Well, now that I've picked myself up off the floor...

This will take some getting used to. At first I was like, "NOOOO, I want my SC!!!" and then I was like, "But I LOVE MN too". You have to admit it, MN would make a COOL movie. And we already know how much Tilda loves the WW character and how good she'd be. Add in some smashing youngsters to play Digs and Polly and a fantastic eccentric actor to play Uncle Andrew and we could have an amazing movie.

I guess at this point, I'd be happy to see ANY Narnia film be made. I honestly will cheer either way they decide to go!

good point, Gymfan15
I've pretty much lost hope for the Narnian movies after VDT. Two major disappointments in a row (PC and VDT) is enough for me. If they can recapture the magic of Narnia by doing MN, well, then maybe they should. I would rather have SC, but, who knows? Maybe this is what the Chronicles need?
The only thing I'm afraid if is a screw-up in MN. I'm afraid they'll make it very "spooky" and turn it into something dark and muahahaha-ish...if you know what I mean. Of course, the book is mysterious and a bit spooky, but, knowing what people add the children's movies these days...I don't know. I just hope they keep the Christian principles, the ethics, and the morals and don't mix it up with a bunch of "dark" and "witchy" trash and turn it into a kids horror film. Not that I think they will, but for some reason I feel that is a very probably possibility. I hope my fears are misplaced.

Sorry, my previous post wasn't very clear. What I meant by "no excuse" is that unlike VDT and PC, they can't complain about the plot being too "complicated" and in need of "restructuring". If they change SC, that's all on them. There's nothing Lewis did they can blame for the changes with SC.

I am bitterly disappointed with this news. Now I agree with glumpuddle that MN would be one of the easiest films to market, because of the White Witch , and the "origins" factor. I think HHB might be as easy to market, because of the Pevensies and Tumnus, but it's hard to say. However, stong marketing will only get you so far if you don't have a good product to back it up. Word of mouth is important too.

MN is a profoundly uncinematic work. You have two relatable central characters; however, once the adventure gets started, they have little direct involvement in the action. Up until the end, their action is mostly "action of the mind" if you will, watching, listening, perceiving and feeling. In the books, the role that the children have is still important and meaningful. They experience an awakening that corresponds to the awakening of Narnia itself. But, this is extremely hard to translate to film.

I think MN might be an interesting film if it was made from an art house, not-afraid-to-be-weird directorial perspective, but I have no intention of spending my hard earned money watching Walden bludgeon it into a piece of pop culture media.

Edit: Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with pop culture in general or with making the easier to adapt Narnia books into blockbuster films. I just don't think that will work for MN.

I think that SC should be next, the LB, then HHB and then MN last as an origins of narnia type film.

Leaving aside concerns about trying to market a film after all of the characters have died in a previous film, they can't release LB before HHB or MN because they'll be missing back story. MN explains the rings and how they work. HHB introduces the Calormenes and their culture and religion. These are all important elements in the LB plot.

, they can't release LB before HHB or MN because they'll be missing back story. MN explains the rings and how they work. HHB introduces the Calormenes and their culture and religion. These are all important elements in the LB plot.

That's an excellent point, Anhun, I haven't thought about it that way before.

Ok... I've done some thinking on this and honestly I really don't mind what one gets done first (although I think it'd be best if they tried to simultaneously film them and release them a year or so apart.) Let me see if I can type this out before class starts and without the internet eating my post...

Pros of making SC first
-We won't have to worry as much about them recasting Will P
-It will be a good follow up for VDT

Cons of making SC first
-IMHO, SC is significantly the darkest book in the series with the exception of LB, this means that we could have the same problem we did with PC, and parents complaining its too dark harming the box office
-The green mist was set up in VDT and is very likely to return in SC meaning that there is a posibility for a less close adaptation, which would rouse the fanbase, leading again to BO decline...

Pros of making MN first
-The entire production has been excited about this one from the get go, so maybe we can expect a more faithful adaption, since they seem to respect the story more
-It's a prequel to the top-selling Narnia film thusfar

Cons of making MN first
-Will P is getting older and some of the production peoples are already thinking he's too tall (which IMO is completely wrong) so we risk a recast
-It might be confusing for some audience members as we are switching the order around again

OK so here's the problem... As far as I can see, The Narnia series is in to delicate of a condition at the moment to risk doing SC first, the problem there however is that SC must be done now or else Eustace could be recast, thus killing the franchise either way. The only choice they have I think is to risk the investment and film MN and SC at the same time. Besides the initial cost this is the better decision because, very little of the cast appears in both, and if they don't it could mean the franchise is, to put it bluntly, doomed.

I was in full gear for SC, but honestly I like MN better. There were already doubts about Will Poulter being too old, so if they have to have someone else play the part of Eustace, having a break from his (Eustace's) story would help the transition go more smoothly.

But the real question is this: are people sick of the White Witch?

The good thing is Jadis would be exactly that, Jadis. She hasn't been identified as the White Witch yet, she would look younger, dress different, and only resemble the White Witch in physical features and in the fact that she is evil.

I just hope they keep the Christian principles, the ethics, and the morals and don't mix it up with a bunch of "dark" and "witchy" trash and turn it into a kids horror film. Not that I think they will, but for some reason I feel that is a very probably possibility. I hope my fears are misplaced.

I totally agree with Narnian_ Archer. MN is a breathtakingly beautiful, fairy tale type of story with something going only a little wrong. It has a powerful and beautiful message that needs to be told.

They could always recast Jadis. The book character behaves and looks entirely different from Tilda's WW. That could eliminate some of the WW fatigue right out the gate. Plus it would be a more dramatic change to see Jadis transform into Tilda's WW after she eats the apple if Jadis is played by a different actress.

They could always recast Jadis. The book character behaves and looks entirely different from Tilda's WW.

Then the filmmakers would lose that "star power" that Swinton has been relied upon since the beginning of the series. I don't think they'll even think about recasting unless for some reason she refuses the role.

I agree that Swinton will have to be much more ferocious and vocal in MN, because her subdued WW persona would not fit with the character we know of from the book.

It's not Tilda's fault that the filmmakers have stuck her in all three films and so people are sick of her.

I loved her in LWW and she's the thing I'm looking most forward to in MN as of right now.

MN is a profoundly uncinematic work. You have two relatable central characters; however, once the adventure gets started, they have little direct involvement in the action. Up until the end, their action is mostly "action of the mind" if you will, watching, listening, perceiving and feeling. In the books, the role that the children have is still important and meaningful. They experience an awakening that corresponds to the awakening of Narnia itself. But, this is extremely hard to translate to film.

I don't think this is a problem. In all the Narnia books Aslan is in charge ("He'll act in his time no doubt, not ours", "You wouldn't have been calling to me if I hadn't been calling to you" etc). There are many, many examples when everything depends on Aslan.

Besides that there are some key moments in The Magician's Nephew of character decisions -especially Digory's. The best two examples are when Digory rings the bell in Charn, thus awakening Jadis, and when Digory resists Jadis' temptation in the garden.

Reep, while I agree that Aslan is the ultimately leader in the books, this doesn't automatically make him a central character. The stories are never told from his perspective. In the other Narnia books, while Aslan has the lead, one or more of the central characters have an active, observable part to play in his plan throughout most of the book. In MN there are, as you say, moments, but most of the action involves Jadis and Aslan.

I don't think The Magician's Nephew is told from Aslan's or Jadis' perspectives. The book starts and ends with Digory and Polly and there are several chapters without Aslan or the White Witch physically present. I think Aslan and Jadis have pretty much the same page-time and influence as they did in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Ohhhh, boy. At this point in time, I'm predicting the end of the Narnia films. It's over, people. Pull our your hankies and brace for the blow.

BUT, since that's not what this topic is about, I'll go on in the supposition that it isn't over. I'm personally excited about making MN next. Sure, I was looking forward to SC. But at the same time, the films were beginning to feel...a bit dull. Like they're being just ground out slowly and painfully for consumption and profit. The idea of changing everything up, getting almost all new cast, refreshing the series right at the start of the story, is exciting. I feel like I was falling asleep in the theater, and this waked me up.

It looks like at this point, if there are any more films to be made, SC will be next. That seems fairly settled. So let's think about the possibilities here, people. This is a good thing for the series, and not just financially. I think it really could be a return to quality, something that has been conspicuously absent in Narnia of late.

Am I the only one who's excited about this?

OK so here's the problem... As far as I can see, The Narnia series is in to delicate of a condition at the moment to risk doing SC first, the problem there however is that SC must be done now or else Eustace could be recast, thus killing the franchise either way. The only choice they have I think is to risk the investment and film MN and SC at the same time. Besides the initial cost this is the better decision because, very little of the cast appears in both, and if they don't it could mean the franchise is, to put it bluntly, doomed.

Actually I wouldn't be too surprised if that is what is happening even as we speak. There might be funding secured for Magician's Nephew, but did anyone ever say that it was instead of SC, or that they had officially abandoned SC?

I don't think so, on the whole. There were too many lead-ups to SC in VDT. And I think that apart from the necessary flashback to explain what happened between VDT and SC, that film will be relatively straightforward. Besides, if they do two films at once they might even be able to save on costs. True, that the cast will be different for each, and they are completely different stories.

But much of both films can comfortably be filmed in UK, and in sets. Silver Chair needs a few good landscape shots to get Eustace, Jill and Puddleglum from Cair Paravel up to Harfang. A dodgy looking Giant's bridge is needed as well, as is the sort of Roman road writ large that UK has a few extant, crossing England in particular, and around Hadrian's Wall. MN requires a bit of London scenery plus three obscure Victorian terrace houses and a streetfront, with a lamppost. You can find similar dwellings in squares in Bayswater, Kensington and elsewhere.

Someone was suggesting Fingal's cave, also in UK, for the interior of Underland which would be terrific, especially as it is the sort of interior that makes people lose perspective. I thought it would be a good place for our SC trio to pass on their way to the ferry which would take them to the Underworld palace, especially as the real Fingal's cave can only be reached by a ferry service.

If Fox has reached agreement with Disney about a Narnia DVD combo, I think that they could also get access to whatever remains of the LWW and PC Cair Paravel sets, which would save a bit of money, since much of the SC backstory action takes place there, and such action also includes Eustace and Jill arriving at Cair Paravel, plus their going there at the end to greet Caspian's returning ship. Securing access to such sets would not only reduce costs for Fox but also improve continuity between Narnia films.

What MN and SC have most in common is that both films feature a large castle/palace, probably with a terrace in front of it, overlooking a ruined city of some sort. Now this part may need some reworking from MN to SC and back again, but I am sure it could be done. Besides, whilst we see the outside of the building in SC, plus the words 'Under Me' via a window, do we ever really see the Charn castle from the outside in MN? Virtually all we see in the book is a courtyard and a hall of statues with a bell in the middle of it.

Then there are the various garden scenarios in both Narnia movies. We need a field with a stream at the top of a mountain in SC both at the beginning of Eustace's and Jill's adventure there, and at the end, where Caspian's old body passes on. We also need a 'wood between the worlds' with pools of water, intersperced by trees, and the walled and gated garden at the top of a mountain in MN where Digory plucks the fruit. However, I'm sure it all can be managed, even if we have to visit a couple of sites more often than we realise.

At this moment, it seems we all have to wait and see what happens.

I realize that at this point, dreaming of MN and SC both being greenlit seems ridiculous, but I can't think of any other option. Face it, I think it's very apparent that if another Narnia film is made, it will be MN. We even have an official verification that it had been previously discussed, and even, decided. I think that if this happens, and SC is made afterward, it will do horrific at the box office. The continuity would be askew, and it would confuse the casual moviegoer. I think they would be more likely to skip over SC then to come back to it.. which is obviously, in my opinion, out of the question.

I know that this is a ridiculous request, but I truly hope both MN and SC are greenlit at the same time.