Netflix

[fantasia]

Just started a bunch of threads and realized that there's no thread just for the news about Netflix making Narnia. Continuing on from the Rumor thread, I'm restarting a poll. Happy? Sad? Undecided?

I'm definitely in the Happy camp. I can't imagine that Netflix is more likely to make a worse set of films than Sony (or any other Hollywood movie company), and they seem to be a much more stable choice.

My only negative (and this is minor) is that Narnia in Hollywood can't seem to escape from LotR's shadow. I wonder if this would have happened if Amazon hadn't snatched up the rights to a LotR series? And I'm tired of the two constantly being compared. Here's hoping that Narnia knocks it out of the park!

[narnia fan 7]

I honestly don't know. So much depends on what exactly Netflix is going to do.

I mean are they going to adapt the books as just a series or just as films but haven't decided which? Are they going to do some as films and others as episodic series? Is the Silver Chair film that's been in development still a thing? Or might they do some werid spinoff expanded universe thing?

Depending on which way they go, my feelings would be completely different.

[Col Klink]

Since I admitted that I thought it was a bad idea on the Rumors thread, now I can't say I'm hopeful because that would be like admitting I was wrong. I'd rather die than do that. Of course, if we get a really good director or they give us a really good commercial for the series, I might reconsider that policy. But right now, they're vision for the series is so vague that I can't get excited about it either positively or negatively. All we know is that it's being produced by Netflix. Netflix has a pretty good reputation which is obviously way better than a bad reputation but it's not much to go on, is it?

I guess I'm closer to being sad (but I didn't vote that way because I want the public to have the impression that people want Narnia adaptations. ) Way back when the Walden series was announced, I was really excited by the prospect. After The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's failure, I resigned myself to forgetting that possibility. Then the Mark Gordon Company had to rekindle the flame. Now there's no way anyone will make a theatrical adaptation of Narnia for at least a decade because they won't want to compete in the public's mind with this Netflix garbage.

(If you're wondering why I called the Netflix series garbage, I define garbage as something I don't want. Someone else may want it just like rats may enjoy eating the half eaten food I throw away. Has not one of the poet's said, "one man's trash is another man's treasure?"

[Liberty Hoffman]

I am not just sad, I'm mad. I hate the idea of netflix doing Narnia. I am super upset at this news, and it's making me really irritated.....
wave goodbye to your childhoods, everyone. netflix is gonna destroy your favorite series.

[coracle]

I'm glad we had the rumour, which gave me time to think about it. Now it is confirmed, they have a lot to do before we see anything, so that gives me more time to think about it. But I'm generally pleased that this will be a moving on with the productions.

[Tuta]

I am cautiously optimistic.

[fledge1]

I am thrilled. Yes a little nervous, but that is with every book to screen for me. And I agree, I am tired of them comparing to LoTR. Awesome series as well, however I can not enjoy those as much with my children because the creatures would scare the snot out of them. We LOVE the Narnia books however. I let them watch the movies after we read the books, and for as young as they are, or were at the time it was interesting to hear their thoughts on the difference between the books and the movies. They dont even like the movie Voyage because of how it was botched. We talked last night at dinner about Netflix doing this and they are so excited, so i hope they keep it family friendly. Not cheesy, but kid safe if that makes sense. There are so many amazing life lessons from bullying to compassion we get from them, i just hope they stay true to all of that. So...all that to say...WE ARE THRILLED!!!

[TimmyofOz]

Anyone seen the new Watership Down series done by Netflix? I have a feeling this is what we should expect Netflix will do to the coming Narnia Series. I hope the CGI won't be to poorly done.

[Impending Doom]

Anyone seen the new Watership Down series done by Netflix? I have a feeling this is what we should expect Netflix will do to the coming Narnia Series. I hope the CGI won't be to poorly done.

I doubt it. Watership Down had a budget under $22 million for its entire 4 episode run. By the looks of it, most of that budget went to the cast involved. Considering how poorly the CGI was received, I wouldn't worry too much about Narnia being handled like this. It's worth pointing out that this was co-production with the BBC, where it also premiered.

Stranger Things cost Netflix $80 per season.
House of Cards cost Netflix $100 per season.
The Get Down cost Netflix $120 per season.
The Crown cost Netflix $150 million per season.

Netflix will only increase its costs as the industry continues its shift to streaming services. With CGI heavy properties like Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Witcher, Roald Dahl's stories (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG), and Ghost in the Shell being recently acquired by Netflix, we'll soon start seeing $22 million budgets per episode.

[PrinceRillianIX]

I'm extremely happy with this news

The only thing I can say I'm worried about is the multi-formatted "universe" we have going now. I know Marvel also deals with this kind of stuff but that's different because that's spread across different platforms, from the cinema to Netflix.

If it was up to me, I would've just announced a television series for each book. Not only does it give the creators behind the scenes so much freedom to expand upon the novel, but it also makes everything confusing. I see this because I think the audience members will feel a disconnect between the series and the films.

When I first heard this news, I thought that it would go something like this...
As Walden/Disney already made three movies, the stories that were adapted would likely be turned into a series as it allows a significant difference between these adaptations and the ones we got about ten years ago...

BUT would that mean all the other novels would be films? Because then that disconnect will be strange when The Silver Chair is made and the same characters are appearing in a different format just with a bigger budget and shorter screen-time. The disconnect would also effect the stories themselves. All the six books are all connected, so there isn't a break in the story where a film adaptation could be placed. Although, the only books I can see working a films are A Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle.

A Horse and His Boy introduces completely new characters and places in Narnia we haven't visited, with the exception of the older Pevensie children. But this doesn't effect the film because the older Pevensies only appear at the end of TLWW and wouldn't be too jarring. As for The Last Battle. It would just make sense to have the final conclusion to the series be a 2-hour finale.

So those are my thoughts, I definitely still think the series should be turned into a series with maybe some exception in A Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle. I'll be interested to hear people's own thoughts on this.

[parableproductions]

I'm completely undecided on this. Netflix seems to have 2 modes. They either do something extremely well, or they really mess it up!

Marvel's Daredevil has been a great show. But what Netflix has done to the Anne of Green Gables story is just awful!

It comes down to this - if the writers understand and love the source material, then I think the series will be fantastic. If they get writers that think that the stories are just about talking animals, then I don't hold much hope for it.