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....
coracle wrote: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.