Posted by: @louloudi-the-centaur

Though I wonder how that would impact LWW and its setting over fifty years later in the 2000's or so.

40 years later, if they're following Lewis's timeline. Canonically, MN is set in 1900 and LWW in 1940. So if these adaptations follow the same pattern, LWW should be set in 1995.

Interestingly — and this is harking back to some points that came up in the discussion here a while ago on whether any Narnia adaptations could or should be set in the present day or at least closer to it — 1995 is JUST about the furthest limit for the time period in which you can set a classic-style children's story (or any story, really) without ultra-modern technology having to be factored in and potentially ruining the story. Internet access was I think just available then for the public, but it didn't become common in people's homes until a few years later. Mobile phones were available but not common, not very technically advanced just yet (definitely no internet access with them!), and they weren't something that kids generally had or were expected to have (and making calls on them was hideously expensive compared to a landline). And even for people who could get online, websites were mostly really basic, took ages to download each page (ah, I can hear the now-nostalgic sounds of a dial-up modem ringing in my ears ), and the information you could get there was usually pretty limited. The term "social media" hadn't even been invented yet! 

My point is — if LWW and its sequels are going to be set in 1995-97 (corresponding to the canonical 1940-42 settings for the original books of LWW, PC, VDT and SC), the atmosphere will be different for sure, but at least there won't be the issue of the kids being addicted to their smartphones and social media and having to learn to cope without them in Narnia!! 

What would the children be fleeing from in the countryside if not war in England? Unless perhaps one of the Pevensie parents was deployed in a modern war and the children needed to be sent away to process their trauma or something alike. 

It's worth remembering that, despite the emphasis some LWW adaptations place on the wartime setting, Lewis in the book refers to it once, in the second sentence of the opening chapter, and never brings it up again. The now-almost-lost 1967 TV adaptation of LWW had the children staying with the Professor while their parents were away on an archaeological expedition. The 1979 animation just refers to them as "staying with the Professor" and we're never given a reason. I'm sure a good director or screenplay writer could cook up some excuse for why the children happen to be separated from their parents and staying in this old house for at least part of the summer. 

Back on topic. As for why it is set in the 1950's, could this be to help differentiate between adaptations? Walden's LWW was clearly set in the time period as the book. And if this movie is intended to be as global as it, there would need to be something to make it stand out.

Hmmm, thing is, though, MN would stand out even if it was done by the book, as none of the other Chronicles are set in the late Victorian era. And that's the story that's got to make a big and positive impact, since they've decided to do it first. I'm still baffled as to why they're making such a dramatic change (and taking such a drastic risk) as apparently setting the whole story in a totally different era, especially when it's a book that hasn't had a "straight" adaptation for the screen previously.

I'm not at all confident this adaptation will be one I'll want to watch more than once. But meanwhile, it is exciting to have so much to talk about and speculate about at last.