For me, a good adaptation is not one that tries to simply do everything that the book did in the same way that the book did, because why would you want to watch that kind of movie? Just read the book! Instead, a good adaptation of a book needs to expand and expound, to show us new angles and pose new questions, to show us new sides of favorite characters, and to introduce new ones for them to interact with. Prince Caspian, I thought, did a good job in many ways. I thought it was made less than good by all the teen angst and such. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader made no attempt to really adapt the book at all, in my opinion, the book elements just seemed like a vehicle for their contrived plot and "moral of the story".

All that to say: I don't really mind having characters and such a bit different from the book. Honestly, I'll be able to relate much better to an older character, so I have a selfish reason for wanting an older Jill and Eustace. ( And if you don't think people older than 15 get bullied, I don't even know what ) I would be fine, I guess, with a 12 year old Jill and Eustace, as long as they didn't try to make the plot, story, and themes of the book more "kid-friendly" as a result. ( i.e., dumb a la VDT ) But I think the reality is that they're going to make a decision on who the primary audience is, and hopefully they choose adults, because that's in my opinion the best chance for a proper The Silver Chair movie.

Anyone worrying about children fighting in battles translating to screen needn't be concerned about SC, as there are no battles except the fight with the LotGK at the end. This is assuming they stick with the book.

I thought I needed to join in on this NWeb reunion. Like most, I'm skeptical and perhaps foolishly optimistic about this upcoming Silver Chair movie. But more than any of the other stories in the book series, I want the filmmakers to nail this one, my long-time favorite. And with Walden Media out of the picture, perhaps that's more possible.

I'm curious if this film is still legally bound to a 2018 release. If so, why would they announce it as early as 2013? Seems premature from a media standpoint. No casual fans are going to have any anticipation for the film with such a long wait. Walden's restructuring must have something to do with this. I'm thinking a late 2016 release would make more sense given the announcement, but that's just guesswork.

But I think of the Narnia books as children's stories that I can still enjoy as an adult, and I suppose that's what I'd like to see in Narnia films: well-made, avoiding being patronising and silly, but still primarily for children.

Exactly. The problem is that the children's books of today are often more mindless and sanitized, while Lewis consciously avoided this while writing the Narnia series. And that's why I feel the filmmakers are finding it tricky to nail down the target audience for the films. They are trying to wrestle between what our current cultures expect in a children's story and what Lewis wanted them to be when they were created. And they need to get closer to Lewis' vision. That's how we will get films that appeal to everyone.

All that to say: I don't really mind having characters and such a bit different from the book. Honestly, I'll be able to relate much better to an older character, so I have a selfish reason for wanting an older Jill and Eustace. ( And if you don't think people older than 15 get bullied, I don't even know what ) I would be fine, I guess, with a 12 year old Jill and Eustace, as long as they didn't try to make the plot, story, and themes of the book more "kid-friendly" as a result. ( i.e., dumb a la VDT ) But I think the reality is that they're going to make a decision on who the primary audience is, and hopefully they choose adults, because that's in my opinion the best chance for a proper The Silver Chair movie.

Usually, in UK schools, at any rate, & also here, there is a change of school at the end of primary school (5-11 years of age) and vulnerable newbie 11, 12 and 13 year old students are the ones most likely to be bullied by older students in high school. Eustace and Jill have been at Experiment House for at least a year. Jill knows that Eustace has suddenly changed in his attitudes, rather than in his physique, during an intervening summer holiday, from sucking up to bullies to standing up to them. What is even more complicating is that the academic year in the Northern Hemisphere follows the financial year, not the calendar year, as it is here, though it is summertime in both cases, if that makes sense. In both cases, new students from the previous year could expect to have gone up a grade in autumn, unless there is a good reason to keep them back a year, which could have happened to Jill to make her an obvious target of bullies.

And so, I don't think it is realistic to film Jill and Eustace as being any younger than 13 or 14, whatever the target audience of the film may be. Much over 16 or 17 is also unrealistic, since in the 1940's, most of the bullies and troublemakers, even in Experiment House, would be weeded out anyway, once the minimal school qualifications loom, and once school references for future employers are mentioned. This was particularly true during WW2 when the military was always in need of new recruits over the age of 17 years of age, and when school leavers could be drafted into munitions manufacturing.

There have been all sorts of studies into bullying, and the sorts of people who get targeted are often those who differ noticeably from others. They could be more academically gifted, have a different background or a different creed, or they could be perceived by their tormenters as being weaker in some other way. Sometimes standing up to bullies can also make people targets, since bullies are not noted for their altruism.

Eustace in VDT & SC had gained strength from showing off that he could get the best academic results, but physically he was no match for bullies, even those in his own age range. I think Will Poulter, unless he grew really tall since VDT, could feasibly still play Eustace, if asked to do so, but this film will most likely try someone else, due to the 3 year delay since VDT's release, maybe also legal complications from Walden. There are a few other characters that return, Aslan, for instance, as well as Trumpkin. Would a new film want to get the same actors or different ones?

There is one thing that all the previous films have done well with so far, and that is recreating the WW2 ambience. I hope a new film also continues with this theme. VDT showed the realities of WW2 rationing & recruitment into the military, including a soldier being farewelled by his sweetheart. PC showed air-raid wardens patrolling underground stations, and LWW the evacuation of children. But I wonder how WW2 would relate to SC?

I will admit that I am feeling apprehensive about this but at the same time glad about another anticipation for a new Narnia movie. The last film just really made me want to drop liking the series all together however I really couldn't after all since my best friend always brings up the subject of Narnia over and over again and told me about this yesterday.

I'm curious if this film is still legally bound to a 2018 release. If so, why would they announce it as early as 2013? Seems premature from a media standpoint. No casual fans are going to have any anticipation for the film with such a long wait. Walden's restructuring must have something to do with this. I'm thinking a late 2016 release would make more sense given the announcement, but that's just guesswork.

Well, the 2018 date is a guess on when the moratorium would expire. In theory, the film could start pre-production, film and conclude post all legally and could then release the film after the expiration date. I don't think they'd have to wait for all that before they start work on it.

All that to say: I don't really mind having characters and such a bit different from the book. Honestly, I'll be able to relate much better to an older character, so I have a selfish reason for wanting an older Jill and Eustace. ( And if you don't think people older than 15 get bullied, I don't even know what ) I would be fine, I guess, with a 12 year old Jill and Eustace, as long as they didn't try to make the plot, story, and themes of the book more "kid-friendly" as a result. ( i.e., dumb a la VDT ) But I think the reality is that they're going to make a decision on who the primary audience is, and hopefully they choose adults, because that's in my opinion the best chance for a proper The Silver Chair movie.

I actually believe with good actors and good writing, we should be able to relate to children as well as adults, if not more so. Looking back on the first two films, or even considering other fantasy featuring children, my ability to relate and identify with them did not depend on their ages but rather the quality of storytelling. I hope they keep them around the ages in the book.

I am excited about news, but, I am unsure of what to think really. This could be really awesome. But, it could be even worse than Dawn Treader. I love the fact that it will have a smaller budget because maybe they won't feel any need to put in epic battles that could cause them to use up their budget. If they can instead focus their budget on the main story and making sure they get across the main points and themes, I would be very happy. I don't need a huge budget to be happy, I just want a good adaptation of this book.

A couple of weeks ago my parents contacted me after they'd shown the Narnia films to a young friend of ours. He loved the movies, and was desperate to know if there were going to be any more. I tried to explain the situation, saying it was likely there wouldn't be any more films for a long time.

When I read this yesterday ... wow. I thought I was jaded after VDT, but it turns out I'm still pretty fangirly. Maybe I just needed the break!

I'm curious if this film is still legally bound to a 2018 release. If so, why would they announce it as early as 2013? Seems premature from a media standpoint. No casual fans are going to have any anticipation for the film with such a long wait. Walden's restructuring must have something to do with this. I'm thinking a late 2016 release would make more sense given the announcement, but that's just guesswork.

Well, the 2018 date is a guess on when the moratorium would expire. In theory, the film could start pre-production, film and conclude post all legally and could then release the film after the expiration date. I don't think they'd have to wait for all that before they start work on it.

I was wondering about this as well. Could a film really be made without legal contracts to protect the two parties in order to get around the moratorium? I wonder what the actual situation is; it would be interesting to know.

I don't know what the moratorium includes, but my guess is just that they can't release a movie before the time is up. They can sign contracts and make movies as much as they want. They just can't release them. That's my guess. Any lawyers on the forum?

WOW, This came out of nowhere...
My gut is telling me that we will be seeing The Silver Chair before 2018. There is just something off with announcing it this early. Anyways this will be my first time anticipating a Narnia movie so I'm really excited for what the future of the franchise will hold!

Maybe they made a deal with Walden Media. So they can release it sooner and Walden media gets a piece of the profit. Anyway i think more announcements are not far away.

Really looking forward to seeing how this all turns out. A lot of potential to go wrong, and a lot of potential to go very right.

I hope they recreate the classic images of Puddleglum from the book illustrations when they first introduce him. The one of him in the dark with the lantern could be when the children are being carried to him, they could make that image kind of blurry and then that next morning you see the back of him, sitting and fishing. Then you finally see his face and body up close as the big reveal. Would be a perfect introduction to a marshwiggle.

I ponder on how they plan to make this story more cinematic. I can see them having some fun at the giants' place, and if they did it in 3D... They could have Eustace and Jill and Puddleglum climbing and interacting with really large objects, like in the kitchen/cookbook scene.

Not sure how they're going to handle the green witch turning into a snake. I can see them possibly deviating from that a bit, or at least making the room and size of the snake larger so all the main characters will be in danger. I wonder if they will have Prince Rilian released from the Silver Chair before the witch is defeated? Sounds like something Hollywood would easily switch around and mess up. I wonder how they'll handle the escape from Underland too.

There's also the scene with father time sleeping with the dragons and what not. Wonder if they'll include that.

Here's to the next how ever many years of speculation!

- Twinimage

But a Narnia film is a Narnia film. I will go see it. And I can't deny that I am feeling like a twelve-year-old girl again, dreaming of Narnia.

Am I the only one thinking of directors and cast and costumes and sets already? It's going to be like old times again... *jumping up and down*

My reaction exactly! I thought I would be pretty unimpressed when the next movie was announced, but I absolutely lost it the other night when I found out. It was like being 12 again, when my whole life revolved around waiting for LWW. I nearly cried. So of course I had to head back to my old hangout. I've missed NarniaWeb.

The excitement and news and discussion and everything that goes with a new Narnia movie....it's going to be fun.

Anyone worrying about children fighting in battles translating to screen needn't be concerned about SC, as there are no battles except the fight with the LotGK at the end. This is assuming they stick with the book.

Well, it's not about that for me, like thephfactor1 said, I just relate better to older characters. I don't care if kids fight in battles, it's fiction. I just like the idea of them being teens better.

WOW, This came out of nowhere...
My gut is telling me that we will be seeing The Silver Chair before 2018. There is just something off with announcing it this early. Anyways this will be my first time anticipating a Narnia movie so I'm really excited for what the future of the franchise will hold!

Before this announcement, we knew there was a seven-year moratorium between movie releases - in other words, there has to be seven years since the previous one was released. This would take it to December 2017. The choosing of the production company, discussion of all aspects of the film, consideration of writers, locations, and many more things, will take a while. Then they will be into real pre-production, casting, and finally, filming itself.
I could imagine their using 2014 and 2015 to prepare, filming in 2016, post production through 2017.
What do you think?