Poll: The remaining four movies.

[Anhun]

Not long ago, Douglas Gresham announced that he has every intention of seeing the remaining four books presented on the big screen.

The purpose of this poll is to ask Narniawebbers what they would do if they were in charge of producing the remaining films. Now we're going to assume, for the sake of argument, that a total reboot is off the table, because that debate has already been covered on another thread. And we'll assume that they won't drop the series altogether, because that's just no fun.

So here are you're choices:

1. Keep the "Chronicles of Narnia:" heading and present the series as a continuation of the series started by Walden-Disney.

2. Present each film as a stand-alone. No series heading. Just "The Silver Chair," "The Horse and His Boy," etc. Now there are two ways you might do this. One is to do any necessary rejiggering that will allow each and every film to function as a stand-alone. IMO, this would require very minor changes to some of the books, but major changes to others. Another is to simply not adapt the book(s) that might need too much changing. Either of these choices falls under option 2.

3. Present some of the films as stand-alone, but others as a continuation of Walden's CON. For example, SC might be "The Silver Chair", and MN might be"Chronicles of Narnia: Magician's Nephew." That's just an example, though. You can share your own ideas about which films would benefit from a series heading and which wouldn't.

4. Present the films as a new, but related series. Basically "The Chronicles of Narnia" would stand as the Pevensie trilogy only. SC, or whichever film they make next, would be a fresh start of a new series of distinct stories set in the Narnia universe. The series heading might be "Tales from Narnia" or "Back to Narnia" or whatever you like.

5. Some other option not listed (but not a total reboot or dropping the series altogether). Please explain. One example would be a partial reboot starting with VDT.

[Louloudi the Centaur]

I think the fourth choice is a very good idea.

If choice 1 were to be done, I really think it just wouldn't go that great. Considering the green mist from Walden's VDT was created to most likely reappear in SC, things would be rather confusing, since Douglas Gresham wants more control over the script, and this disaster would thus no longer exist.

A stand alone film sounds fine, but all the remaining books do tie in together in The Last Battle, with all the characters meeting together. I have the same problem with the third choice.

I really do like your idea of the fourth choice, which is why I voted for it. Narnia to a lot of people equals the characters of the Pevensie children. Since they only play small parts in HHB and LB, perhaps some new characters can take over, and people will grow to love them just as much.

[waggawerewolf27]

I think that the third choice is what is most likely to happen, which is why I voted for it, whether I like it or not.

Doug Gresham wants all the films made, and Walden seem only willing to make Magician's Nephew. We need to wait another year to see what eventuates.

If all four are made I think it will be different companies doing different films, so that Magician's Nephew will stand alone as part of the White Witch cycle and the remaining films done as stand alones.

The fourth choice I think is the best choice.

[Anhun]

A stand alone film sounds fine, but all the remaining books do tie in together in The Last Battle, with all the characters meeting together. I have the same problem with the third choice.

I know what you mean; while MN would require some pretty significant changes to function as a stand alone, I can't begin to imagine Last Battle without a connection to the rest of the series. The only way to do options 2 or 3 is to leave out LB altogether.

Doug Gresham wants all the films made, and Walden seem only willing to make Magician's Nephew. We need to wait another year to see what eventuates.

You bring up a point I hadn't considered: Walden's direct involvement. Now, Gresham has implied that he wants nothing more to do with Walden, but then he could always change his mind. By the same token, Walden might change its mind about producing the other 3 films. Even if VDT proves to be the last Walden-Narnia film, Walden doesn't own the phrase "Chronicles of Narnia," or the characters, actors, and artisans who were involved in the first 3 films. They could do options 1 or 3 without Walden. But, if Walden is involved you are probably right in expecting them to push for a connection to their previous films, as that might boost DVD sales and TV licensing.

[Nic5]

Well oh ok can't resist

Option 5 (which is some other option)

My aim would be a re-boot of brand with a continuation of series, as well as being more obvious that it is not the exact book but (hopefully) a movie counter-part to go with the book.

I would keep the name Narnia
I would shorten the remaining book titles to one word, e.g. Boy for horse & his boy, Magician for MN, Chair for SC, & Battle for LB.

e.g. Narnia: Magician

This format is easy to say, see & remember for casual viewers, Narnia is the main thing, & then the episode. This also gives a re-boot in branding. This also hints that, yes, it is not going to be exactly like the book.

I would have with less billing, inspired by "The Chonicles of Narnia: Magician's Nephew by C S Lewis" somewhere both in spoken word & print type of adverts, but always as a kind of in passing, like at bottom of print & spoken quickly at end of verbal word marketing, - it gets it in there but only after there's something else has been taken in as it's main anchor.

[Anfinwen]

Interesting question!
I think having them stand alone is an idea that might work out well for Narnia, but one thing I would like to see is some of the books made into a TV series. That would give them a whole lot more time to really focus on capturing the feel of the stories, not just rushing through them. I really don't know anything about the BBC, but I really like how they did "Pride and Prejudice." The whole movie on DVD takes five hours! Wouldn't it be wonderful to watch five hours of Narnia? If they (or another company) could do something similar for HHB and SC, I think it would be great.

I picked option 1, because however the movies are made, whoever makes them it's still Narnia, and I want others to be able to recognize that.

[Anhun]

Interesting question!
I really don't know anything about the BBC, but I really like how they did "Pride and Prejudice." The whole movie on DVD takes five hours! Wouldn't it be wonderful to watch five hours of Narnia? If they (or another company) could do something similar for HHB and SC, I think it would be great.
.

Now that's a new thought: a continuation of the BBC series. You see the BBC did a version of the Chronicles of Narnia back in the late 80s. They had LWW, and they telescoped PC and VDT into one miniseries called "Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Both series were, in my opinion, rather dreadful. The special effects were cheesy; the acting was terrible; they stuck very close to the letter of the books, while managing to capture almost none of the spirit. I'm grateful to Walden for making much better versions of LWW and PC.

Then the BBC continued with the Silver Chair. The special effects were still quite poor, but the three leads were perfect in their roles, and, since SC is so very character-driven, they captured the spirit and magic of the book beautifully. They stopped the series after that.

Perhaps the C.S. Lewis estate can convince the BBC to pick up where they left off and do a mini-series of Horse and His Boy. Over the past 20 years, their standards in actors, cinematography and special effects have improved dramatically, as evidenced by this trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBeXGcu6oQY

[Rilian The Disenchanted]

Gosh no! Not the BBC. They wouldn't continue it either, because it's too Christian. BBC changed a lot the last 20 years. They are very PC now. They even discussed dropping BC (Before Christ) when mentioning a date, because it could offend non-Christians. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... n-Era.html

The christian tone would get butchered by the bbc and the cast would probably be turned into multiracial characters, like Merlin (with a black Guinevere).

Movies is the way it should continue. They can easily do Horse And His Boy and Magician's Nephew, cause there are no characters to be recast (some cameos perhaps for the old Pevensies). And if those succeed go forth with Eustace and Jill (Silver Chair and Last Battle) as main character.

[DamselJillPole]

I voted for other, however option 4 wouldn't be a bad idea to make the rest of the Narnia series stand alone since the Pevensie's don't really take over a lot of the plot lines anymore then what they did in the first three films.

However my opinion goes to reboot the whole series. I'm sorry if I go off topic but what this series needs is a fresh and new start, I've spent a lot of time talking to people who are fans of the Narnia books and hates the films and stopped supporting them over different reasons and they all started either after Prince Caspian or Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

If the movies do continue either way I'll still support them but the way I see it they're doomed. I'm sorry for being negative here really I am but I just can't see any hope in this franchise if it continues.

[waggawerewolf27]

Gosh no! Not the BBC.

If it is the BBC, in particular, and if TV series are to be considered, then aren't we really talking about three movies, not four?

The BBC did get Silver Chair made. That leaves MN, HHB and LB to worry about.

[Lilygloves]

I want a reboot, mostly because I can't stand the idea that people that haven't read the books think that there really is an evil green mist and seven swords.
However, I wouldn't want to redo LWW and PC, mostly because I couldn't imagine anyone but Georgie, Skandar, Anna, and William playing the Pevensies. I also adored Will Poulter as Eustace and thought he was perfect. If they rebooted the series as stand alone films, I would be happy. The main thing is that I want the movies made so people can watch the books come alive, not made solely for profit. Sadly, I don't think that's a very popular idea in Hollywood nowadays.

[twinimage]

A reboot or "redo" of VDT would be great. But a reboot of the entire series doesn't seem worth it at this point. A reboot would never guarantee it would be the spot-on perfect adaption that pleases the entire audience.

I think it's an interesting idea to make each film separate from each other. Drop the "Chronicles of Narnia:" from the title.
That way, they aren't trying to ride on the coat tails of the previous film(s) popularity. In the books, Lewis himself would refer to the other Narnia stories, as if they were separate stories from that one.

Each book can practically stand on their own. The films should do the same.

Reboot VDT for the fans' sake and then treat the remaining films as separate entities.

[Rilian The Disenchanted]

If they drop the Chronicles Of Narnia from the title, people will be even less interested. It's what everyone know. They know the brand Narnia and the title of the first book, but afterward? Most people haven't read beyond The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Wouldn't it be strange if those Harry Potter films had dropped Harry Potter and were just called Goblet of Fire or Chamber of Secrets?

[parableproductions]

I would keep the name Narnia
I would shorten the remaining book titles to one word, e.g. Boy for horse & his boy, Magician for MN, Chair for SC, & Battle for LB.

e.g. Narnia: Magician

I don't think this would be a good idea - "Narnia: Boy" just doesn't sound like a good movie title - I understand what you were going for, but no...doesn't sound right. "Narnia: Chair"????

I'd either keep making them for the big screen and keep The Chronicles of Narnia in the title - or drop "The Chronicles of" and just keep "Narnia" followed by the book name.

OR I'd reboot as a tv series with each book being a season - use a narrator (maybe, a parent or grandparent reading to their kids or grandkids). You could also film the narration part for all the seasons in the first season - so the kid/kids would be the same age. I'd also make each season in publication order.

[Meltintalle]

I voted for 'stand alone' if only for the statistical data that allowing at least one film to live or die on its own merits as a story would produce.

[Nic5]

I don't think this would be a good idea - "Narnia: Boy" just doesn't sound like a good movie title - I understand what you were going for, but no...doesn't sound right. "Narnia: Chair"????

Hi

It doesn't sound right, i agree, if you don't know anything about it. But everyone at this point has some idea of what Narnia means, everyone who has read the books will know what Chair relates to, for more casual fans who havn't done the books it is more a mystery for them - Hmmm, i know what Narnia is, why is a 'chair' so important to that place?

plus is short & snappy to read n remember