My guess is that the man has never read the books, but knows there were 8 HP films, so ...
He's only wrong by 1.

In the extremely unlikely case that Rich Gelfond actually knows what he is talking about (given that he specifically mentioned not knowing anything about Netflix's plans, nor having any distribution deal in place beyond this one film) then if I absolutely had to craft out an 8th film from the Chronicles of Narnia, it wouldn't be splitting Last Battle in two... it would actually be to split Prince Caspian in two.

As we saw from Walden Media's Caspian film, they had to do a lot of changing to the story structure in order to overcome the cumbersome flashback-heavy narrative of the book.... Therefore, one fun way to overcome this (other than going down the route Walden took) might be to do two parallel films.

Essentially a "Pevensie Story" film and a "Caspian Story" film - both told linearly, just from each party's differing perspectives on the story.

There is a paired-movie like this which came out a few years ago, where the director did a pair of romantic films, both telling the same story, but with each one being from a "His" and "Hers" perspective. I cant for the life of me remember what it was called, or who it was by, but i'm sure i remember it.

EDIT: The film i am thinking of is "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" starring James McAvoy. It was released as three separate versions - the first was subtitled "Him" and the second one was called "Her". The third version was called "Them".

I never actually saw it, but it sounded like a fun conceit.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Netflix probably won’t be adapting Francis Spufford’s Stone Table fan-fiction novel—or the material Michael Apted once pulled from mythical eighth Narnia book that C.S. Lewis didn’t write  

I know many will roll their eyes at the idea of splitting The Last Battle into two films, especially given how every YA adaptation in the 2010s seemed to go that route. And sure, most of the book’s action unfolds over just two or three days.

But I don’t see a great way to condense The Last Battle into a single two-hour film without sacrificing valuable time in Aslan’s Country. With an additional movie to work with, they could fully embrace that final third of the book, making for a much more meaningful send-off.

If we truly get seven adaptations, I want to spend as much time in Aslan’s Country as possible reuniting with old characters. In a standard two-hour film, I fear it would be reduced to a mere 15–20 minute epilogue.

@impending-doom 

I kind of suspected LB being made into two films, but then I don’t know. If it was, they could possibly do more with the Seven Friends of Narnia, which I would actually be fine with. 

Then it would also mean that the first part would have to end on a cliffhanger. Then where would that be? I honestly don’t know. 

I actually kind of agree about being concerned about a 15-20 minutes epilogue, and there could be a lot of fuss about it. Peter Jackson’s Return of the King got a lot of criticism about the final act fading in and out, though the film itself ended up being the most successful in the trilogy. So, then who knows? LB could end up being the most successful in the Narnia film series.

So what could this 8 film mean? Most likely not some spinoff story but it could mean one of the books would be split into two films. I suppose only time will time. 

Posted by: @impending-doom

But I don’t see a great way to condense The Last Battle into a single two-hour film without sacrificing valuable time in Aslan’s Country. With an additional movie to work with, they could fully embrace that final third of the book, making for a much more meaningful send-off.

If we truly get seven adaptations, I want to spend as much time in Aslan’s Country as possible reuniting with old characters.

My problem with that is there's no way a director is going to want to spend half the movie in a place where there can be no conflict and having there be conflict in Aslan's Country/the Real Narnia would be totally antithetical to the spirit of The Last Battle. We'll be lucky if they make one LB movie and a quarter of it is an accurate portrayal of that part of the book.

@icarus Ooh, now THAT could be really interesting! I think it would have to be done really well, but I would be so intrigued to watch it either way!

Instead of breaking LB into two films, I think it would be better to just make it a bit of a longer movie, something like 2.5 -3 hours long. I just think splitting it into two would be so predictable and boring. The PC idea is more creatively interesting. 

I agree that if he was genuine about 8 films (which I doubt) he was probably thinking about splitting LB but I also really like @icarus PC idea. Another possibility I've heard would be to split VDT as it gives more time to properly explore each island and focus in on the adventurous aspect of the story, but I don't know how well that'd go down among those who seem to think every film needs some kind of action. 

So Netflix planning eight Narnia films? It's actually kind of confusing, since there are only seven books. So that would probably mean one of the books will be split into two. Question is which one? Let's consider the factors for each book.

Let's say it's done in chronological order.

The Magician's Nephew- This tells the origin of Narnia with its creation. Though I can't really see how this could be split into two films. So it's probably best for this to be one film (time framing depending on which scenes from the book they decide to keep in or expand on or cut out).

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe- the most famous of the Narnia series. But even a well known story surely couldn't be made into two films.

The Horse And His Boy- this would be kind of a tricky one, since it's more like a side story. It doesn't really involved any children going from our world to Narnia and back (probably the only book that doesn't). Side stories can be kind of tricky in a film franchise. Well, unless they decide to do more with the Pevensies reign during the golden age that would require to be split into two films, I don't see how that would work.

Prince Caspian- This is a pretty lengthy book even though there are only like 15 chapters in the book (most of others have either 16 or 17). It would be idea to have it made into two films with Caspian's backstory explored on and the Pevensie's story. Though it's hard to say if they'll make this into two films. It could end up being a lengthy film (even lengthier than the previous ones). I guess only time will tell.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- the book is pretty episodic and it could probably be made into two films. But if it does end up being one film, they better not messed it up like Walden did.

The Silver Chair- I don't know if I see this as being made into two films. I would argue that incorporating the backstory of Rilian's disappearance is kind of tricky to do in film. I kind of thought of having it near the start instead of having the owls tell it in a flash back.  But as for being split into two films, I don't see that happening.

The Last Battle- I think some would probably speculate this being made into two films, since it's the last in the series, as it has been done before with the last Harry Potter and the last Hunger Games. But how would this be split into two movies? Well, I suppose that there's kind of a 3 week gap between the first and second chapters, so maybe use that to incorporate the seven friends of Narnia in our world into the narrative. I would be fine if they did more with the Seven Friends of Narnia in our world, since we hardly see our world at all in the book except for the glimpse in the vision or dream that Tirian has. Also, maybe seeing Roonwit one last time until the reunion at the end in Aslan's country, where he lays dying, and hear him say his last words: "Noble death is a treasure that no one is too poor to buy." So maybe this will be split into two films as some will probably speculate. But then, it might just be a lengthier Narnia film, similar to how Return of the King was a lengthier LOTR film.

So which of the books will be made into two films? I honestly don't know. I'm sure we'll hear something in the coming years and probably wouldn't spend too much time speculating.

While I think there's close to a 0% chance this wasn't just a case of Gelfond being mistaken, I do really like @icarus's idea of splitting PC into two movies. The Caspian flashback is my favourite part of the entire series and so much of it being omitted is my biggest complaint with the Walden movie. Regardless of how they rearrange the PC storyline, it's hard not to feel like the flashback will be thought of as a burden to either cut or speed through, thereby removing the heart of what makes it so great. Splitting PC in two would eliminate that urge.

*sigh* Now I want this to happen!  

Considering that these are children's books:

a) I think it's unlikely they'll be long movies full of battles and violence. 

b)  Each one will need its own ending, rather than telling us to wait 2-3 years for the next part. 

c) Padding any with superhero comicbook effects would be out of genre.

To me it seems that Gelfond

- believes that Lewis wrote eight books

- is sure that Netflix wants to make a film of each of those books.

That gives me no indication that Netflix is planning to split up any of Lewis' books into two films.

But we can always have fun fantasizing about what we know is not to be expected. If Netflix gets desperate for something to make Narnia films of, there are things that Lewis didn't write a book about, only half a sentence, but which could surely be expanded to a great story (like about King Gale who delivered the Lone Islands from a dragon, just as one example). I'd like to see all seven Chronicles first, though.

I actually don’t like the idea of splitting stories to make films except when it is necessary, e. g. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings had to be made into three parts because of the book’s length.  Since the Narnia books are short I don’t think it is necessary to divide any of them into two parts. Lewis didn’t see the need to have his books in two part stories. Movies based on them should be viewed to be seen in one installment.   I can understand why the BBC made a series of half hour episodes for each book, but that was more essential given the time slots that were available. And with Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit the expansion of the story into three films may have been to make more money.  I didn’t see the need for that, and the Narnia books could each be made into only one film per story.  There shouldn’t be that much difference between the length of the movies and the books.

Posted by: @narnian78

I actually don’t like the idea of splitting stories to make films except when it is necessary, e. g. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings had to be made into three parts because of the book’s length.  

Slight correction, 'The Lord of the Rings' is 3 separate books and therefore 1 movie was made per book. 'The Hobbit' on the other hand ... 3 movies out of that one book was completely unnecessary 

Posted by: @narnian78

I actually don’t like the idea of splitting stories to make films except when it is necessary, e. g. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings had to be made into three parts because of the book’s length.  ....   And with Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit the expansion of the story into three films may have been to make more money.  I didn’t see the need for that, and the Narnia books could each be made into only one film per story.  There shouldn’t be that much difference between the length of the movies and the books.

Well The Lord of the Rings was published in three volumes so it made sense to film it in three parts. Making The Hobbit into a trilogy though was just a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of the earlier films.

i don't really think any of the Narnia  books are long enough to justify being split into two. Not that I don't think there's room for expanding on the material in the books, especially with The Last Battle. If they do get that far they'll probably find it very difficult to resist expanding on the lives of the protagonists in our world, especially the rift between The Friends of Narnia and Susan.