Thanks for opening the thread coracle! 🙂 The news team is looking into it and trying to get a confirm/deny from Netflix right now.

I can also tell you this news did NOT originate on Portal a Narnia, but rather a very dubious source. 

PLEASE TAKE THIS NEWS WITH A HUGE GRAIN OF SALT.

But as we have nothing else to speculate with right now, here are my thoughts... I think the inconsistency of how they're approaching the books to screen is haphazard and jarring. Everything is getting different treatment. That in and of itself throws up red flags.

I did find the bit about Narnia being the big flagship once Stranger Things is done to be on the interesting and truthful side, and it implies that they are hoping for it to be BIG and not just another series. 

I would be highly skeptical, not just because of the lack of a source, but also because of the time scales stated.

If they were looking to spin-up not just one, but two projects to start shooting next year then by now you would have expected them to have already crewed up, booked talent, and decided on shooting locations and studios. All of these things take time, and need to be scheduled in advance.

Given that we have heard absolutely nothing from Netflix for years, and that the internet is yielding almost no news on anything related to the project, it seems implausible to think they could possibly have done any of the necessary ground-work whilst remaining so completely under the radar.

I've even spent time looking through agency casting calls to see if there is anything which looks even vaguely like Narnia recruitment, but there is just nothing.

in my mind, untill we start seeing staff hires (basically anything associated with pre-production such as Casting Directors and Production Designers) then the project is essentially a non-starter

I am a bit skeptical, but I suppose with that in mind, the door is still wide open.

The BBC adaption of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe was a live action/animated hybrid. I would be open to a series of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, though I'd be concerned that it will end up being like the BBC adaption.

As for an animated movie of The Horse And His Boy, it is a thought. So it's only speculation and rumor, we can't say it's been confirmed. If it was live action, it would be interesting how they would come up with the country of Calormen and even the city of Tashbaan. It would be some architect to come up with.

I would have never thought of The Last Battle being an trilogy. I suppose it would be sort of like how the Hobbit was adapted into a trilogy movie: one book made into three movies. Maybe speculative titles would be- The Last Battle: The False Aslan, The Last Battle: Calormenes Take Narnia, and The Last Battle: The Return of Aslan. These are just speculations, but if you have any other suggestions of what the titles could be, we could do that in another thread.

With that in mind, we still don't know what order they'll go in. The previous adaptions have done The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe first. Now maybe if they were to start with The Magician's Nephew, it would be like a fresh start, because we haven't seen it on screen before. So I am in bit of skepticism, though hopefully they can keep within the tone of the books.

I posted it late at night, and assumed it would be discredited. However I wanted to point it out for others to follow up (thanks, mods).

If anything WAS happening, Narniaweb would WANT to KNOW.

Posted by: @fantasia

I think the inconsistency of how they're approaching the books to screen is haphazard and jarring. Everything is getting different treatment. That in and of itself throws up red flags.

I agree. I'd prefer Netflix would stay consistent about how they do Narnia adaptations. All movies, or TV series. I don't know how I feel about Magician's Nephew and LWW being premiered at the same time. It would make those who are new to Narnia have to choose how they are introduced into the series. I don't know if the movies and series adaptations would get the same amount of popularity. Most people would prefer to watch a movie rather than a whole series. Because of that, some of the books may not be recognized as much as others. I would like them all to be recognized equally and as an entire series. 

I don't like HHB being an animated film. Also, being 'animated' doesnt' tell us what kind of animation they will use. Compared to the only animated Narnia adaptation in 1979, this Horse and his Boy adaptation will use much more modern animation and be of higher quality. However, I would prefer it to be a live-action film. It makes the story seem more real, especially if the settings are set in a real desert! 

Posted by: @coracle

This will be the next big hit after Stranger Things.”

I hope that's not Netflix's only intention. More than popularity, or fame of the adaptations, I want Narnia to be done right. I want to still get that noble, true and pure child-like fantasy feeling when I watch it. I hope the messages are still going to be displayed correctly and not replaced for intense action scenes. I'm not against Narnia being a "big hit". Of course, I want the Narnia fandom to grow, but I want new Narnia fans to be introduced properly to Narnia.  It can have action and fast pace, but I don't want Netflix losing the important parts of Narnia while doing it. 

-KingEdTheJust

@kingedthejust

Remember that this came from a rather poor website. It's likely that they have just rehashed things from the last five years, and got some opinions. 

Maybe all this time waiting for news in vain has made me too cynical, but I keep thinking someone not in the know just made it up. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the first entry (LWW) be a movie, which would presumably be less expensive to make, and then if it's a big flop, not make any more? 

The most believable part is HHB being an animated spinoff since that one's a departure from the timeline but it's odd they wouldn't have any others be animated. 

The part that I'm most cynical about is The Last Battle being three movies. A while back the Harry Potter and Twilight film series divided the final books into two movies and The Hobbit movies infamously divided one book into three. I'm guessing the anonymous poster is just remembering that and guessing that Netflix will want to do something along those lines. But that trend seems like it's dead now. 

The idea of it being a big flagship show is maybe believable, given that it's a fairly well-known IP that would be a more approachable show for audiences of all ages. 

I'm rather doubtful as to their ability to film in fall 2023 and have it released a year later. Post production takes a while, especially on a show that's presumably going to be laden with CGI. 

That said, I would very much like to see Lego Narnia become a thing! 

It's a year since this was seen, and nothing has happened to validate its claims. So, time to close the thread.