My order of preference is a mix of both. Ideally start with LWW as a full length movie, and then do a TV series after that.
Second is a series because some of the books (specifically VDT) really lend themselves well to a series.
Last is a set of movies. And quite frankly, if they end up going with this option, I'll still be happy because I just want a complete set of films!

By a tv series do we mean a miniseries, which has a beginning and end like a book, or a regular series which goes on until the ratings do down? That impacts my decision.

I'm kind of leaning towards doing the first handful of books as movies and the others as series at the moment. Mostly because I'm a bit sick of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and (to a lesser extent) The Silver Chair since I feel like people are always adapting them and not the other books. I kind of want them to breeze through those stories so we can get to The Horse and his Boy, The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle. (Actually, part of me feels that The Last Battle is unadaptable and they'd be safer not bothering to try. But if they do try, it'll at least be a novelty.)

As I've said elsewhere, I'd really like to see HHB and MN on the big screen. Adapting them as anything will depress me since it's a reminder that wish of mine will never come true. But not adapting them will depress me too since I really think they're such great material. A miniseries would have the benefit of a lengthy running time. But I wouldn't demand it be that long. The Magician's Nephew could be done well in three hours and The Horse and his Boy in five.

By a tv series do we mean a miniseries, which has a beginning and end like a book, or a regular series which goes on until the ratings do down? That impacts my decision.

By television series, I'm talking about one with a defined beginning and end, planned that way from the get-go. Although I can see an opportunistic exec looking at the last chapter of The Last Battle and thinking, "Hey, let's just keep going! Lewis says the adventures never end." Let's hope not.

By television series, I'm talking about one with a defined beginning and end, planned that way from the get-go. Although I can see an opportunistic exec looking at the last chapter of The Last Battle and thinking, "Hey, let's just keep going! Lewis says the adventures never end."

LOL. I think I'm going to vote for mix and match. I'm not sure if that's feasible but it makes sense to me. Some of the Narnia books have simple plots (which would work better for movies) and some have more complicated plots (which would work better for miniseries.)

Just joined the forum, so this is more like test post to see if it's working! Hi everyone! But anyway I'm more in favor of mixing and matching. Maybe more on that later...

^ Good to see you on the forum, Cleander!

I like the idea of some books being movies and others being series.

My only big concern is that they will try too hard to make these a "universe" and make the narratives connect and flow into each other. The Marvel movies often focus so much on setting the stage for future movies that it harms the present movie.

Just tell seven great stories! Don't fixate on setting up the next thing.

Welcome to the forums, Cleander!

One of my other reservations with the "mix and match" strategy is that I feel like the movie adaptations will just leave me wanting more. For instance, if we get a really expansive adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and we have lots of time to spend with the characters, soak up the atmosphere, et cetera, then galloping through The Horse and His Boy at breakneck speed — comparatively speaking — could end up feeling unsatisfying.

That said, if they're serious about the "mini" aspect of a miniseries, and each series is only about an hour longer than a movie per book, I doubt that would be as much of a problem.

For instance, if we get a really expansive adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and we have lots of time to spend with the characters, soak up the atmosphere, et cetera, then galloping through The Horse and His Boy at breakneck speed — comparatively speaking — could end up feeling unsatisfying.

Well, FWIW, The Horse and his Boy is one of the ones I was imagining as a miniseries if they mixed and matched.

My only big concern is that they will try too hard to make these a "universe" and make the narratives connect and flow into each other. The Marvel movies often focus so much on setting the stage for future movies that it harms the present movie. Just tell seven great stories! Don't fixate on setting up the next thing.

I'm a little worried about that too. I wonder if they're more likely to do that with a movie series or a TV series. If I knew that, it'd also impact my preference.

MOVIES. NOT TV SERIES.

I know that I’m here long after the party has [un]officially wrapped, but since I have nothing better to do for this moment than to daydream of how Narnia could be adapted by Netflix, I thought I’d just throw in my 2 cents (yet again).

If it were up to me, I’d choose movies, not TV seasons, (or at the very most a little bit of both) because C.S. Lewis created the Narnia stories to be enjoyed via imagination, so he left a lot open to your personal taste and interpretation. Multiple-episode TV seasons would give away too much of the mystery from the books, I fear. But if Netflix is dead-set on doing a TV series, here’s what I’d propose:

Adapt the first six Narnia books as a 3-season TV series, and make the final book as a stand-alone original movie. Season Two would premier a year after Season One, Season Three maybe two years after those, and the movie finale a year or two later.

Season One would be ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ & ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. Those two compliment each other very well. Digory’s story leads very well into Lucy’s story. And together they contain the rise and fall of The White Witch Jadis.

Season Two would be ‘The Horse and His Boy’ & ‘Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia’. On the surface these two bear little in common, but it’s important to show the audience how happy Narnia was in book 3 during the Pevensies’ adult years, and how they fought to keep Narnia safe. And to see all that taken away in book 4 is devastating. Shasta’s story of saving Archenland and Narnia from invasion leads powerfully into Caspian’s story of saving Narnia from his own kind, long after they have invaded.

Season Three would be ‘The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ & The Silver Chair’. Out of all the books, these two work the best together as a duo. Eustace and Jill are the bridge from the old characters to the new ones in both stories, and both stories fit as a farewell to the original main characters. This season also works as a finale for the seasons with a powerful witch planning to invade Narnia, and the heroes having to thrawt her plans.

Each season would be about over 6 hours long, with 8 episodes per season, with four episodes per book, and over 3 hrs per book. All would have TVPG ratings.

‘The Last Battle’, the lone original movie, would be over 2.5 hrs long and would be rated PG-13. That’s approprate given that this story is so much darker than the previous ones, and sticks out like a sore thumb, when compared to the gentle qualities of the first six. S1, S2 & S3 of the TV series are appropriate for kids, but the stand-alone movie is mainly for adults who grew up reading the books, and can handle the ending.

There, that’s my shpheel. I know that this is no knowledge on how things will turn out, but that’s just my guess.

S1 (2021)?
S2 (2022)?
S3 (2024)?
LB (2026)?

My first choice is a series. It just makes sense to me. There’s so much fleshing out that can be done by making it a series and “you can put the whole book in” (didn’t I hear that somewhere? Haha).

If they do a mix and match, I would assume MN and HHB would be the films. But I think these books also deserve a mini-series treatment.

I voted series, but I would like them to be long and cinematic.

In the past I've been fairly apprehensive about adapting the books into episodic series, and while I do still have my concerns about a series, (and in a perfect world would definitely prefer a series of films.) I've definitely warmed up to the idea of a series.

I think ideally I'd like a format that's something like a series of miniseries. Each book getting 2-4 parts each, with each part at about an hour long. That way you can have more time to flesh out the books that need it without stretching it out to much and overstaying it's welcome.

@narnia fan 7, that is about what I was thinking too! A good mini-series where each episode is fairly long, and getting multiple (3+) out of each one.

I'll give this Narnia streaming adaptation another try (yet again):
On 2nd thought, I'll give it 2 tries:

1.

If Netflix shoots the Narnia books in publication order - and at this point anything resembling publication order would be shocking - then they will probably (for the sake of shooting back-to-back TV seasons) compress the timeline of the books so that the gaps between stories are quicker. LWW & PC would take place only a few short months apart from each other (instead of 1 year apart, which wouldn't be a bad thing): Early summer at the Professor's and then later summer on the platform. And of course VDT & SC take place only a few weeks apart from each other (like the books). MN & LB don't have that problem, and they give the World of Narnia its beginning & end. HHB would be an extra miniseries.

AROUND CHRISTMAS 2021...
'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' & 'Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia':
Shot back-to-back as a TV Season 1.

ONE YEAR LATER - CHRISTMAS 2022...
'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' & 'The Silver Chair':
Shot back-to-back as a TV Season 2.

SIX MONTHS LATER - SUMMER 2023...
'The Horse and His Boy':
Shot as a stand-alone miniseries.

SIX MONTHS LATER - CHRISTMAS 2023...
'The Magician's Nephew' & 'The Last Battle':
Shot back-to-back as a TV Season 3.

2.

Netflix will probably shoot the Narnia stories chronologically as multiple miniseries', with a few of them being shot back-to-back as TV seasons. I think that should only be when no time really passes between certain stories. Books like LWW & HHB for example. Otherwise, having each story made one year apart from each other would work best.

CHRISTMAS 2020...
'The Magician's Nephew':
Shot as a miniseries.

ONE YEAR LATER - CHRISTMAS 2021...
'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' & 'The Horse and His Boy':
Shot back-to-back, preferably as a TV season.

ONE YEAR LATER - CHRISTMAS 2022...
'Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia':
Shot as a miniseries.

ONE YEAR LATER - CHRISTMAS 2023...
'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' & 'The Silver Chair':
Shot back-to back, preferably as a TV season.

ONE YEAR LATER - CHRISTMAS 2024...
'The Last Battle':
Shot as a miniseries.

There. I wish Narnia all the best of luck as a streaming series.