I don't think box-office unpredictability is a problem anymore. After PC and now VDT, I think its safe to say that Narnia looks like being a $400m-a-movie boxoffice franchise right now. LWW has always been the anomaly of the series - the vastly more popular book in a series of 7 - so as long as Walden budgets each subsequent movie correctly for an expected financial return of around $400m at the worldwide boxoffice, they should be just fine.

That would mean they should be more than capable of setting up an overlapping schedule for the next few movies, rather than continuing the "wait and see how the next one does" policy they are currently running with. The three Narnia movies so far currently occupy all three top spots of Walden's boxoffice record, with nothing else on their resume coming close to being even vaguely profitable. There is no way a company with such a poor record outside of Narnia is going to stop doing Narnia.

Given a fairly predictable (albeit not majorly high) rate of return for a future Narnia movie, financing more than 1 at a time should prove to be a safe bet assuming they can get the inital capital. Additionally though its also worth considering that if they don't do Silver Chair now as the follow-up to VDT, they won't really ever be able to make it all - so if Walden were to skip over it they would be doing themselves out of a movie, which they can ill afford, given the aforementioned lack of success and quality with the rest of their non-Narnia output.

I would love to see Fox and Walden take the gamble and make both movies at the same time. I know at one point Walden Media did consider the idea, but based on the report last night, I very much doubt they still are.

Sadly I think because of this, SC is going to die a horrible, painful, death at the box office. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the book, it's my very favorite, but it seems everything is working against it.
~ It's one of the least favorite books in the series
~ The production either doesn't like it or don't understand it based on how they tweaked VDT to make SC work and then decided to skip SC altogether.
~ The one thing that they can carry over from the movies so far is Will Poulter who is going to be an adult by the time they get around to it....(seriously, at the rate they're making these movies he'll be 21 by the time they start filming). You can fudge Caspian from being a young child to an older teen as his age isn't super important, but Eustace is still supposed to be in grade school. OR the more likely result is that they will have to recast. Either way they'll lose the strongest marketing card they have to play for this movie since I think most everybody loved Will as Eustace.
~ The result of the amount of time between VDT and SC will make it rather awkward. I mean MN may as well have not been made. There's supposed to be a time gap of 3-6 months in the books, and while that can be fudged a bit, four to five years is a bit much. Will people even remember VDT? (I suppose that could be a good thing too )

At any rate, I've gone a little bit off-topic here. The answer is that yes, I think they should make both movies at the same time. But I very much doubt they will at this point.

Film SC and MN at the same time because it could prevent the long term failure of the franchise!!!!!

that would be awesome! I had thought of that. none of the characters in MN are in SC! they could do it!
plus, Andrew wanted to come back for MN.....so he could direct MN and Michael Apted could direct SC!
it would be perfect!

I think Apted is working on something else now, but there is a chance that Andrew Adamson could be available!

I think that two movies might be smarter than one at this point. Before they even dare make MN, they really need to buck up and finish the crazy GM plot (hence making SC). Also, Will Poulter's age could become a huge problem if they don't do it in a few years. Then, they can make MN too, which won't create any confusion with the order of the films.

I still feel uneasy about this, but I'd rather have both done instead of only one (which would likely be MN). So, yes, I think for these reasons and many others, they should make to, although there's a good chance they won't do that.

I think both movies should be made simultaneously, because:

-MN will save the franchise (hopefully) where the box office is concerned
-Will Poulter as Eustace is crucial for the potential success of SC

The way the question is worded, there is no doubt that filming both movies at the same time is the smarter thing to do... but economics come into play also. If you ask me what I think WILL happen then I would have voted differently. I'm sure even Fox would like to film both movies at the same time, but its too much of a financial risk, even though the box office does appear to be stabilizing.

I don't think Fox would take the risk of filming both similtaneously.

Another thing I should point out... If they film MN and SC together and then HHB and LB together... Will Poulter would me more likely to comeback for LB as well. Also they could then release them on a one- year schedual rather than a two-year one... which might attract a bigger audience.

Film them simultaneously while Will Poulter is still young.

Film them simultaneously. In addition to all of the good points that others have already stated for me, there would be a balance of investment that way. If they release MN first and the transition to a new main character is too hard for the audience, Fox can just say "Oh, just wait until next year. Eustace is back for that one." Or if SC is next and is too dark for audiences, they can say "Oh, just wait until next year. The Magician's Nephew is much lighter."

And if whichever movie comes first is successful, then they can keep the momentum of the franchise going this way as well.

Give MN a big budget and start filming and give it the most marketing and then give SC $100 million and film that on the side. Seriously, every other popular fantasy franchise is filming their movies back-to-back: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, Pirates of the Caribbean. The studios behind those films are shooting movies together whether or not it is good for each movie. Narnia is one of the few fantasy series that actually could have its movies be made simultaneously, with no negative side effects.

I'll go one step further than the poll. I'd say shooting all four movies would be a benefit to the franchise as a whole, as far as overall profits are concerned.

I'd love to see them made simultaneously as much as anyone else. I'm all for it; but I don't think it will realistically happen.

So Eustace's age will jump; in the SC book, he's around ten, but in the film he'll be closer to 17. But is his age really that critical to the plot, any plot? No, not really. As long as he's still in school, it works. And I think the filmmakers are probably seeing it that way, too. There's no way they'll recast him; no way at all, people loved him too much.

I don't think they'll shell out big money to make two films. I don't think they ever planned to.

Back-to-back. The producers need to show a bit more confidence in the franchise. Cause if the people behind the Narnia movies don't believe it could make money, than the general audience will start doubting a well.
A faster release of the movies, makes the people know about the franchise, keeps them emotionally attached. When they know there will be more sequels they are more likely to care and get involved.
They got to show some guts. No risks, no win.

That's right, Rilian the Disenchanted,

They got to show some guts. No risks, no win.

You said it! No pain, no gain!

Back-to-back. The producers need to show a bit more confidence in the franchise. Cause if the people behind the Narnia movies don't believe it could make money, than the general audience will start doubting a well.

I doubt that even if they take a risk and make both it could fail if they truly don't have good scripts together and good people to make the films. I really can't see them making both simultaneously at all. That would be a shocker if it really happened.