A new rumor claims to reveal that the first project that Netflix will adapt from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia novels will be The Silver Chair.
This rumor comes from What’s on Netflix’s Kasey Moore who relayed, “Our sources told us in early 2023 that Gerwig’s first adaptation would be of The Silver Chair.”
The Silver Chair (2002), HarperCollins Publishers
Netflix announced they would develop both TV series as well as films based on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia back in 2018.
In a press release they detailed, “Netflix will develop new series and film projects based on C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series. Under the terms of a multi-year deal between Netflix and The C.S. Lewis Company, Netflix will develop classic stories from across the Narnia universe into series and films for its members worldwide.”
The company added, “The deal marks the first time that rights to the entire seven books of the Narnia universe have been held by the same company.”
William Moseley as Peter Pevensie, Liam Neeson as Aslan, and Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), Walt Disney Pictures
Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said at the time, “C.S. Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia stories have resonated with generations of readers around the world. Families have fallen in love with characters like Aslan and the entire world of Narnia, and we’re thrilled to be their home for years to come.”
Douglas Gresham, Lewis’ stepson, also stated, “It is wonderful to know that folks from all over are looking forward to seeing more of Narnia, and that the advances in production and distribution technology have made it possible for us to make Narnian adventures come to life all over the world.”
“Netflix seems to be the very best medium with which to achieve this aim, and I am looking forward to working with them towards this goal,” he added.
Liam Neeson as Aslan in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), 20th Century Fox
In June 2019, Netflix announced that Matthew Aldrich, the co-writer of Pixar’s Coco, had boarded the project “to oversee the development and creative live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series.”
The company added, “Aldrich will work across both series and film and serve as a creative architect on all projects under the deal.”
William Moseley as Peter Pevensie and Liam Neeson as Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), Walt Disney Pictures
The project seemingly went dormant until it was revealed that Barbie director and Disney’s Snow White writer Greta Gerwig would team up with Netflix to direct at least two Narnia movies.
The New Yorker’s Alex Barasch reported earlier this year that Gerwig “has a deal with Netflix to write and direct at least two films based on C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.
Gerwig would confirm her involvement telling Games Radar, “I haven’t even really started wrapping my arms around it. But I’m properly scared of it, which feels like a good place to start.”
She added, “I think when I’m scared, it’s always a good sign. Maybe when I stop being scared, it’ll be like, ‘Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t do that one.’ No, I’m terrified of it. It’s extraordinary. And so we’ll see, I don’t know.”
“I hope to make all different kinds of movies in the course of the time I get to make movies, which – it’s a long time, but it’s also limited,” she continued. “I want to do big things and small things and everywhere in between, and having another big canvas is exciting and also daunting.”
Tilda Swinton as White Witch in Prince Caspian (2008), The Walt Disney Company
Netflix Chairman Scott Stuber provided a brief update on the project while speaking with Variety telling the outlet, “[Gerwig] grew up in a Christian background. The C.S. Lewis books are very much based in Christianity. And so we just started talking about it. And like I said earlier, we don’t have IP, so when we had the opportunity [to license] those books or the [Roald Dahl Co.] we’ve jumped at it, to have stories that people recognize and the ability to tell those stories.”
“So it was just a great opportunity and I’m so thrilled that she’s working on it with us and I’m just thrilled to be in business with her,” he said. “And she’s just an incredible talent.”
When asked for more details about Gerwig’s role in the films and whether she was writing them as well, Stuber said, “Obviously, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is kind of the preeminent one, but there’s such an interesting narrative form [to the Narnia series] if you read all of them. And so that’s what she’s working on now with [producer] Amy Pascal and Mark Gordon and they’re trying to figure out how they can break the whole arc of all of it.”
Stuber would go on to inform Collider at the beginning of November that they planned to take the first film into production next year, “Well, I think people know that we’re aspirationally trying to get Greta Gerwig’s [The Chronicles of] Narnia together and get that movie, which will be next year.”
William Moseley as Peter Pevensie and Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), Walt Disney Pictures
The Silver Chair was the fourth novel published in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, but it is the penultimate novel chronologically. The novel follows the characters of Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole as they are tasked by Aslan to find the missing son of King Caspian X, Prince Rilian.
The two go on a journey across Narnia and run afoul of the Lady of the Green Kirtle who has ambitions to conquer Narnia.
The Silver Chair (2000), HarperCollins Publishers
What do you make of this rumor that Netflix will adapt The Silver Chair first?
[…] NEXT: Rumor: Netflix To Adapt C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Silver Chair’ As First ‘Chronicles Of Narnia’ Pro… […]