I keep changing my mind on this. First I was all for it to have Will return and then I wasn't and now I'm for it again. Will has succeeded a lot lately in the industry. If he came back I wonder how lucrative the box office will be with having Poulter back in SC. It would do Narnia good.

I honestly couldn't bring myself to vote in the poll. This is probably one of the most annoying things about the moratorium. Will Poulter as Eustace was one of the few things about VDT that I wholeheartedly applauded, and it's really hard to see the character recast for that reason. If I hadn't been so pleased with his performance, it would be much easier to see someone else take the role, but because I was so impressed, I keep trying to figure out a way for him to return.

The problem is, he looks like he's completely grown up now. He looks like a young man and his voice has considerably deepened. Recasting him seems like it might change the feel of The Silver Chair, especially since it would seem that they'd have to bump Jill's age up to around sixteen or so. I personally think that the story works better if they're around twelve or thirteen. However, I've also considered the possibility that they could stagger their ages; have Jill be around thirteen or fourteen with Eustace supposed to be a couple years older. (In a way, this could be a really good thing because it could make their relationship seem more like a brother/sister one than something that Hollywood would want to turn into an annoying "romance".) Still, it would change a lot and I'm not sure it's worth it just to recast Will.

I can't say I have any ideas on who a good fit might be for the role, but I think I'd like it if the boy at least looked somewhat like Will Poulter, i.e. freckles and blond hair. Not so much because I care about continuity with VDT, but because I care about continuity with the character that Poulter brought to life.

The worst of it is, recasting someone younger is no guarantee that there won't be an unwanted romance. It's too bad if they can't have Will back again, though I wouldn't argue with the reasons for not having him. I would go with some of you who have said to recast with an unknown. I mean, think of it--how long is it going to be until they even start filming? We really don't know; if they cast now, they might face the same problem all over again.

If they did keep him, I wouldn't cry too much. They could have an age difference without thoroughly ruining the plot, I would think. Jill could say something along the lines of, "It's fine for you, this is your last term. I still have another year (or two or three). And you're too big for them to bother."

It might feel wrong to us, but I saw a picture of the prefects in a particular British school, and the head "boy"--wow! He was bigger than the headmaster, who was also in the picture. He was tall and broad, really beefy, and the other prefects were not all that small either.

I don't know that that would be the best solution, just that it might be a possibility. Another question: if they have a considerably smaller budget, can they afford to hire him, now that he is becoming better known?

I might being innocent here, but maybe they have learnt their lesson with Prince Caspian and the "unwanted romances". I have faith in Douglas Gresham and I think he wouldn't let they spoil the story, but I don't trust in Fox. They're known for doing horrible adaptations (poor VDT), but who knows, maybe they're more cautious with Narnia this time.

"If they did keep him, I wouldn't cry too much. They could have an age difference without thoroughly ruining the plot, I would think. Jill could say something along the lines of, "It's fine for you, this is your last term. I still have another year (or two or three). And you're too big for them to bother." You know, I think I can bear this. This could be a good excuse if they decide to keep him, it can work, but someone raised a great question here: would HIM want to come back? He's much more famous now, did a movie with a considerable repercussion and is in another saga. He's part of The Maze Runner, and even if they start to film The Silver Chair after he has finished, I think it wouldn't work.

Although I really loved his performance as Eustace in VDT and think that it was a great casting choice, to me, Will Poulter is out of question for more reasons than we would like. I'm with the ones who think they should and need to recast him, unfortunately. As aileth said: "I would go with some of you who have said to recast with an unknown. I mean, think of it--how long is it going to be until they even start filming? We really don't know; if they cast now, they might face the same problem all over again". Time is our biggest enemy here. We know nothing about the filming plans and their schedules.

You cannot have a man in his 20s playing a boy of 14, which is what Eustace has to be - the book timing is only a few months after VDT, so they can't set it any more than a year after the last one.
When shooting VDT, Will was already well above the age he played, but he was late with his growth, and his voice had not broken. The production was very lucky that he didn't suddenly shoot up like Skandar did in LWW, and lucky that he hadn't turned into a 6-footer before they started - or they would have had to recast.
The situation of Eustace in the school, where until recently he had been the sort of younger kid who followed and sucked up to the older bullies, can't work if he is played as 17 or 18. When they get back to the school from Narnia, it is a transformation for them both that they face up to their schoolmates unafraid.
The two children also have to be no more than a year apart in age to be bickering like near-age siblings. Eustace has been played as 13 (younger than Lucy) so we can accept him as having turned 14 over the holiday.

I can't say I have any ideas on who a good fit might be for the role, but I think I'd like it if the boy at least looked somewhat like Will Poulter, i.e. freckles and blond hair. Not so much because I care about continuity with VDT, but because I care about continuity with the character that Poulter brought to life.

What about Daniel Huddleston from Les Miserables? He has the right hair color and freckles and skin coloring. Assuming they're releasing for 2018 he'd be no older than nineteen so could probably pass for fourteen.

I can't say I have any ideas on who a good fit might be for the role, but I think I'd like it if the boy at least looked somewhat like Will Poulter, i.e. freckles and blond hair. Not so much because I care about continuity with VDT, but because I care about continuity with the character that Poulter brought to life.

What about Daniel Huddleston from Les Miserables? He has the right hair color and freckles and skin coloring. Assuming they're releasing for 2018 he'd be no older than nineteen so could probably pass for fourteen.

You know, I was wondering the very same thing a few days ago. I was even thinking about Isabelle Allen, the young Cosette, playing Jill Pole. She's only 12 now, and I think she could do a good job with the role with a good characterization (the tomboyish look). Well, I don't know, but I kind of agree with you about Daniel Huttlestone playing Eustace, but he's already 15. He still has the appearance of a boy but you can see he's growing fast, I'm sure he'll grow up all of a sudden, just like Will Poulter and Skandar Keynes, so if he, perhaps, was chosen to be Eustace, they would have to hurry up and start the filming right now.

EDIT:

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WOW! I was so wrong, haha. This kid is already too old. He was so little just a while ago, how can these kids grow up so fast???

Based on the recent Gresham interview I feel it is more likely that Will Poulter will return as Eustace. My opinion hasn't changed:

As much as I loved Will Poulter in VDT, I think they should re-cast. The Chronicles of Narnia is about children going to a magical land, not twenty-somethings going to a magical land. For that reason alone, I think a re-casting would be a good idea. Staying true to the heart of Narnia is more important to me than continuity at this stage.

Another reason is that Eustace behaves very differently in SC. Yes, he's still Eustace and he still has relapses even in SC, but the bratty Eustace that Poulter played so well is no more.

I know that Gresham didn't explicitly state that Poulter is coming back or even that they would try to get him back, but just the way he worded the question makes me think it's a real possibility. He mentioned why the first three movies were made in the order they were - the actors ages (when he could have easily cited the publication order of the books!) - and then he goes on to say that The Silver Chair is being made next because one character from the previous film is returning. Though it is significant that he said "character" and not "actor".

I'd have to go digging to find the interview, but I'm sure I remember DG stating there was no way Will could return, and that was several years ago. Perhaps someone else knows where to look?

Well, there was this article on NarniaFans.com about a week ago that said that there were rumors that Eustace would be recast, but I think the interview you might be thinking of, fantasia_kitty, was the one where Douglas Gresham said that the Lady of the Green Kirtle would be new cast. At least, that's what I thought of before I remembered that he had been talking about the LotGK and not Eustace.

I'm with Reepicheep on thinking that Gresham seemed to be hinting at bringing back Poulter for the role, although I also wonder if he was speaking off the cuff and didn't realize how his logic for ordering the movies could indicate who might play Eustace. As for how I feel about the possibility of Poulter's return... I'm not sure.

I had previously written off the idea because he's grown so much, but as I think about it, I can't say that he looks that much older than Will Moseley did in Prince Caspian. Perhaps the filmmakers are going by that when determining whether or not it's workable to bring him back. Still, I was hoping for younger, more vulnerable versions of Jill and Eustace in The Silver Chair. If Jill is visibly younger than he is, and thus able to represent more of the "seeing Narnia through a child's eyes" element, then I think I might be more on board with it.

This is a recent picture of Poulter, found on his Twitter profile. With his hair cut short and his face clean-shaven, I think he passes for a teenager, but he is still so tall—he's six-foot-two. If Puddleglum is at least 6'7", then it might work from a visual standpoint, but it's hard to say.

Not sure what to think at this point. Hopefully we'll know something one way or another soon.

I had previously written off the idea because he's grown so much, but as I think about it, I can't say that he looks that much older than Will Moseley did in Prince Caspian. Perhaps the filmmakers are going by that when determining whether or not it's workable to bring him back. Still, I was hoping for younger, more vulnerable versions of Jill and Eustace in The Silver Chair. If Jill is visibly younger than he is, and thus able to represent more of the "seeing Narnia through a child's eyes" element, then I think I might be more on board with it.

I still wouldn't be on board with it. If Eustace was a teenager and Jill was a child it would completely change the dynamic between them. Eustace would almost take the role of an older brother and we probably wouldn't have the bickering between them. The relationship between Jill and Eustace is my favourite human-to-human relationship in the series, so I wouldn't want it to be changed too much (and there's no romantic implication in the word "relationship"! ).

I think the interview you might be thinking of, fantasia_kitty, was the one where Douglas Gresham said that the Lady of the Green Kirtle would be new cast.

No, there was an interview where he specifically said Will Poulter was too old for Eustace. But it's probably one of his video interviews where I don't have a transcript I can just search for. Ah well.

I'll just say right now that if Will Poulter returns as Eustace, I'm auditioning for Jill Pole.

I still wouldn't be on board with it. If Eustace was a teenager and Jill was a child it would completely change the dynamic between them. Eustace would almost take the role of an older brother and we probably wouldn't have the bickering between them. The relationship between Jill and Eustace is my favourite human-to-human relationship in the series, so I wouldn't want it to be changed too much (and there's no romantic implication in the word "relationship"! ).

I was thinking more along the lines of having Jill at 13 or 14, sort of on the edge of childhood, with Eustace being a couple of grades older than she is. While some siblings certainly do bicker with each other, I've also worried that staggering their ages would take away their equal footing and create a sort of implicit hierarchy. Jill's personality could possibly compensate that ("[she spoke] so fiercely that for the moment she looked like a tigress"), but it's hard to say. Still, if they do bring back Will Poulter, I think would definitely prefer a younger Jill Pole instead of one that looks to be the same age as him.

No, there was an interview where he specifically said Will Poulter was too old for Eustace. But it's probably one of his video interviews where I don't have a transcript I can just search for. Ah well.

Huh. Googling isn't turning up anything for me. You'd also think that it would've been referenced on this thread, but I can't find anything about it mentioned. Maybe it was a video interview that wasn't widely seen? If I run across it, I'll be sure to post here with the link.

I'll just say right now that if Will Poulter returns as Eustace, I'm auditioning for Jill Pole.

Now that would be fun!

Ok, I thought about it some more, pushed aside a few dusty cobwebs in my poor tired brain, and I'm pretty sure I know at least the time period of the interview I'm thinking of. And it also means that I wasn't quite right when I said DG said Will wouldn't be back. It was when Walden Media was gearing up to do The Magician's Nephew next and DG said something about how if they did that one next, Will would be too old to return for SC. So, not quite the quote I was originally thinking, but the implication is likely the same thanks to the huge break in between movies.

Having said that, I definitely don't interpret DG's comment in the latest interview as Will Poulter returning. I interpret it merely as the character returning which ties one movie to the next. We'll see. I've been wrong many times before, but I doubt they'll bring an adult back to play a kid.

I really hope they bring Will Poulter back, his acting was excellent.