It would be great if a new movie or TV series could offer more of a book adaptation. Probably with a miniseries there is more of a chance for that since the story would not have to be shortened so much. It would be mostly new territory in making a faithful to the book story since the BBC did a miniseries only once and only four of the seven books made it to the small screen.  Even though The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has already been adapted there is much material left in the books which has never appeared on the screen.

I actually thought of if The Magician's Nephew gets made into a movie first, that they show a glimpse of the four thrones of Cair Paravel. It could be a cliffhanger or it could be place during the credits. It will be a set up for the next story and what is to come. But it won't give too much away.

Interesting podcast episode! I haven't got much fatigue for Wardrobe, but I am so, so keen to see the other books adapted! It's so frustrating every time that we miss out on getting the entire series.

I feel that LWW will be the first adapted to pull the audiences in with the most familiar story, though I would rather like it to be The Magician's Nephew first to really set the scene (and I tend to learn towards the chronological order rather than publication order). Apologies if anyone's already suggested this, but possibly they could start with the familiar LWW and then the second series could go back and give us TMN, 'a so-and-so amount of years before' backgrounding, which TV programmes like to do a lot recently. But having said that, I'm not sure if that will work with then jumping to Prince Caspian. Maybe. Hmm...

I wanted to return to this thread with the Gerwig news being picked up from mainstream media.

Antidotally, from chatting with friends in person and reading through various comment sections on social media, I do think there's a general "remake" fatigue that Netflix would suffer from starting with LWW. I suspect that has more to do with the state of Hollywood than Wardrobe specifically, but it is a notable response I've encountered.

Anyone else notice this?

I'm guessing that may be largely Disney's fault, because nearly all their output in the last several years has been live-action / CGI remakes of their iconic animated films. It's getting to the point where it all seems overdone and unnecessary and people may be wondering "Can't they do something original for a change, instead of redoing (and possibly messing up) all these films that we already know and that in most cases were good enough the first time??" That's how it makes me feel, at least — and although I personally didn't enjoy the Walden film of LWW, it was and is very popular and very well done as a film. So although my own preference would be for a new Narnia series to start with LWW, it might be a lot wiser for Netflix and Gerwig to start with a different story, probably MN — one that hasn't been done before on screen  and so it won't be burdened by anyone feeling that it's just a rehash of something we've all seen before.

Posted by: @impending-doom

I do think there's a general "remake" fatigue that Netflix would suffer from starting with LWW. I suspect that has more to do with the state of Hollywood than Wardrobe specifically, but it is a notable response I've encountered.

Anyone else notice this?

To offer a slightly contrary view...

LWW is coming up to it's 18th birthday (and will likely be 20+ when a new one finally comes out), and during that time we've had 6 live-action Spiderman movies spanning 3 different lead actors, and they've all done more than well enough at the box office, so I don't think there's any real fatigue with the basic concept of remakes... just as long as you've got something new to say about the characters, and something visually unique to offer  the audience, people will still be interested to watch films with the same set of stories and characters they already know, much as it has been since the dawn of storytelling itself.

I don't think it's an easy decision that's for sure. I mean business wise it seems realistic to start with something everyone will recognise. I know some of have mentioned "remake/reboot fatigue" but that doesn't mean that adapting one of the unadapted books; probably The Magician's Nephew, will be any more successful in kicking off a new reboot, and comes with its own cons. There seems to be this back and forth, where people complain about a lack of originality but then hardly any of them will go out and see an original film at the cinema that isn't connected to a pre-existing IP? Especially at the moment with nostalgia being a ticket-seller. 

I mean starting with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe could be a wise choice because of "remake/reboot fatigue". I just think if Netflix and Gerwig are able to create something that people really enjoy and get behind with something they recognise, then you've built an audience for when you want diverge and tell some of the other stories. Netflix need to earn people's trust and I don't know if risking it on something not many general audiences are aware of is worth it. I just don't think the Narnia branding alone would help sell people to The Magician's Nephew, without showing people what you can do with what they already love.

If this was just simply a money-making scheme for a studio disguised as bringing back a beloved franchise I'd be concerned about restarting with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but with Gerwig at the helm, I trust she'd be able to create something that would be feel fresh and new, whilst honouring the source material we all love.

Posted by: @icarus

LWW is coming up to it's 18th birthday (and will likely be 20+ when a new one finally comes out), and during that time we've had 6 live-action Spiderman movies spanning 3 different lead actors, and they've all done more than well enough at the box office, so I don't think there's any real fatigue with the basic concept of remakes... just as long as you've got something new to say about the characters, and something visually unique to offer  the audience, people will still be interested to watch films with the same set of stories and characters they already know, much as it has been since the dawn of storytelling itself.

Good point, but I think there's something of a difference between Spider-Man films and the Narnia stories. With Spider-Man or indeed other famous superheroes, you've got stories that centre on an iconic character who's been around for decades in all sorts of versions. Many of the people who watch those movies will be doing so because they like that superhero (and maybe there are a few generations of fans in the family!) and they're interested to see what his latest adventures are and how different actors are going to portray him. It's the main character who's the big drawcard, no matter what plots he stars in.

On the other hand, LWW is a very specific story, not a "character-driven" franchise (I don't think that description would apply even to the whole series of books overall). A new adaptation won't be taking a small group of already popular characters and doing something new and different with them — unlike, say, Enid Blyton's Famous Five, who are reportedly going to be remade in a new version with "modern and exciting" adventures for the BBC. Logically, the new version of LWW will have to retell the same story we already know, hopefully in a way that's fresh enough that it doesn't feel too much like we've seen all this before, but still sticking recognisably to the established plot. There's a lot less leeway there for doing something really different and unique with the characters and the narrative, at least not without making so many changes that it's no longer the same story — which arguably happened with the Walden version of VDT, and a lot of fans were clearly not happy.

Of course that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a good idea at all for Netflix to start with LWW — there are fair arguments on both sides for whether or not LWW should come first, and it seems to come down to personal opinions of whether it would be better to start the new series with the story everyone already knows, or with one that hasn't been done before. There are benefits and risks on both those counts and different viewers are going to have different preferences. So it's probably not possible to say for sure which is the better option for the new version...

It's almost crazy to think that in 2003, it was announced that Walden Media was going to turn The Chronicles of Narnia into a blockbuster franchise (and we all know how that turned out, making it through only three of the books). In 2013, the Mark Gordon Company picked it up. In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to Narnia. Now, we're in 2023... yes, like a decade in between each era of Narnia films and series.

Even though we haven't heard any announcement which will be first, it will be interesting to find out. I'm sure we'll hear an announcement soon enough. It wouldn't surprise me if LWW was announced as the first being made. Though what a surprise it would be that the next news was, "The Magician's Nephew to be the first Narnia movie!"

As long as Greta Gerwig can keep within the tone of the books, I would be fine with either order- publication or chronological.

I don’t think most people would be satisfied with a low budget version of the stories, which may be a reason for the delay in the making of the movies. Today there is so much demand for technology and expensive special effects that people won’t be satisfied with something unless it costs a lot of money. In the past it was more acceptable to make television shows and movies on a low budget such as the BBC Narnia.  Today an audience is in some degree spoiled by modern technology.  If the resources aren’t available for the expensive special effects the movies won’t be made. Perhaps now it is finally possible to finance the Narnia films.

Posted by: @icarus 

To offer a slightly contrary view...

I don't think there's any real fatigue with the basic concept of remakes... just as long as you've got something new to say about the characters, and something visually unique to offer  the audience

I agree. Personally, I don't have any worry that Gerwig's Narnia won't have something new to say or explore aspects of the books that Walden largely ignored. I guess the response I've noticed is just that immediate gut-reaction to the news of another remake.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

Even though we haven't heard any announcement which will be first, it will be interesting to find out. I'm sure we'll hear an announcement soon enough.

I suspect it'll be a good while before we anything official, given the writer's strike. We’ll probably hear it casually revealed in an interview with Gerwig or a Netflix executive before any press release. 

But as Aslan says... "I call all times soon." 

While the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrove is the most famous Narnia story, it's also been the one adapted the most. I'd prefer Greta Gerwig to start with the Magician's Nephew so we could at least get something we've never seen on screen before.

I don’t think Greta Gerwig will be able to please everyone in her adaptation of the stories or in the order in which they will be presented. If something will be made and if it is a decent movie or TV series it would be reason enough to be happy. I would say give her a chance. She seems to be quite a talented film director, and that is a reason for optimism.

I read a rumor on Reddit that she was going to do The Magicians Nephew and The Horse and His Boy.

@cobalt-jade 

Well, that is obviously just a rumor. There hasn’t been an official announcement. 

The Walden LWW continues to be pretty popular to this day; PC got a lot of mixed reactions, but I still enjoyed it for what it is; VDT was more of a hit-miss, mostly a miss. It’s very beautifully done from a cinematic viewpoint, but it didn’t do well enough for the franchise to continue on. 

In a lot of franchise, a second or third movie don’t get as much praise as the first. For instance, Jurassic Park III, which a lot of fans of the original Jurassic Park, myself included, like to pretend it doesn’t even exist. I’m sure there are fans of the Walden LWW or even PC that like to pretend that VDT doesn’t exist. 

It might make sense for a new Narnia franchise to start with MN, given that LWW has been done so many times.