Posted by: @lost-in-narnia

Now that we could be 99% sure that MN is going to be the first Narnia film released by Netflix (it being on IMDB and all)

     Where did you see that?  When I looked on IMDB, I couldn’t find anything, the episode guide being empty.    
     Anyways, even though I’m firmly in the camp of publication order, especially on the first read-through, I’d be open to doing MN first for several reasons:

1. MN has never been adapted before on film (nor any stage adaptations that I am aware of).  Most people going into the series will have seen Walden’s versions anyway, and it would nice to see something new.
2. A lot of people only know that there are three books, as Glumpuddle said in the “Who Would be on Narnia’s Mount Rushmore?” lightening round podcast.  This is due to the popularity of the Walden movies and the fact that they only adapted the first three. Beginning with MN first would bring awareness to the fact that the Chronicles of Narnia are much more expansive than the Walden movies make them appear.
3. Even though it’s been almost fifteen years since Walden’s version of LWW came out, the characters (especially the Pevensie children’s actors) are well-known and loved.  For many people (from what I’ve seen on the internet), Georgie Henley is THE Lucy, Skandar Keynes is THE Edmund, Anna Popplewell is THE Susan, etc., etc.  (This is not to say that actors did not do a good job; on the contrary, I loved their performances!). However, putting MN first would give the series a chance to establish its own style, tone, and characters without being overshadowed by the Walden version.  By the time they adapt LWW, hopefully people will be able to see the series for what it is (a complete, new, and separate entity) and will be accepting of the “newest” Pevensies.  

      The downside to starting with MN is that it might give people the idea that the way Harper Collins reordered the series is the the correct way, which I don’t agree with.  I had an idea here that Netflix could film the series in such a way that it could be watched in either order (or stand-alone), thus pleasing both camps.

I completely agree @wanderer.  The MN seems like the perfect place to start for Netflix.  If LWW hadn't already been adapted recently, then it would make the most sense to begin there, since it is the one everyone knows about.

I think the best thing Netflix can do is try to be different from the Walden movies.  Don't get me wrong, I love them, and they are what introduced me to Narnia in the first place, but it just won't work if Netflix tries to copy them.  Starting with MN would sort of help set this series apart from Walden's.

Posted by: @wanderer

 Posted by: @lost-in-narnia

 

1. MN has never been adapted before on film (nor any stage adaptations that I am aware of).  Most people going into the series will have seen Walden’s versions anyway, and it would nice to see something new.

There is at least one script approved and available.
I saw a professional production on stage in London about 30 years ago, and then on stage in local theatre in New Zealand just a couple of years later. 
It was written by Glyn Robbins, and directed by his wife Vanessa Ford. I have copies of Robbins scripts of LWW, VDT, and MN.

(I googled and found some others offered, but the one I began reading was verbatim Lewis to start with, and then got worse - eg the reason the children play together is that each says "I'm not going to sea this year"....  instead of "the seaside". - the writer doesn't know expressions used in England.  As I scrolled down, it showed itself to be a movie script, with some wishful thinking in the cast opening credits, probably done for a writing course)

Well, not much is revealed to the public for now, so we can't be 100% sure but there are two upcoming Netflix adaptations currently on IMDB. One is an untitled Narnia series, the other is the MN movie. So, looks like they are doing both at the same time?? 

But anyway, I have similar thoughts about the order of the adaptations. Different characters, different world. It has more creative freedom and potential for the filmmakers. Also, it might serve as the initial point for setting the tone and direction of the future releases. With no danger of comparing it to earlier versions.

So, from the point of view of the filmmakers, it seems like the only logical way actually.

But I also wonder. If LWW is next chronologically, could it begin from the perspective of old Diggory waiting for this bunch of kids to arrive at his house? Just a random thought.

I think the reason there are two "untitled" entries for Netflix Narnia is that they have not announced any details, but had earlier mentioned both film and TV

@coracle Oh no. Only the series is untitled. The other entry is entitled "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew". But it's really just a title and two names: Gordon and Aldrich, right now.

Can't wait for more info, in any case.

I'm also in two minds about this, so to speak. Like @wanderer, I'm firmly in the camp of reading LWW first, at least the first time one reads the books, and I totally disagree with the publishers' insistence that the chronological order they're now numbered in is the order Lewis "preferred". (Based on one brief and not-unqualified comment from him to one young reader who suggested the chronological order, as we all know.) And despite that renumbering, LWW is still by far the best-known book in the series, as it was published first and has been adapted the most times for stage and screen.

In fact, every previous attempt to make a screen adaptation of the Chronicles has started with LWW, which goes to show it's still pretty much fixed in the public's mind as "the first" in the series. But as others here have suggested, maybe that's all the more reason why Netflix would be better off starting with MN, just to establish this new version as something completely different from all the previous adaptations and to introduce viewers to a part of Narnia's history that many of them won't have seen before, if they haven't read the books? Although part of the appeal of MN as a book is that it explains a lot of the mysterious aspects of LWW — why the wardrobe led into Narnia, where the lamp-post in the wood came from, how the Witch got into Narnia, why the Professor was so willing to believe in "other worlds" — MN is still a very strong and compelling story in its own right and it would definitely work as an opener to a completely new screen version of Narnia. Overall I think I'd still prefer them to stick to the publication order and start with LWW, but I'm also open to them starting with MN. 

Posted by: @lost-in-narnia

@coracle Oh no. Only the series is untitled. The other entry is entitled "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew". But it's really just a title and two names: Gordon and Aldrich, right now.

Can't wait for more info, in any case.

It's still unofficial conjecture. 

The entry about MN is unofficial, as Netflix has not said what it will start with. 

All we do know, of course, is on Narniaweb!  

The published order is best.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe should always be first because the lamppost scene is the most powerful way to introduce Narnia.  Every other adaptation has that story first. I think it would work the best to stimulate interest in the series.

Here's my slightly strong opinion on this.

From a business and strategy perspective, starting with Magician's Nephew would be more advantageous because it allows the series to stand out on its own out of the gate.  

However, if the series has creators who are serious about making this the adaptation I'm sure we've all been dreaming of, and the narrative that the series produced is what they want to capture, there are many reasons to argue for starting with LWW.

The payoff of the Magician's Nephew is better if it is read after the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (and I'm assuming that an on-screen adaptation would play out in a similar fashion.  Of course, we'll never know for sure until both books are adapted and out there).

In most ways, the Magician's Nephew is where the story of Narnia began.

In those same ways, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is where the Chronicles of Narnia began.

My 2 cents:

1st cent: If Netflix is doing a Series AND Feature Films: Publication order: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first as a 3-4 hour long episodic season. Later, Caspian and Dawn Treader as well. Silver Chair, Horse and His Boy, Magician’s Nephew & Last Battle should all be lengthy films, perhaps with extended episodic versions arriving later on (seasons 4-7).

2nd cent: If Netflix ignores the deal and instead goes for Gresham’s preferred episodic way (no feature films), then chronological order - The Magician’s Nephew - should be first. Horse and His Boy should premier simultaneously with Wardobe. Before Wardrobe ends, anyway.

Before the pandemic, I preferred option 1. Now that theatrical movies are in jeopardy, I’m thinking option 2. It would be pointless to have a 2-hour Narnia movie ONLY on streaming, when it can be so much more in-depth. Especially if the first 3 adaptations are in episodic streaming format.

End of rant.

I have said this before, but i think that doing MN first will cause them to completely change the story of LWW. It has been a long time since they did the Walden films. I don't think that should have anything to do with what they are doing now. I know. I know that everyone wants to see something new. I totally get that.

It would just ruin LWW, in my opinion. We would know about the lamppost. We would know who the White Witch is immediately when Edmund meets her. We would know about talking animals. We would know about Aslan. We would know he is the creator and the power. There is just no way they can do MN first and not ruin LWW, in my opinion. 

For me, they have to do LWW first and they have to do MN followed by LB last. The creation and destruction of Narnia. They could interweave a little if they wanted. There is no reason they need to do only things from one book per season. I think i really like the idea of us meeting young Digory and seeing his story then showing him in Aslan's country or even at the door with Aslan as Narnia falls and show him go from being an old man, the professor, who was with the Pevensies on the platform to the young Digory from just the season before. 

This, of course, depends on whether or not they are even going to do the actual stories from the books or not. If they are just going to take the world and the characters and just use it, then I don't really care. If Aslan isn't Aslan, if they ruin the undragoning like they did in the Walden movie, if they just don't really bother with all the theology if it all, or the grand narrative, then who really cares. And honestly, i don't really think they will be able to stop themselves. They are going to want to have romance and the girls fight, which i loved Susan in the walden movies but still, and they are going to want to make it darker, and they are going to want to add more characters. I just don't know that they are going to be able to keep themselves to the simplicity of the story and yet understand the depth of the theology.

It is what it is. At least, it is something new in Narnia.

I'd be more excited if they started with MN. I am a proponent of publication order, but seeing as we have had an LWW adaptation in recent memory, I would be less excited about seeing LWW adapted again than I would be for a movie based on a Narnia book that has never been adapted to screen.

Walden's LWW isn't a perfect adaptation or anything, but in terms of plot, it stuck pretty close to the book, so I'm not expecting the Netflix LWW to be wildly different. PC or VDT might be more interesting because the challenges inherent in adapting them might make for very different films/series compared with the Walden versions. Heck, there are things from those books that I'm still waiting to see e.g. the Romp, Caspian's backstory, Caspian confronting Gumpas. Whereas, even though there are scenes that could have been done better in the Walden LWW, there isn't anything I'm dying to see.

I think that "The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe" should be first because most people have read that book when they were young and it just is more familiar for them. Also most people have read the book first, and then gone back to read Magician Nephew so it just seems more reasonable to do The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe first. When you watch that movie first and then watch the Magician's Nephew, it will make more sense at the end about the characters origin and especially at the ending of the Magician's Nephew when Digory turns the tree into a wardrobe, it will be almost a sequel to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.