I'm not going to post my individual thoughts for each book right now, but I was thinking about this a while back. The conclusion I came to was that I could see all seven books work well as a tv series. But I couldn't see all of them working well as a movie, particularly VDT. VDT is just begging to be a series.

I DO think I'd prefer consistency whatever route they go. The idea of mixing and matching is weird to me unless they did an opening "pilot episode" where it's basically a movie, and then run with a series after that.

I'm still wavering between saying all the books should be movies, with a series reserved for spin-offs, and saying all but the Voyage of the Dawn Treader should be movies.

I DO think I'd prefer consistency whatever route they go. The idea of mixing and matching is weird to me unless they did an opening "pilot episode" where it's basically a movie, and then run with a series after that.

I'm guessing that they probably will do them consistently but if they do end up doing both movies and miniseries, the first and last books to be adapted will be movies. (Since both of those were ones I wanted to be movies, that makes me happy.)

I'd generally prefer movies to miniseries (though I don't hate the idea of miniseries or anything.) I'm a little scared people will be offended by my reason. It might sound like I don't think the Narnia books have a lot of depth. I do. But I can read each of the books in one day. If I had a free day, I could read more than one of them before it was over. Binge watching a miniseries takes days. I think movies would be truer to the spirit of the books in that way. Plus none of the ideas that I've heard fans suggest for expanding the stories, such as backstories for Charn or the LOTGK, appeal to me. They all sound very fanfiction-y. Of course, that doesn't mean Netflix couldn't come up with ideas that I would like.

That's a really good point about PC, Col Klink! The stuff that was cut from the Walden PC film, necessary or not, is probably my biggest gripes with it. If PC was a miniseries, then Caspian's story leading up to the blowing of the horn could all fit in the first episode! There might be some more breathing room for the Romp at the end as well.

With that in mind, I think I would like to them to mix and match. The rest of the books could be movies because I don't see any reason for lengthening them and doing so would probably only mean adding a bunch of extra stuff to Lewis's stories. Maybe they could combine PC and VDT into one series (provided they give each book the attention they deserve and not rush through PC like BBC did) and call it Caspian X or King of Narnia or something. Then we would have five movies and one series.

Maybe they could combine PC and VDT into one series (provided they give each book the attention they deserve and not rush through PC like BBC did) and call it Caspian X or King of Narnia or something.

How would you feel about adding The Silver Chair to that mix and doing all the Caspian stories in one series? (I don't have any reason to believe they're considering this. I just thought it might be a fun thing to imagine.)

Maybe they could combine PC and VDT into one series (provided they give each book the attention they deserve and not rush through PC like BBC did) and call it Caspian X or King of Narnia or something.

How would you feel about adding The Silver Chair to that mix and doing all the Caspian stories in one series? (I don't have any reason to believe they're considering this. I just thought it might be a fun thing to imagine.)

I considered that, but I have two reasons for thinking it should be PC and VDT only. Firstly, Caspian plays a major role in those stories, but only a minor role in SC. And secondly, I think SC is one of the books that is best suited for a film, so I think I'd rather see that.

As a general rule, I'm very much in favor of turning the books into miniseries, just because there's hardly anything in the books that I think is expendable and I want all the scenes. Plus, Lewis left us so many breadcrumbs that could be explored and expanded, provided we have the right creative minds at work.

That said, there are a couple that I think are less suited for the miniseries treatment: The Magician's Nephew and The Silver Chair. Out of the seven, I think that they are probably the two stories that would be the easiest to adapt to film. While there are some scenes I really don't want to see cut (e.g. the Snow Dance in SC), neither story has enough glossed-over scenes or expandable material that justifies a multi-episode extravaganza, imo. I wouldn't be happy if they added a bunch of fanfiction-y filler to those stories just to make them fit the miniseries mold.

Maybe they could combine PC and VDT into one series (provided they give each book the attention they deserve and not rush through PC like BBC did) and call it Caspian X or King of Narnia or something. Then we would have five movies and one series.

Ahhh, I would love that! Please take note, Netflix.

How would you feel about adding The Silver Chair to that mix and doing all the Caspian stories in one series?

While I do think that SC would work better as a film, I can't help but be struck by the poetry of the Caspian trilogy ending with his resurrection in the stream in Aslan's Country... I would need a box of tissues, for sure.

(In general, I think grouping the stories as series and movies based on the era they appear in Narnian history is a compelling idea: MN on its own, then LWW and HHB, then PC/VDT/SC, and finally LB.)

This is ever so slightly off-topic, so please bear with me.
I’m of a mind that the first 3 books in publication order would make good teivision (3 hr+ long miniseries’ each) while the last 4 books would make great feature films (2-2.5 hr movies each). The adaptations that haven’t be adapted to the silver screen yet should have that chance. Movies shown in theaters command so much attention and have such gravitas, compared to movies that just float around on Netflix. Take Roma, which is up for Best Picture at the Oscars this year. Those last 4 Narnia books deserve to be seen.

If new Chronicles of Narnia adaptations are going to be made in publication order (which I think is the right way to go, kid actors aging etc) TV projects should come first, given that it’s Netflix, and Netflix excels at making good TV material even as it struggles to make good movies. This way gives Netflix the opportunity to make feature films that might be theatrically released later. You know, one miniseries or film per year, every year, from December 2020 to December 2026, or something. Hey, I can still dream at this point.

Miniseries 1, 2 & 3
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Feature Films 4, 5, 6 & 7
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle

I know there’s not much hope of Narnia ever going back to the big screen. (It’s all so vague: Netflix did not specifically state that they were adapting the books at all. They just said they got the rights to all 7 and were going to make a universe of projects based on C. S. Lewis’s Narnia.) So of course I’m hoping the Netflix movie Roma will be crowned Best Picture at the Oscars next week. Maybe Netflix will then attract wide theatrical distributions for their own movies. Hmm...

Welcome to the forum, JFGII!
I'm not that pessimistic yet about the future of Narnia adaptations. Netflix bought the rights, so unless they were deliberately planning to adapt them, they just wasted money. I don't speak from expertise on how all that works; just common sense. Which means I could be wrong.
Since we already had the first three books made into movies, I would be OK with them just making the others full-length. It would be easier to imagine that the Walden movies were just continuing with the books they haven't done.
Oh, for a glimpse at what they're planning... or if they're planning at all...

I’ll give this another try: (Vol. 1)
Chronological adapting:

The Magicians Nephew would work best as a [pilot] movie, preferably under 2 hours long. It’s a simple book with lots of exposition and lots of descriptions with not so much action in its plot.
Chapters 1-2: all over in 15 minutes flat.
Chapters 3-5: all over in less than 20 minutes.
Chapters 6-7: all over in less than 15 minutes.
Chapters 8-11: all over in about 30 minutes.
Chapters 12-13: all over in maybe 15 minutes.
Chapters 14-15: all over in less than 15 minutes.
End Credits: Approx. 10 minutes long or less.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would work as a 3-hour long miniseries or one-half of a season with 8 total 45-minute long episodes:
1st Episode: Chapter 1-4
2nd Episode: Chapters 5-9
3rd Episode: Chapters 10-13
4th Episode: Chapters 14-17

The Horse and His Boy would work as either miniseries or one-half of a season:
1st Episode: Chapters 1-4
2nd Episode: Chapters 5-8
3rd Episode: Chapters 9-11
4th Episode: 12-15 (End of Vol. 1)

(Vol. 2)

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
Either a miniseries or a half of a TV season
Episode 1: Chapters 1-3
Episode 2: Chapters 4-7
Episode 3: Chapters 8-11
Episode 4: Chapters 12-15

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Either a miniseries of a half of a TV season
Episode 1: Chapters 1-4
Episode 2: Chapters 5-8
Episode 3: Chapters 9-12
Episode 4: Chapters 13-16

The Silver Chair
Either a movie or half of a TV season
Episode 1: Chapters 1-4
Episode 2: Chapters 5-8
Episode 3: Chapters 9-11
Episode 4: Chapters 12-16

The Last Battle
Either a movie or half of a TV season
Episode 1: Chapters 1-4
Episode 2: Chapters 5-8
Episode 3: Chapters 9-12
Episode 4: Chapters 13-16

I have my doubts about all this, and yet I think this is what will happen when the books are adapted. Narnia is up in the air. Waiting for an adaptation...

I'm actually leaning more in the other direction with how I want the books segmented. Unless the episodes are 30 minutes long, 4-episode book adaptations just might allow too much room for unnecessary, non-canonical expansion (may it be anathema!)
I think I feel this way just because I'm used to the 2 or 2.5 hour movies. (Even so, there was still room to add stuff. Or butcher the original story...) If each episode is one hour, or even 45 minutes like JFGII suggested, we're talking about 3 to 4 hour movies here. Even a thorough adaptation doesn't have to be that long.
My ultimate wish is that the series will come out as single, full-length movies. (Have I said that before? I think I have. Maybe I'll say it again someday. Or maybe something will change my mind...)

I would love for them all to be a series. Just tell the whole story, fill in the blanks.
I am not a huge fan of making movie and series. Stick with one or the other. However I LOVE several of the ideas in this thread!

I think they should do them all as a tv series. Like maybe five episodes a piece. I think that is very easily done. It is hard for me because I think that a lot of netflix stuff is really really slow and just doesn't work. It is almost like because they don't have to break for commercials and they are thinking about something being binge watched that they don't hit proper emotional beats in shows created for the medium. They don't even seem capable of creating a climax for each episode that then the plot of that episode leads towards. It has been a really strange and bad turn for television, in my opinion.

I love Narnia though. I will watch whatever they do. I do think that just to flesh the characters out to make them people in a visual way easily lends to an easy growth of certain scenes. Even just LWW, we have Lucy enters Narnia, Edmund enters Narnia and meets the white witch, all four enter and meet the beavers and learn the prophecy, Edmund going to the white witch and being taken prisoner, the three get their gifts from father Christmas and then meeting Aslan and winter ending, the death of the wolf and Aslan's promise and death, Aslan's return to life and then the liberation from the white witch.

That's easily five or six episodes with all of the character and world building development. Just think about how much more they could flesh out each of the siblings as well as the white witch and Aslan and the beavers and the wolf. There is a lot that they could do there. Showing the real world as well and Professor Digory Kirke, leaning on his involvement in MN. The LWW movie was two and a half hours. I think they could easily get another two hours out of what is there if they spent the time on what is actually going on with the siblings and all of their issues and how that relates to everything. Especially if they give all the siblings an episode.

I just think it is there, though it would be complicate to untangle how it would work. I think it is easily a show and one that doesn't have to be boring as netflix shows usually are because there are all of these big exciting monumental moments that they could lead towards. For me it is not how much content do they have, but how many endings do they have and they have enough to do a tv show, in my opinion.