THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA Films Will Be Rebooted with THE SILVER CHAIR
We haven’t seen a Chronicles of Narnia film since The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010. After that, I pretty much gave up on the franchise and thought it was dead, which is sad because I absolutely love these stories. Turns out that the franchise is still moving forward and the producer of the film, Mark Gordon, will reboot the franchise with The Silver Chair. During an interview with Collider, Gordon revealed:
“We’re hoping to be able to make the movie very shortly. We’re very excited about it.”
David Magee (Life of Pi, Finding Neverland) has been working on a screenplay that will be based on the fourth book of the series. But the producer goes on to explain that this will not be a sequel. This will serve as a Narnia film franchise reboot. When asked if any of the original cast members would return, he said:
“No, it’s all going to be a brand new franchise. All original. All original characters, different directors, and an entire new team that this is coming from.”
The Silver Chair is set a decade into Narnia’s future, and it’s more of a standalone story, so rebooting the series with this book makes sense. Just in case you're not familiar, here’s the official description of the story:
NARNIA...where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell...and where the adventure begins.
Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor...or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face and face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rillian is to be saved.
As a long time fan of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia novels, I wish that the film adaptations had been handled a lot better. These films should have been classics like The Lord of the Rings, but unfortunately, they are pretty forgettable. Hopefully, this reboot with The Silver Chair will actually give fans something to gush over and be excited about. The fact that Gordon is still the guy spearheading things doesn't give me much hope, though.