SC next? Independantly? Seven years?

[emeraldcityofoz]

I don't think the current series is salvageable. I'd rather have no movies at all than more mediocre movies like VDT.

I'm definitely favoring the reboot option. If they do decide to reboot, I'd love to see them start with The Magician's Nephew. I remember reading the book and imagining what a movie version would look like. I'm bummed we probably won't get to see Tilda Swinton as Jadis again (although they did manage to cram her into the previous two movies as much as they could ).

Back to MN as a starting point, I think it makes the most sense because it will be something people have never seen before instead of just seeming like a remake. They could also draw people in with familiar images from LWW like the lamppost and Jadis. Plus, starting with MN instead of LWW would further distance a LWW remake from the old series time wise.

[PhelanVelvel]

What they (and by "they" I mean whoever is making the next Narnia film) need to do is not worry about whether they are adding on to the previous series or doing a reboot or whatever. They just need to worry about making a GOOD FILM. Pick one and do it. Seriously. Don't start over from scratch with LWW, PC, or VDT, because commercially that would be a mistake. Don't pick the last book in the series, obviously. So do SC, MN, or HHB. Doesn't matter which. They need to take the approach that they will make a good film and also know and love the book they're adapting. Because if you know and love the book, you will be very capable when it comes to changing things in order to make a film version. You will understand what is a big deal to change and what little things in the book would translate well onto the screen.

Let's just say for the moment that whoever these people are, they make an amazing film and an amazing adaptation. If that's the case, maybe they could go ahead and do them all, including a remake of the three already done by Walden, and actually pull it off. But we all know they can't start there. So they may as well try as hard as they can with the book they -can- do.

I really think SC would be fine to do even if they did have to recast Eustace and had to do a bit of explaining. Don't need to put "The Chronicles of Narnia" at the beginning of the title, could just let that be Walden's thing. It's a good story on its own and doesn't have too much to do with the previous three, as well as introducing a new character, Jill. So maybe when watching the movie you could experience things through Jill's eyes and be like "What? What's this kid talking about?" And then realise "Oh, of course, he means Narnia, and that's the character Eustace."

Likewise, MN would be fine to do now that the world of Narnia is set up to common movie-goers' eyes, and if they have seen LWW at least, they may really enjoy getting to know how Narnia came into existence. HHB, once again, excellent standalone story that takes place in the world of Narnia but doesn't get too caught up in the other storylines. And the Pevensies are their older selves in that one, anyway, so casting wouldn't be much of an issue.

At any rate, I think any of the three could be extremely compelling stories that would draw audiences in, and they aren't as famous as LWW so really don't need such a heavy emphasis that THIS IS NARNIA. Just need to be interesting stories and let the fact that it's Narnia come across to people who want to Google the name of the book or already are familiar with them. After all, there are movies based on books that not everyone realises are based on books until the credits start rolling. Might even help the film, really, if it's not like NARNIAAAAA immediately in the trailer, turning people off. Because Narnia has its baggage and not everyone wants to give it a chance.

[mm1991]

I still believe they only saw these films as one big package and I believe this was a mistake. They need to concentrate on one story at a time, focusing on it as a single film, a single story to tell, rather than a big franchise as a whole. If they want to do Silver Chair, they need to look at the film as a unique, solid story rather than just "the next chapter of Narnia."

I agree they need to stop "dumbing down" the material. I understand that a lot of families take ratings seriously and want it family-friendly but do we want watered down versions or faithful versions? The truth is, we can't have both. LWW was able to mostly get away with it but PC, in terms of the battles and blood and such was just ridiculous. Let's not even get into VDT right now.

I'd rather not have a reboot. At least not anytime in the next ten years. People still associate LWW with the 2005 film. It would be a foolish mistake to have a total re-boot so soon. They need to move forward, not backtrack over past territory.