC version, just like VDT which obviously must come next, though Eustace isn't much older in SC than he would be in VDT. 

I'm certainly not in favour of doing Last Battle next, when although the adult Pevensies would be a reasonable choice to return in that movie as well, Susan is omitted altogether, whilst Polly and Digory are at least middle aged in the ending of Last Battle.

@col-klink Is it OK if I say that I want Greta Gerwig to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe next? 

Of course, it is okay for you to say that, and I agree with you it would be the traditional road to take. But when you say "Sheesh, you could even argue we've already gotten "creative" adaptations of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so we don't need another for those", my point is that if there were to be subsequent movies of these books, they need to conform as a series, more to Greta Gerwig's "creative adaptation" in Magician's Nephew than they do to either Walden or BBC productions up to now. 

Honestly, I think Greta Gerwig is most likely to tackle LWW next.  Because IMO, I think her making MN first is laying building blocks to do the entire series, and I also think she will do it significantly differently to other productions of LWW - though hopefully it will still capture the heart of the story, and contain the basic story, and have the magic of it!  That said - depending on how her version of MN turns out - I would possibly be very keen on seeing a Greta Gerwig version of HHB.  I guess I'm still on the fence even regarding MN - hoping for a film faithful to the book - which will set it up for more faithful but versions of the other stories, although with different takes on them.

I don't think Greta will want to tackle HHB -- there are too many aspects of the book that she probably wouldn't feel comfortable with. Same with LB. I imagine she will continue with LWW because it's so iconic she will want to put her stamp on it and Emma Mackay can reprise her role as Jadis. 

As many others have pointed out, the time it takes to make a movie will cause problems with the Pevensies aging. If there was any possibility of doing so, it would make sense to film LWW and HHB at the same time (a different director for each). Otherwise, we run the very real risk of audiences getting bored by PC and the series not continuing much further. 

HHB is an intriguing possibility, and it indeed doesn't have the "timing" factor that comes in once LWW is made (that PC, VDT and SC need to follow in really quick succession so that the child actors don't age too much for their roles). But I get the impression that by starting with MN, Gerwig is intending to film the whole series in chronological order, or mostly. (HHB could be fitted in at almost any point, since the only actors it needs to share with another of the movies are the adult Edmund and Susan — and briefly Lucy — from their cameo at the end of LWW.)

Also, there's the fact that we now know Gerwig has made the dramatically different decision to set the this-world action of MN in 1955. That immediately puts the this-world settings of LWW and all the subsequent books into the mid-late 1990s at the very least, and possibly into the present day (or nearly) if she decides to increase the canonical 40-year gap between MN and LWW. I should think she'd want to continue her creative control over the franchise at this point, where we go from the 1950s setting of her first film (a Narnia story that hasn't been filmed before) to the as-yet-unseen modern(ish) setting of LWW — a Narnia story that HAS been done before and is very familiar, but now clearly the setting and atmosphere of it are going to be different from any of the previous versions.

I just reckon she will want to put her "stamp" on LWW, and then if she gets called back to make the rest of the series, she's got a head start — and if they then commission someone else as the director of PC and VDT and so on, that new director will have Gerwig's vision and aesthetic for LWW to build on.

That's what makes most sense to me, anyway. But we've had enough surprises and lingering unanswered questions so far with this first Gerwig film that I'm quite prepared for the second one — if it gets made at all — to be something completely "way out" and unexpected!  

I think the series will — with the exception of the Magician's Nephew — be released in publication order.  I think the only reason The Magician's Nephew is being done first is to send a clear message that this isn't just a mere Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe remake.  Most people unfamiliar with Narnia initially thought Gerwig was just adapting LWW again when the project was announced.

I think Netflix will want a consistent cast and the "Pevensie trilogy" of LWW, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader will allow that.  After that would come The Silver Chair, which would need to be filmed next so that Eustace doesn't age too much.

Assuming these take about two years to make, it will be eight years between the filming of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the filming of The Horse and His Boy.  That might be enough time for the Pevensie kid actors to age enough to reprise their role as their adult versions.

@bluestarrr If there was any possibility of doing so, it would make sense to film LWW and HHB at the same time (a different director for each)

Yes, that would be an ideal situation, and when Greta Gerwig is only to direct two Narnia films, maybe another director might be chosen to do LWW and PC. Jadis from MN can go to one director whilst the other one can do HHB, whilst the adult Pevensies in that film can return back to LWW for the cameo at the end. 

Posted by: @col-klink

Is it OK if I say that I want Greta Gerwig to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe next?  

I get that this thread is supposed to be about other, more surprising choices but I'd rather see her do LWW.

That's absolutely fine. The fundamental question here is  basically "Is LWW next a foregone conclusion?" and therefore even if the answer to that is "100%", then i'm interested enough to hear why people think that's the case. (for reference, i voted LWW in the polll).

I am though intrigued by the single vote for Silver Chair so far....it would probably be harder to do a straight character swap for Digory and Polly, given how specific Jill's arc in that story is, and the fact that it doesn't quite have the same thematic symmetry with MN to form a coherent artistic pairing, makes it less intuitive as an MN/LB pairing, but maybe they were thinking of a Digory / ill thing? Or maybe just cut straight to Eustace and Jill and roll with it from there? Keen to hear what the thought there was!

Posted by: @icarus

I am though intrigued by the single vote for Silver Chair so far....

Keen to hear what the thought there was!

I don't know who made that vote, but if they don't come back and explain, my guess would be that it's an avid Walden fan who would love to see the previous series revived and continued, and is hoping that Gerwig, once she's done MN, will take in the Walden trilogy as part of her own series and pick up again where it left off.

We did have a few people here backing that idea when Netflix first acquired the rights to Narnia — that they should continue the existing franchise instead of making a totally fresh start. I can't see it happening, especially as we now know Gerwig's version of MN is set in a later time period (1955) than the Walden films (early 1940s, consistent with the original books), but I'd also be interested to hear if someone does see it as a possibility. 

I view it as a foregone conclusion that Gerwig's doing LWW next. There's even a quote from producer Mark Gordon on a podcast he appeared on in December 2023, which almost confirms that as well.

"We are working on the first two in the series of the Narnia books, with Greta Gerwig writing and directing."

I know @ghost93 mentioned approximately two years in between films, but I have a suspicion that Gerwig will do an original, non-Narnia movie in between MN and LWW.

Posted by: @impending-doom

I view it as a foregone conclusion that Gerwig's doing LWW next.

Ditto. LWW is the biggest, most famous book in the series. I can't imagine they'd want to write paychecks to Ms. Gerwig to film anything else. 

I still have high hopes that she'll stick around after the first two films for the sake of consistency with the rest of the adaptations, but she'll probably be ready to move on at that point. 

Posted by: @fantasia

Posted by: @impending-doom

I view it as a foregone conclusion that Gerwig's doing LWW next.

Ditto. LWW is the biggest, most famous book in the series. I can't imagine they'd want to write paychecks to Ms. Gerwig to film anything else. 

I still have high hopes that she'll stick around after the first two films for the sake of consistency with the rest of the adaptations, but she'll probably be ready to move on at that point. 

Maybe even if she leaves as director, she might help with the scripts or serve as a consultant or producer.  

I hope — if Gerwig's Magician's Nephew and The Lion the Wardorbe adaptions are well-received — that the acclaim draw she attention of other top-notch directors who can put their stamp on Narnia.