Individual Books: Better as Shows or Movies?

[decarus]

The thing is they will have to recast the kids that are in MN anyways because Digory and Polly are old from there on afterwards. I didn't think about that but it also feels like a problem to have a completely new set of characters every season. It would even be better, in my opinion, if they just showed MN in a flashback situation interspersed with scenes from the real world, (the gathering of the friends of Narnia, Jadis in London, etc) and then with the beginning and later the end Narnia. I think there is a way to do that that makes it feel like a good solid arc. Maybe making the Lady of the Green Kirtle, be Jadis. I know. I am not really a big fan of that because of giving that character way too much power and proliferating the idea that there is an evil side like that devil that sits opposite God, instead of evil just being being a perversion of good.

Maybe if they did more with just a linage of villains. With the northern witches. With the giants. Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle being witches. Jadis being half giant and the mentions of wars with the giants. The wolfs and the werewolf. The Calormenes. Maybe having the different villains talk about each other and creating a history there that could be interesting. I would still rather they not make a villain a point of view character though.

Also, if they were going to do that, that is way long game that they have to make those decisions and usually shows are way more off the cuff then that, so I don't know. They would have to decide at the beginning that that was the plan at the end and who knows if they would ever get there. I still think that is what they should do. Possibly put HHB after LWW, doing more with the Calormenes trying to take Susan. Do more with the battles with the giants that Peter is being distracted by. Somehow make that coordinated possibly.

They could even then move the returning of the Pevensies to earth to after HHB. Then with start of PC we would already know about the Calormenes and other people in the world. They could even have a character related to Avaris and Shasta in the future. One thing that was great about PC was Aslan's how and the pictures on the wall and the stone carvings in the stone table room.

I think that by leaning on the history, they could show the long game of the series, and still find those quiet, important moments in each stories that are not big battles and fighting. Like Lucy talking to Aslan. Shasta walking with Aslan. Edmund choosing to trust Lucy. This is like long game plot though that would have to be worked out in advance and i just don't know if shows do that. I am going to have to reread now. It has been awhile.

[JFG II]

I have a new Narnia-Netflix idea:

Make some Narnia books into movies... then make them into episodes when streaming!
Example:
Release “The Magician’s Nephew” (Feature Film) in theaters in late 2020, THEN, in late 2022 or somewhere close, RELEASE AN EPISODIC EXTENDED VERSION (like Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight”) and pair it with “The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe” as Season 1 on Netflix!

When I found out that Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” extended version debuted on Netflix as an episodic TV season, I knew it was possible to BOTH release a long movie in theaters, AND later extend it into a TV series.

I really think Narnia could go that route!

(This is all because I think MN & LWW would make a perfect first season (there is certainly enough material to fill up 6-8 1-hr episodes), but I still BADLY want to see a MN movie in theaters. So release a 2 hr 30 min movie, then stream the 3 hr 30 min extended version in Season 1! ) End of rant.

[ I don’t know if that would work for later books, but here’s my full idea:

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
[Netflix Film & TV Series]
(December 2020 - December, 2030)

- Feature Film
THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW
(In Theaters December, 2020)

- TV Series (Season 1)
THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW (Extended Version)
& THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (TV Episodes)
(On Netflix December, 2022)

- Feature Film
THE HORSE AND HIS BOY
(In Theaters December, 2023)

— TV Series (Season 2)
THE HORSE AND HIS BOY (Extended Version)
& PRINCE CASPIAN: THE RETURN TO NARNIA (TV Episodes)
(On Netflix December, 2024)

— TV Series (Season 3)
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (TV Episodes)
(On Netflix December, 2026)

- Feature Film
THE SILVER CHAIR
(In Theaters December, 2027)

- Feature Film
THE LAST BATTLE
(In Theaters December, 2029)

— TV Series (Season 4)
THE SILVER CHAIR (Extended Version)
& THE LAST BATTLE (Extended Version)
(In Netflix December, 2030)

That’s my shfeel for today! ]

[aragorn2]

I think all of the books, aside from LWW, would lend themselves more to miniseries.
LWW has a decently cinematic structure, and is slight enough as a story that little would have to be cut for time.
VDT is simply too sprawling to comfortably fit a film.
And the rest are too awkwardly structured to be molded on to a traditional 3-Act Structure without losing a lot of their identity.

That said I would be thrilled to see films adapted out of all of them. But in an ideal world, I think they lend themselves better to series.