Posted by: @lady-jill-the-loyal

So if I had a choice I would prefer Netflix to essentially give us an updated version of the BBC's Narnia, with better effects, et cetera. Still the same faithfulness to the books

I love the BBC Narnia as well and I absolutely adore the child-like, peaceful vibes it gives you. It very much puts Narnia to life. However, I love the films just as much because of how family-like the Pevensies act. I like both adaptations for different reasons and that is why I personally don't want Netflix to be an updated version of BBC. Each adaptation has it's pros and cons, no matter how closely we hold either one to heart. In fact, one of the reasons I don't want Netflix to be based on BBC is because of it's faithfulness. I feel it makes the adaptation a little bland, because you're just seeing the book on screen, and that's not what an adaptation is. It changes things, and I like that particularly about the films. Now don't get me wrong, It's not that I don't want Netflix to refer to BBC when it makes it's adaptation. In fact, I want the films to be faithful like BBC, but not too faithful. 

Overall, I want Netflix to never base it's adaptation on just one thing. The films or BBC. I want it to refer to both when making it's adaptation, while also creating some of it's own. Maybe something that Narnian fans may like or dislike, but something new. Of course, it's too early to know what Netflix is going to do, or how they are going to do it. All I hope is that they make something original, faithful and pure Narnian. 

I went with optimistic, for the fact I can't imagine Netflix wasting this opportunity. They have also provided updates here and there. 

Netflix already has children's programming, but as previously pointed out, not a ton of their own genuinely original creations. If there is any pessimism I have, it's actually the opposite of what seems to be popular thought in this thread - I think they are aiming for a very young crowd, a very family-friendly version that will make our recent movies seem "dark," which pains me (not that I want anything too gloomy). And I do think the pandemic probably put a wrench in any plans and development, as it did many other projects in Hollywood. 

Netflix just keeps getting more subscribers by the year, and that's not going to go away any time soon. So I hope whatever direction they choose to take it, they'll use decent finances towards it so it can be the best it can be. 

Posted by: @fantasia

Fast forward a few years... My husband and I just recently cancelled Netflix due to the fact that every time I would watch a new show they had produced, there was always some little snipe they seem to have gone out of their way to put in to attack personal beliefs I have. That's fine, they have the right to make whatever they want, but I'm not going to use my money to support it. And for the record, no, I'm not boycotting Netflix, just taking a break for an undetermined length of time. 😉 

To be honest I understand where you're coming from on this @fantasia.  My wife and I cancelled Netflix for similar reasons.  This said, I am not writing this off completely, rather I have a wait and see approach to this Netflix Narnia deal.  It has the potential of being really great, but could also be potentially disappointing.  My biggest hope is that they respect the author, really appreciate the source material, respect Doug Gresham and respect the C.S. Lewis Estate - if this is the case then I'll be happy, if not, I won't.

I voted my opinion hasn't changed, when I heard that Netflix had the rights to all 7 books, I was very happy and intrigued to hear that they had the rights to all 7 books - which of course as was reported hadn't been the case in previous deals with the books.  This had my attention to begin with.  But I also had concerns about the deal when I became more aware of some of the content that Netflix has on their service.

What am I hoping for in any films/series Netflix makes?  Well, obviously their own version, it doesn't have to be copies of any previous versions, but somethings I like from the films - the casting & all the special effects.  Somethings I loved about the BBC series too though that I think the movies lacked - they didn't give enough screen time to Aslan, for the audience to really appreciate him, and they took out the cozy, magical, nice things like the dinner with the beavers, the resting in the in the beaver's hide out - these sort of things should be included and something that none of the productions I've seen had - the romps.  Keep the magic, don't make it all epic and action.  That's my hopes, and I think Netflix could do well at this...I hope they do.

I am looking forward to it. I just hope they don't ruin it.

A Netflix backed team has the capacity to do great things with the books.  My hope is that the writers not only read the books but all the literary criticism.  Also that they read what Lewis has had to say about the books.   To make this successful you have to understand the books on more than one level.  Just operating from the surface level and just focusing on the fantasy elements isn't going to work.  

So this week I have read quite a few articles and watched quite a few video essays regarding Netflix's recent announcement that their subscription numbers have started to decline, which wiped some $50 Billion off their company's stock market value.

There seem to be quite a few common theories about why, despite still being the overwhelming market leader, their fortunes are starting to fade, not least that the growing number of competitors (such as Disney+, HBO Max, and Apple TV) are now offering much better content at much lower prices.

However I think there were also definitely a few interesting points raised with regard to Netflix's failure to properly develop its own catalogue, given that it was always going to be inevitable the major studios would come in and pull their content (Friends, The Office, etc.) so they can launch platforms of their own.

Principal among the issued raised were:

• Netflix is too hasty to cancel shows after 1 or 2 seasons meaning that they never get a chance to grow an audience over time.

• Netflix typically releases every episode of a season in one go, which means shows very rarely dominate the online conversation for more than a week before being forgotten about.

• Netflix typically invests heavy in high concept content which works well for a season 1, but doesn't leave much room for character growth and development going into subsequent seasons, meaning shows tend to fizzle out with audiences.

• Netflix doesn't spend a lot of money on advertising new content through traditional media, so is usually reliant on viral word of mouth for new shows, which again usually favours one-off novelty content which generates alot of online discussion.

I guess overall most of these things ultimately tend to come down to short-term decision making and favouring rapid subscriber growth over long term customer loyalty to any particular brand. As such, my loyalty to, say, Disney+ is pretty much rock solid at this point as I know they are going to continue to push high quality Marvel and Star Wars content my way indefinitely forever, whereas my loyalty to Netflix is only as strong as whatever their last big hit was.

All of which could either bode very badly or very well for Narnia, depending on what tact they take going forward.

Good if they decide that they need to change things up and invest in a long term commitment to a recognizable brand over multiple seasons.

However bad if they continue on as at present where I just can't see Narnia making it past 2 seasons max, because I just can't see that a very traditional well known set of stories like Narnia would really be capable of generating the same sort of online hype and discussion that big hits like Tiger King and Squid Game were able to do in the last couple of years.

@icarus 

I did hear about Netflix losing its subscribers. It will be interesting where their project with Narnia will go from there.

You know, they could easily do a Narnia movie franchise on the big screen again if it came down to that.

Netflix has been cutting out people who use friends' accounts free (if they don't live at the same address). I don't know how this has affected income. 

I might use one or two more platforms in future, but not Disney, so if Netflix lost Narnia to them I might never be able to see it.

@coracle 

I just said if Netflix loses Narnia, Narnia could be done on the big screen again. We could see a different version of The Lion, Witch, And The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader on the big screen. Hey, a new version of Voyage of the Dawn Treader could be new and improved.

And we might be able see The Silver Chair, The Horse And His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle on the big screen. We haven't seen any of those on the big screen before.

As a follow-up to my earlier post about Netflix's ongoing financial woes, there is a really interesting story here about how many in-development projects Netflix has axed behind the scenes in the last few weeks:

https://www.techradar.com/news/netflix-cancels-multiple-shows-amid-huge-subscriber-loss

Although Narnia isn't one of the projects they list as being cancelled (yet), the ones they have been able to ascertain as being dropped include lots of Kids / Family oriented content such as Roald Dahl's The Twits, and lots of high-budget content such as Will Smith's Bright 2.

Given that Narnia is both Kids / Family oriented and high-budget, coupled with the lack of any movement on the project for nearly 4 years, I would put good money on Narnia being headed for the chopping block.

Hopefully fortune will prove me wrong...

If they drop it, what happens to the large sum of money they paid for the rights? 

Posted by: @coracle

If they drop it, what happens to the large sum of money they paid for the rights? 

Good point.

I think the original story was that Netflix paid "slightly less than the $250m Amazon paid for LOTR",.for Narnia

I guess if they genuinely did pay all that as an upfront payment they could just choose to write-off the loss rather than proceed with a further loss making endeavour of actually producing the show (if indeed Netflix is in as much debt as they say)

However, I would imagine it's more likely that the rights payment is part of a longer-term contract whereby the payment stems from the profits generated over time. Perhaps the contract has a get-out clause? Perhaps it doesn't but the non-fulfilment penalty is less than the full amount? Who knows.

I would stress at this moment it's all just speculation, however the more and more I read about Netflix's financial situation, the less I can see them moving forward with a family oriented, high budget, multi-series committment such as Narnia.

@icarus 

Man, I wish I knew how to feel about this...

I seem to remember somebody (possibly Coracle?) mentioning that if Netflix cancelled their Narnia series, another streaming platform would likely pick it up and actually be the one to adapt it.  I would rather this be the case than it never getting adapted.  But they'd likely have to do all the planning from scratch so it would take even longer (after it's been almost 4 years already), even if they don't currently have the financial problems Netflix is experiencing.

On the other hand, if Netflix is cancelling a lot of series due to said financial problems, perhaps Narnia is still a high priority to keep, and will get favoured because it's probably their biggest-budget endeavour on the table - and would likely yield a ton of returns for them if it succeeds (based on the descriptions of the shows that have been getting cancelled, it seems like it's at least a possibility that they want to free up money that can go towards other series instead).

But either way, I'm probably going to change my vote at this point...

@glenwit whatever I said, I hope that:

1. It won't go to Disney as I'll never get Disney. 

2. They will transfer as much pre-pre- production as possible. 

3. They will get going and actually make the jolly things!  

Posted by: @glenwit

On the other hand, if Netflix is cancelling a lot of series due to said financial problems, perhaps Narnia is still a high priority to keep, and will get favoured because it's probably their biggest-budget endeavour on the table - and would likely yield a ton of returns for them if it succeeds (based on the descriptions of the shows that have been getting cancelled, it seems like it's at least a possibility that they want to free up money that can go towards other series instead).

This is exactly what I've been thinking. It would seem rather silly for Netflix to let go of a property of the likes of Narnia. No matter what they would do with it, whether they were faithful or not, there's still plenty of people (fans or not) who would watch it, if only for the fantasy adventure aspect of it.