Yes, Dark Island has to be there!

As much as I'd like to see Deathwater Island all to itself, I would understand if they had to combine that island with another one to keep to movie from feeling choppy.

OK, let's break this down.
"We consolidated seven islands into one."
Consolidating does not mean completely removing two of them. They could combine some of the islands, but I agree with most of you guys: Burnt Island is the one to go. Of all of the islands in the entire book it is the most useless. Not to disparage Lewis, but its only purpose is for the finding of Reep's coracle.
Now here comes the hard part: which combination is it going to be? They could not possibly cut out any of the other islands completely.
Here are the possibilities (I am going to cut out Burnt Island and the Lone Islands completely because if any of the following were combined with the Lone Islands there would be a lack of mystery for the following journey ahead):
Dragon Island and Ramandu's Island: Not going to happen. It would not work out story-wise at all. Any film maker could see through this one.
Dragon Island and Dufflepud: Not likely. Eustace has his own journey which needs to be separated from Lucy's journey.
Dragon and Dark: Not going to happen. It's too soon for them to find another lord.
Dragon and Ramandu: Not likely. It's too late in the journey to have Eustace change. There was some discussion of having R's Island at the beginning of the journey, but that is too close to Eustace's transformation.
Dufflepud and Deathwater: The two moods of the islands cannot be mixed, I'm thinking no.
Dufflepud and Dark: Again, two moods cannot be mixed.
Dufflepud and Ramandu: It would be silly for Coriakin and Ramandu to be on the same island. Obviously, Coriakin did something bad, maybe offensive, and it sounds like they wouldn't be on the best of terms.
Dark and Deathwater: More likely than others, but still not very. They would want to spread out their perils a little more.
Dark and Ramandu: I feel that they would consider Dark Island as a test to get to Ramandu's Island. It is a distinct possibility.
Ramandu and Deathwater: I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but I have a feeling that this is going to be it. I can't put my finger on it, but it won't go away (maybe it's my storytelling instinct that's nagging me ) It could be though. I feel like they would want Caspian to feel unworthy of Ramandu's Daughter because of his recent downfall. Who knows, it's just a gut instinct, and I've been wrong many times before.

Here's what I think about Deathwater Island, Dark Island, and Burnt Island (forgive me for any non-particulars as far as names and detailed happenings--it's been a while since I last read VDT...):

Deathwater: They find one of the missing lords and there is a mini fight scene with Ed and Caspian. And they see Aslan. Good for character development.

Dark: Excellent action/intense scene for a movie. They find a lord and see the albatross. Also excellent for Lucy's character development.

Burnt: They find a coracle and leave. Nothing else happens and no character development. The coracle can be picked up somewhere else (or found on the ship).

I would say cut Deathwater and Burnt and move the events to a different island. But I do agree with GlimGlum and Lucy P. that they could combine Dragon, Deathwater, and Burnt Islands since Dragon has a major event that could nicely be supplemented with the two smaller events of Deathwater and Burnt. It would be interesting to see how they would visualize Dark...

As far as the "unfathomable fate" playing into all of this... maybe it's the islands disappearing! But really, I have no idea and am trying to patiently wait out the year to see the movie and find out!

I'm going to have to go back and reread the book over Christmas break...

I find your Ramandu/Dark thoughts really interesting (in a good way). I never would have thought of that. The biggest problem I think with that coupling is that a) it would be weird to have Rhoop bumbling around so close to Ramandu/goodness (that doesn't seem right) and b) after they find Rhoop they run into three more lords (I think). Not sure about the Deathwater one. You've got a really neat perspective . I think that mayyyyybe it is a possiblity (more than R/Dark) but it doesn't seem right to have something evil on an island so full of good.

FriendofNarnia2: wow. You've got great thoughts too. Now I am beginning to doubt that they'll cut that one out. This sounds crazy, but what if they cut out dragon island? Perhaps on Burnt Island they still have the people around fighting the dragon. It dies, but Eustace comes along in dragon form. Random idea. You're right though, it would set up the MLG/unfathomable fate thing wonderfully (have to save the island from total destruction). It does seem like something they might run with, considering the night raid thing they took from PC.

Burnt Island is gone. Now for the other two...
Dark Island is too pivotal/cinematic for the fil-makers to cut and certainly needs to stand alone. Deathwater, on the other hand, might be seen as a nuisance pacing-wise. It takes a significant amount of screen-time packing up and traveling between islands so I could see why they would think Deathwater as not being worth all that. That said, I will be really upset if they cut it, but I wouldn't mind if they combined it with Dragon Island, as many have suggested.

It all depends on how it's done obviously. But I really like the idea of it. Why not combine events? Why not put Deathwater on Dragon Island?

One possible answer, I suppose, is... well, why WOULD you put Deathwater on Dragon Island? You don't want them to just feel thrown together. They should fit in together seamlessly. They need to make some changes in the interest of blending the events together.

I'm actually kind of excited about this idea.

If I wasn't worried enough before, I definitely am now. At least he said consolidated and not cut, so maybe they won't be completely gone. I agree with everyone else that Burnt Island is very likely to be cut or consolidated, and it is likely that it will be with Dragon Island. I've never really thought of Dark Island as being an Island, so maybe they just find Rhoop floating in a boat in a cloud of darkness. I guess I've never considered it an Island because they don't land on it and it wasn't seen in the BBC version. (BBC managed to get the book into two hours just fine and didn't need to add a plot line (to be fair they did cut Burnt Island and the mer-people but they managed to have Reep figure out the water was sweet and sail away in his coracle just fine.)) I know this sounds odd, but I'm almost wondering if they didn't combine the Lone Islands and Dragon Island somehow. That would explain why Gael is on the boat when Eustace is a Dragon. I'm definitely not crazy about that idea but I'm also not crazy about the idea of Gael's being on the ship for a long period of time.

I think people are worrying needlessly. 7 islands is a lot to feature in one movie and to connect them in a natural manner that's well-paced, that's no easy feat. As for the BBC series adaptation of VDT, the pacing felt really off at times and it was episodic but not in a good way. I think this change will be fine as long as all the important elements are there and the spirit of the book is retained.

It all depends on how it's done obviously. But I really like the idea of it. Why not combine events? Why not put Deathwater on Dragon Island?

I'm actually kind of excited about this idea.

Upon further reflection, if done right, combining/consoldating 2 islands could work out. The key word for me is consolidated and not eliminated. Better to keep all 7 stories even though 2 will take place on a different island from the book.

I pretty much share the same sentiments as fantasia_kitty regarding changes but am also willing to wait and see. I do hope glumPuddle's enthusiasm is realized in the final product.

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with this. My first reaction was to freak out, because I thought "They've removed islands!" but upon further reading and contemplation I'm not terribly against the idea. Certainly if they remove any islands (burnt island excluded) I'll be very upset, but if they're simply combining islands, as he seems to suggest, then I think I'll be fine with it. It will depend, of course, on how it's done, but it could end up not bothering me a bit.

I'll always be a,
NL101

Just think, they'd probably have enough time for all seven if they hadn't decided to add in the MLG.

Just think, they'd probably have enough time for all seven if they hadn't decided to add in the MLG.

Haha...I'm pretty sure the MLG won't take up too much of our time.

But honestly, even if they had time to go to all 7 islands I'm doubt they would do it. The filmmakers would probably fear it would feel too disconnected with not enough happening on each island.

I agree with that. I think the book is too disconnected and that is one of the reasons it is in my bottom two. If i were to pick the islands i find least interesting it would be the dark island and the duffle's island (i am assuming the burnt island is not even being considered).

I am pretty sure that the duffle's island is in, so that most likely isn't cut, but i have always found the duffle's extremely annoying which i am sure is what he was going for, but i could lose them happily.

I do hope that the scene at deathwater is included because that is a very interesting scene. Whether or not it happens on it's own island isn't quite as important.

Based on everything we have seen and heard so far, i think this film is not going to be at all like the book.

I'm pretty ok with this. It makes sense; you can't devote enough time and significance to each storyline if you are constantly starting new sub-plots on each of the 7 islands. Every time they get off the ship, a new adventure begins, that's one of the reasons I think this movie is going to be so successful. Getting rid of Dark Island is a no-brainer. I would do it if I were a screenwriter. Deathwater Island is not significant for the whole island, but only for the one part--the pool. Therefore, it can easily become a part of another.

The significance of Deathwater Island is that it is where Aslan shows up in the biggest way on the voyage. He appears to all the characters and redeems a moment of broken relationships between the main characters. My guess is that Deathwater and the ensuing fight and appearance of the redeeming lion will come at a time when Aslan is needed the most. Therefore, I'm not inclined to say that it occurs on Dragon Island. Aslan already appears there. To me, it seems that the need may be greater on the Dufflepud's Island.

Obviously, this is just one plot line to take into account, but Aslan is a major, if not the most major, plotline in the story and I don't think the filmmakers will take his appearances lightly.

It is a peculiar habit of men to take such unpardonable liberties in the retelling of legendary stories. Just think of the stories in your world which have been manipulated in silly ways, such as the King Arthur legend.

As for myself, I would gladly give up the story of Burnt Island, if it helps to preserve the dignity of those whose stories are greater than mine. Burnt Island would hardly be worth a mention had I not salvaged a coracle from the abandoned town.

No island on which a Narnian lord was found can be entirely omitted, and mixing up the stories of inhabited islands would surely do harm to the truth of our voyage. The dufflepuds could not have lived in such innocence if they had witnessed the evil of the Dark Island, or the mysteries of Ramandu's Island. It is clear that the bliss of Ramandu's Island and the horrors of the Dark Island could never coexist. And living inhabitants on Dragon Island would utterly change Eustace's story.

Beyond eliminating the Burnt Island, which I posit as a necessity, the only remaining option is to move the events of Deathwater Island onto Dragon Island. This use of artistic license may seem unsettling to those who know what really happened, but it has strong merit. Consider that the evil at work in both cases was that of greed. It is true that Eustace's error was a crass desire for wealth, while our kings were tempted by the power that wealth brings; but in both cases mammon was at the very heart of the matter. A good writer can make make much of this connection, bringing out the theme in new and powerful ways.