Mark Gordon Interview - SC/Narnia Reboot

[The Rose-Tree Dryad]

I'm not sure if Collider jumped the gun with that headline or not. It's really hard to say without having actually listened to the conversation; I feel like I'd have much firmer convictions one way or another if I could just hear it. (Was Gordon hurrying to get to another meeting and spitting out a quick response to hastily-posed questions, or was this a relaxed interview with a measured reply?) We're led to believe that a transcript of the conversation was something like this:

INTERVIEWER: Will any of the original actors be reprising their roles in the new film?

MARK GORDON: 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. (Emphasis mine.)

If that's really how the conversation went, and if the question was posed clearly, then I can see why the internet is looking at this as being a reboot. It would be easier for me to see Gordon's answer as being more inconclusive if it weren't prefaced by that direct "No", which the interviewer says was a firm response. Based on the question that we're told was posed, I feel like the answer he gave does indicate a new canon of some kind. We'll see, though; it will probably be quite a while before we have this question settled, if ever. If this is a case of Gordon having misunderstood the interviewer's original question, then hopefully we'll get some clarification soon.

The speculation train keeps chugging along....

I have a suggestion about dropping the "Chronicles of Narnia:" part of the title - what if they used "Narnia: The Silver Chair"? Being a new run of the franchise, they won't use what the predecessor used, but this will still identify it as a Narnia story.

Ooh! That possibility crossed my mind and I shrugged it off as being too choppy-looking, but now that I see it in print, I actually quite like it. It's snappy and lets people know that this is a Narnia film while still keeping plenty of focus on the title itself and also differentiating this new franchise from its predecessor. It seems like shorter titles are more popular in this social media age, too.

I really like the outline that you sketched out for the final four films! I especially like the idea of Susan's drift away from Narnia being shown in HHB. It would also be really interesting to see "Queen Susan the Gentle" and "Susan Pevensie, Consumed by Being Grown-Up" contrasted within the same film. For the actress, I imagine it would be a little like playing two different characters. It would be a great way to prepare the audience for Susan's story in The Last Battle.

I think one way to introduce this "Friends of Narnia" narrative in SC is by having, near the very end of the film, Jill sigh and remark, "It's going to be so strange being back in England, where nobody knows anything about Aslan or Narnia or what's just happened to us." Eustace then smiles and says, "You know, I have some friends that you really ought to meet." (Something like that could even close out the film, if they could figure out a way to fit such a conversation in after the triumph over the bullies.) I think that would offer a smooth transition to the meeting of the Friends at the beginning of the following film.

[Glumpuddle]

I'm not sure if Collider jumped the gun with that headline or not. It's really hard to say without having actually listened to the conversation[/i]

Fair enough. But I think the word "reboot" is such a buzz word these days that, unless Gordon himself said it, they should not have used it.

[waggawerewolf27]

I do agree that "reboot" is becoming something like a cliché, but having read the two comments on this thread and some of the previous news threads I can well see how in hiking from Northern Narnia to Harfang, that Eustace and Puddleglum might use some of the travelling time to regale Jill (and the audience) about LWW, PC and VDT using their own particular takes. Especially PC & VDT where Eustace has his own memories of the latter to explain who King Caspian is, without actually meeting him. Basically all we see of Caspian, himself, in the book is at the beginning as an old man in the distance, and as a dying man on a litter, again at a distance.

By the time Jill and Eustace get back to Experiment House there would be no need to refilm the Pevensie trilogy and Jill, herself, would be ready to become a fully fledged member of the seven friends of Narnia.

I think it could be done that way, something like a detective mystery. Explaining why Glimfeather and co thought that the Lady of the Green Kirtle was one of the same crew as the White Witch, for instance. Jill doesn't know about the White Witch at the beginning of the story, nor does she know much about Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan at that stage. She only will know them from Eustace's and Puddleglum's perspective. And maybe the audience need to see the same thing.

And that will give the film's representation of Aslan a lot more work to do than previously shown. Because Jill, at the beginning, actually meets him.

[Rilian]

I feel like I'm giving continual life to a bad rumor by using the word "reboot" which was inserted by the journalist, not the film maker. And I kind of have to say, I can't think of a direct comparison. Starting halfway through a book series as a "new franchise" hasn't been done too often, and this is the only example I can think of. Someone else can help me out here. Maybe I'm overthinking this.


Nah... We're NarniaWebbers.

[waggawerewolf27]

Yes, Rilian. You could make up a whole new lexicon of journalese. Thus the following

1. Adorable. (describes women's magazine pictures of celebrities and their families lawfully minding their own business, usually taken without their permission)

2. Front-runner. (the business bloke considered most likely to win a race even though stripping down to his athletic shorts is hardly an option)

3. Reboot. (describes another shot at a classic already done several times in different media)

Probably the journalistic comment only reflects that he/she has never even heard of Silver Chair and hasn't looked further than LWW for the entire Narnia series.

And yes, we do overthink things, because we are hungry for every scrap of news we can find.