You make a very good point, waterkid. I would be very disappointed if Walden Media did not make SC into a movie. While I am very excited that they are working on MN (my second favorite book, next to LB), I am still disappointed that they didn't follow their original plan of making the movies in publication order. They have said that they do plan on making all seven movies, but that was before VDT. I am worried that since they made the switch from SC to MN purely for monetary reasons, that they might think SC wouldn't get them any money and would throw it out.

You're right, though, about a lot of things. SC is very unconventional. It's risky. And, like glumPuddle keeps pointing out, the filmmakers seem to be unwilling to take risks with this entire franchise. They've been taking beloved, unconventional stories and smashing them into very conventional movie plots (VDT is a very good example of that....). It's really rather sad, actually. Let's hope that they end up being willing to take risks with SC.

You have quite an argument there, and I can see you've thought this out. I agree, HHB will probably come next IF MN succeeds.

But I can't foresee them ever just dropping SC and then going on to LB. Even if it isn't as much of a favourite, they can't just go on without introducing Jill. It is a bit disconnected, but I think that will give them more room to toy with it (something that worries me a little, honestly ).

Here's why I think they'll keep SC:
1. Jill. I don't think they could just stick her in LB and go from there. Her character would have to be severely modified. Too much happens to her in SC to just ignore or blend into LB.
2. The Witch. Whatever Witch they decide to go with, she is going to be a lot of their money pull. Tilda will likely be once again slapped all over every peice of advertisement available. It's their one chance to really get a Witch in; legitimately, this time. That doesn't mean we won't be outraged, but I think we all realize by now that they don't much care what we fans think.
3. Eustace. I think they are going to milk Will P. for all he's worth. And he's worth quite a bit; everyone loved him as Eustace, and they'll stick him in wherever they can. I think the filmmakers have some kind of Severe Attachment Disorder; they just can't let go of their characters.
4. The Story: As you said, Waterkid72, the story is very different from the others. It's not about battles and warfare; it's about three absolute misfits trying to find someone they know nothing about in a completely foreign land. They can play this one lighter, not worrying about epic scale. I think they'll take advantage of that, after the heavy-battle-failure of PC, and the good response to the lightness of VDT (I, for one, cannot wait to see some good Eustace/Puddleglum banter). And it is a pretty adaptable book.
5. The Budget: SC, not being as huge-scale, is going to be easy to keep on a low budget. Probably could be lower than VDT's. If they use that cleverly, SC (while it may end up the least successful) will do relatively well for itself. At least well enough to push onto LB.

Also, Puddleglum's quite a favourite. He's kind of the new Reepicheep, if you know what I mean, and I think they'll take advantage of that. Overall, I just can't see skipping a book (unless it's MN or HHB). SC may not be the best selling, but it's a key step to LB. It sort of completes the Caspian Trilogy (PC, VDT, SC), and ushers in a new era for Narnia.

I, for one, don't think it will happen. But I've been wrong before...

I like The Silver Chair. I do not think it is particularly expendable. It may not be the best selling one. It may not be the one regarded as best- though not the worst one either. But it is still a wonderful Narnia book. I hope to see it on the big screen someday.

I do not know if adapting MN right next is necessarily "playing it safe".

I do not know if HHB would be "safe" since the visuals and the adventure would be spectacular, or "risky" because some people think that anything vaguely Middle Eastern presented as remotely negative automatically equals "Muslim bashing". Which simply is not true.

I think SC is darker. It would be hard (nearly impossible) to adapt it faithfully and keep the PG rating. MN lends itself really well to an archetypal reading and those stories tend to do well in the box office (e.g. Early Star Wars films, the most recent Star Trek movie). I'm interested to see MN. I hope it does well so that the rest can get made.

.....
They are ordinary people, both in the human world and in the Narnia world respectively. And yet, they are given a task you would not expect to be given to people of their characteristics. They do not have a prophecy behind them, nor are royalty or chosen ones. They are set to confront great ordeals and battles with nothing more than their bare hands and wit. They surprisingly manage to do it, inducing the spectator into an unconventional story which subverts many tropes of common usage at the time. Something that Lewis happens to love to do. As such, I always thought SC would be a perfect film adaptation. It stands out and definitely brings a storyline that is very uncommon in modern fantasy stories. But Walden Media has other plans and Silver Chair has been postponed until further notice....

Waterkid72 I really like what you have to say about Eustace and Jill being ordinary. That's really the attraction of the whole series where kids get to do great things. Silver Chair is one of my favorite books, but I think it's only "expendable" for Walden now because of how poorly VDT did domestically. If VDT had done better we'd probably have seen SC greenlit by now. I don't see how they can not make SC if MN does well. But I'd hate if they were to stick HHB in between MN and SC because of the longer wait to see SC given the big screen treatment.

None of the books are "expendable" but the least relevant to the rest of the series would be the Horse and His Boy.

If Walden made all of the books but the silver chair I would probably go psycho on them.

I honestly hate Walden/Disney/Fox now. They screwed up with the release date and marketing of Prince Caspian and they screwed up with the writing, directing, plot, acting, and marketing of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The franchise can never go back to the potential it once had after LWW.

I don't think that SC is "expendable" at all, just like none of the books before and after aren't. Each one has its troubles to be made into a film; SC and LB are darker, HHB has some issues that include Calormen, and MN isn't as action-packed as the rest. Not that I want them to try to fix these deals, but there is no such thing as a "easier" book to adapt.

But each book is still needed to explain later events. MN helps give some info on LWW, and SC has to be done so that we can understand who Jill is in LB. LB helps finish off the books, and HHB introduces us to the Calormenes, but as Josh said, it's not the most needed book.

As you said, there is a lot of "risks" to adapting SC. But the risk isn't whether or not they'll make SC, it's whether or not they'll make SC a great adaption. If there's one thing we see that Walden has troubles with, it's taking risks. Yet at this moment, they're taking a risk with making MN. There is too many risks out there, but if there's one think Walden's willing to risk, it's to make all of the seven Narnia books if they are lucky.

So I'm pretty sure we'll see SC, if the series keeps going after MN. Whether or not either will be good, that we'll have to nervously wait for. But just as risky LWW, risky PC, and risky SC were made, I can't see why they would take a risk (like they don't usually do) and not make it.

I definitely would not be the first to say that I think HHB would come next if MN is successful at the box office, but I do see why you say so. I do not think anyone who has even the tiniest bit of admiration for the books and this franchise would ever dare suggest that the production simply skips over SC. However, upon thinking about it, it might make more sense to make SC right before LB that way we have Eustace and Jill back-to-back. I have often said that it makes sense to have HHB and then the LB that way the Calormenes are fresh in the audiences's mind, but upon further reflection, SC before LB, despite the grief it may cause me, might be the best decision.

None of the books are "expendable" but the least relevant to the rest of the series would be the Horse and His Boy.

I can't find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Josh's entire previous post, but I definitely agree with this quoted statement. And for all sorts of reasons, not just Calormen.

By rights Magician's Nephew could have been screened first instead of LWW. Then we need not have had this discussion at all. But LWW is 'the famous' Narnia book, that is a classic. By 2005, when Disney/Walden produced their version of LWW, several other versions of it had been made in various mediums, including the BBC radio plays (© 1992), the Focus on the Family radio plays (© 1998), theatre performances, a TV mini series (BBC) and even an animated film from the 1980's. With the expertise of LOTR & Harry Potter available to call upon, and all these precedents, including the animated film version, Disney/Walden could hardly have failed to make a world-class movie out of LWW.

PC was a different matter. With fully a third of PC the book being exposition, it would be a lot harder to adapt it for film, especially when a large piece of the action would be left out of it, as in the BBC miniseries. As with the remainder of the Narnia books this was the first time it had been filmed for cinema. The result was something which was expensive to make, which wasn't the box office triumph that LWW had been, but which I, at any rate, think was a distinctly 100 % improvement on the two episode BBC PC version. Disney gave up on the series after that, and Fox took up the challenge.

I think it wasn't until a screenplay was being developed for VDT that it truly sunk in that VDT the book was more like the compensating holiday pleasure cruise Lucy, Edmund and Eustace would have liked to have, with less continuity and cause and effect between the various stops and adventures, than is the case for any of the other Narnia books, including MN, HHB or SC. There couldn't be any sort of debate after PC about 'doing' VDT next, since it was the next film chronologically, and also publisher wise, not to mention in terms of both Pevensie ages and in the character development of King Caspian.

VDT works well for story telling, and for radio plays (though I haven't heard the FotF version yet). It was the best possible story to adapt for BBC's television mini series, which is why that particular BBC performance might be the most popular of those four television adaptations, if NarniaWeb was to do a poll. Adapting VDT to fit into a 2 hour film, without simply reprising the BBC mini series, was somewhat more awkward, it would seem.

Now to SC, and why I agree with waterkid72, who started this thread, that there are reasons to think they might skip SC if it is necessary. You see, it has already been 'done', unlike MN, HHB or LB, which definitely would be left to last, if it is done at all. BBC did film a Silver Chair six part television series, which, despite its faults, was rather good. Tom Baker's performance as Puddleglum defined the character, whilst Warwick Davis made an excellent Glimfeather. If SC is to be filmed at all, I hope he gets to reprise this role in some form.

Unfortunately the BBC stopped making the Narnia films after SC, and some of the reasons why they discontinued the series should be explored, not only the financial ones. Was SC the film too dark in tone, and not as family friendly as BBC would have liked? Did they find that unless they did LB next they couldn't go on using their Eustace and Jill and would eventually have to recast them anyway? Or weren't the BBC Pevensies grown up enough to use convincingly in HHB or LB?

The three movies that have been done so far, have to be done in that order. They had to do PC next because of the Pevensies' ages. And they had to leave out HHB in a chronological sequence because the Pevensies in this movie are of adult age. The next three movies to be filmed, all have to precede LB for that movie to make sense, in particular SC and HHB. If one of the movies are to be left out at all, I can't help thinking that SC would be a definite possibility if Walden wants to film as many of the movies as possible, without repeating whatever BBC's problems, post SC, were in completing the remainder of the series.

But I also think the remainder of the Walden movies can be done in chronological order, which would leave SC second last to do in any case. Eustace, Will Poulter or not, would make a great finale in SC and then in LB, plus the girl who plays Jill would have a continuous performance in two books/films, as others have pointed out. Furthermore, the SC movie would be Walden's big chance to thoroughly outdo BBC's television version, which arguably did have its weaknesses, such as in casting the wrong Caspian, or the clunky, dated special effects.

And why do I agree with Josh that it would be HHB rather than SC that would be the most expendable one? Well, as he says, HHB is an oddity, plus it does have a controversy attached to it, because of C.S.Lewis' depiction of Calormen. But though some of the Pevensies feature in it, only Edmund and Susan have important parts. Eustace, let alone the as yet uncast Jill, play no part in this story. Neither does High King Peter, who is conspicuously missing. Lucy only appears as accompanying Edmund to Anvard for the battle and its aftermath, mainly in helping Aravis to settle in.

There is also the way the film series has treated Susan so far. Would the film Susan we have seen in LWW, PC and even VDT realistically let herself be taken in by someone like Rabadash is purported to be? Besides, the Calormene leaders like the Tisroc, Ahoshta and Rabadash are selfish and greedy rather than evil like the White or Green Witches, nor are they simply usurping tinpot dictators like Miraz.

Waterkid, in what way is MN conventional? I would say, if anything, SC is much more conventional than MN. MN, in fact, has a very unusual plot structure, because the central plot takes place in the hero's mind.

When I wrote the topic and stated SC as an expendable entry, I meant it commercially from the point of view of Walden Media. Silver Chair is by no means expendable, but it is very possible to avoid it altogether. Sure they would have to change Last Battle's story in order to add Jill Pole, but is that really unlikely? Walden Media has done many changes to previous adaptations Nwebbers and Narnia fans would have thought as outrageous and laughable April fools jokes. VDT is the most recent and blatant example. The Green Mist and the Seven Sword sub-plot are additions we would have never thought they would even consider, but they added them. To say they cannot film LB without filming SC first is no entirely impossible. After all, what Walden is doing is to avoid financial risks. 

We also have to consider how old will be Will Poulter when MN is released and done for. If MN is a success, then it would be ideal to follow with one of the other popular Narnia entries, HHB. Silver Chair is not popular and that is the issue. Unlike the prequel books of the series which are in the top in sales and popularity among the fandom. If they film HHB before SC, Will Poulter will b efar to old to portray Eustace. At least for SC. 

I want to leave it clear that I appreaciate SC and regard it high. I want to see an adaptation of this book. But after taking into consideration Walden Media's commercial strategy for the series, it seems unlikely. SC is not expendable quality wise, but chronologicaly-wise it is. It does not have a crutial role as PC has which was unavoidable. There was no way they could have avoided without setting the chronology into a mess. 

None of the books are "expendable" but the least relevant to the rest of the series would be the Horse and His Boy.

 I can't find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Josh's entire previous post, but I definitely agree with this quoted statement. And for all sorts of reasons, not just Calormen. 

I agree with both of you. SC is more crutial to the story then both MN and HHB which are prequels and could have easily been left as final entries to the series. Chronologically speaking they are avoidable, commercially wise they are ideal. Both books are popular among the fandom and both have twocommon characteristics Walden exploits, which is the inclusion of well-known and popular characters. This is a good aspect commercially speaking because they have a way to promote the movies better. PC is a great example of this; the addition of the WW was included in nearly every single trailer despite the fact that the Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance scene lasted no less than five minutes. VDT included scenes of Peter and Susan's appereance in their promotional adverts. The point of choosing MN despite been a story driven book and not action packed, is because they can promote the WW as a main character this time and at the same time promote Tilda Swinton. HHB could possibly follow the same route if MN succeeds. After all, what Walden is trying to do is to promote popular material rather than risk themselves to film a rather obscure entry which besides Eustace has no other well known human character; even if its internal structure is more ideal for a film adaptation.  The commercial appeal is key here. 

Adressing the issue with Carlormen, it is interesting you point this out. For the PC adaptation they decided to implement Spaniard culture to the Telmarine design and casted Latin American and other Hispanic-looking actors. No one criticized them for been racists. I think that there is little issues to revolve around. Carlormen could be portrayed as Persian rather than Arabic, or another culture similar to the ones of Carlormen. Prince of Persia the Sands of Time also implemented a Persian-related theme with some Arabic themes through withouth having an issue at all. Other media have also implemented a Persian-arabic inspired artwork, arquitecture and costumes without any or little issues at all. Narnia does not have to be an exception. If Walden plays it well, they can do the film without getting into any racial controversy. 

Waterkid, in what way is MN conventional?  I would say, if anything, SC is much more conventional than MN.  MN, in fact, has a very unusual plot structure, because the central plot takes place in the hero's mind.

I think all books of the series have an issue to overcome to adapt them. All or most books have their own chracteristics that must change due to the adaptation process and fans of the series must understand this. PC is the best example so far for the franchise. 

MN employs an unusual book structure wise and is certainly not easy to adapt well. This is not an issue. The last two books that have been adapted also sport an unconventional plot structure. They had to adapt them for a film presentation. They did not do this the most delicately, but the films manage to be decent and had their fair share of box office revenue. The reason MN is less riskier than SC is not because one is more unconventional than the other -none are unconventional- but because MN has better commercial appeal and is the second most popular book in the franchise. As such, there is a better chance for the film to be commercially succsesfull. Walden Media stated clearly that the reason they ditch Silver Chair in favor of Magician's Nephew, is because MN is better well-known and that they expect the film to gross as high as LWW did back when it was released. That is what they strive for. MN has the WW as main villain once again and that is very convinient for them because the WW has proven as a popular character to the point they have tried to squeeze her into two of the three movies. VDT been unnecesary and completely based on commercial promotion. SC is easier to adapt because it is rather linear, but it employs rather uncommon tropes used in popular media, it has a less well-known cast and is a rather obscure entry in the franchise, been the least popular of the books. Even though it would make a fantastic and outstanding film which would present viewers something new and fresh, it is just far to risky commercially wise for Walden to adapt next. 

SC is my favourite book, and it is ideal for an adaption steucture-wise. Ironically, it could have been their best opportunity to do an excelent adaptation of one of the entries of the franchise, while offering something new and fresh; uncommon for contemporary fantasy films. A film that does not rely on action sequences or common tropes, but instead on characater deelopment and quite unpredictable plot devices. 

Not that MN is any different, its just that as of know, SC seems very far into the horizon. 

I doubt that SC would be left as far away as you would fear. I don't see any real problem with filming MN next, and doing SC directly afterwards. And I think these are the two ones most likely to be done.

Does MN have action? Well, some, if you refer to Charn's ending or Jadis' rampage through London, which would be most entertaining. Or the animals rounding up Uncle Andrew in Narnia.

Does it have a proper villain? Oh yes, in spades. Tilda Swinton has been chomping at the bit for this part for ages. . Her being identified as the White Witch would not be a problem, since Jadis does become the White Witch. Uncle Andrew, even as her hapless 'slave', doesn't do too badly either as a scoundrelly unethical villain, who agrees with her that for those who dabble unethically with magic that 'Ours is a high and lonely destiny'.

Does it have a mission? Well there is one, though readers might not have noticed it properly. Firstly to get Digory's sympathetic friend, Polly, back to London so as to not cause upsets to dying Mabel. Secondly and more importantly to get rid of Jadis out of London, before the commotion starts affecting dying mother. The third mission is to neutralise the toxic Jadis in Narnia, the reward for which is to bring back to London a cure for Digory's dying mother. It seems Digory's dying mother, and coping with the rights and wrongs of such a dire situation, is the overall catalyst for the entire story.

And does MN have an overarching story? Oh yes. Digory and Polly explore the links between the houses and miscalculate, thus blundering into Uncle Andrew's study (world). Uncle Andrew sees them as more useful experiment fodder and tempts Polly with a ring. Digory finds that Polly has been sent to a Wood between the worlds, and wants to explore the possibilities of firstly the rings, secondly the world of Charn, and thirdly the consequences of ringing the bell. Undoing the catastrophic consequences of Digory's last venture should have been a timely reminder to heed rules and ethics, leaving such adventures well enough alone.

What was that saying about forbidden fruit?

Getting back to SC, I don't see any problems with filming that book, either. It does have a mission, right away, a single mission at that. There is a continuous story and action of a sort, like escaping cannibalistic or tantrum-throwing Giants, or Rilian fighting the Emerald Witch.

And yes, there is a good villain, LOTGK, though unfortunately it can't be Tilda Swinton, who is too easily identified with the White Witch. It is the fault of the BBC miniseries that it, too, tended to squeeze Barbara Kellerman into as many villain roles as they could, not only Jadis, in BBC LWW, but also the BBC Emerald Witch in SC, though she was less identifiable as the BBC hag in PC.

Exactly what was wrong with BBC SC that BBC decided to discontinue their Narnia series? Was it because there were no witches in either HHB or LB for Barbara Kellerman to play? Only a scoundrelly, scheming Tisroc and his corrupt coterie, including Anradin, Ahoshta and Rabadash, his impetuous, arrogant and overindulged first-born son? Or was it because of the way Rilian was played? I just wonder.

As far as expendable books go, they would definitely have to be MN and HHB. The audience fully understood the story lines before these books were written, even with the first book in order being published second to last. At first I did not understand how they could make LB without SC, but I understood your argument. However, I don't think they could do this mainly because of Jill and Eustace. Jill needs to be introduced more in SC and Eustace needs to grow stronger physically, mentally, and socially. In SC the air helps him stay up late for example and it generally helps people from our world be stronger in many aspects. Although in VDT movie Eustace did change, there wasn't enough time to show that he didn't just stop being such a nasty person, he became a good person that wanted to help. They also didn't give his transformation enough screen time. Also, Jill would probably not be strong enough physically to be able to do what she has to do in LB, like guiding them and shooting the arrows, etc. The fact that it's her first time in Narnia and suddenly she has to fight and basically put her life on the line (and eventually give it up) for a magically country she had never been to before. Eustace, although he was almost anti-Narnia before he was there, had a realistic reaction to coming to a magical world. Even Susan said "Impossible" the first time she went to Narnia. Being in the magical world with talking Animals and such and her reaction would be such a distraction for Jill. SC was a great transition from VDT to LB because Eustace never really fought in VDT. The closest he got to fighting in the book was when he attacked the sea serpent (emphasizing one of the themes of VDT, "Don't fight it-Push!" because they never really fought. The characters cleverly found ways around violence throughout the whole book). Even in the movie, the closest he got to was breathing fire at the sea serpent and waving Lord Rhoop's sword around to fight the green mist. In SC, they don't really fight until the very end when they fight the green serpent, but they travel so much they have to have gotten physically fit and Jill would have gotten the effect of the Narnian air that would make her stronger in LB that Eustace already had. After SC they practice archery and skills that would be useful in Narnia because they knew they would be back again. (But after all the battles in VDT, there probably will be more fights in SC, although there really aren't many opportunities to do this unless they add a lot because they spend 90% of the book traveling).

If they're going to leave out any Narnia book, it would probably be HHB, because it's not necessary to the main story, and took place back in the Pevensie age.

But i have a feeling they're going to try to adapt all of them. They said they wanted to see all of them on screen. Either that or just stop the franchise all together - which is even more possible, considering each movie goes down in Box office numbers as it goes.

~Riella