By For some reason that’s beyond me The Chronicles of Narnia never took off in their new film form despite the fact that they were released at a time when fantasy directed towards young adults and children was at an all time high thanks to Harry Potter. They weren’t particularly bad movies and the first was a hit, but they just never got rolling, seeing diminishing returns for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (really old review alert) and Prince Caspian.
It appears that someone still has faith in the films as the fourth book, The Silver Chair, is finally being adapted. This is mostly likely happening because the movies actually performed decently well over seas so The C.S. Lewis and Mark Gordon Companies have decided to roll forward with the fourth. The press release below fills it all out, but it’s notably missing any distribution company, which was a major reason the third was delayed after Disney dumped the franchise and Fox took its time to swoop in.
Since I actually enjoyed all three of the previous films to various degrees I’m glad the series is going on. There’s no word on if any of the cast will return, but since Sliver Chairs plot involves only a few of the original characters it wouldn’t be that big an issue if they didn’t since many have aged out.
Full press release:
The C.S. Lewis Company has entered into an agreement with The Mark Gordon Company to jointly develop and produce THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE SILVER CHAIR, the fourth book published in C.S. Lewis’ famed fantasy series. The announcement was made today by The C.S. Lewis Company.
Mark Gordon stated, “Like many readers, both young and old, I am a huge fan of C.S. Lewis’s beautiful and allegorical world of Narnia. These fantasy stories inspire real-world passion among millions of devoted fans around the world. As we prepare to bring the next book to life, we are humbled and excited to contribute to the outstanding legacy of Narnia.”
Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis stated, “I have a great deal of respect for Mark Gordon’s work and am confident that together we can bring the beauty and magical delight that Narnia engenders in the hearts of those who read the books to the screen in ‘The Silver Chair.’ I am very much looking forward to diving once more into Narnia, this time with Mark Gordon and his team.”
Mark Gordon and Douglas Gresham along with Vincent Sieber, the LA based Director of The C.S. Lewis Company, will serve as producers and work with The Mark Gordon Company on developing the script. Michele Wolkoff and Sara Smith will oversee for The Mark Gordon Company.
Vincent Sieber stated, “We are very excited by this partnership and to be able to work on this movie from its earliest conception on such a collaborative basis. It gives us the opportunity to develop a script and then produce a film with some of the most talented industry professionals whilst remaining completely faithful to this much loved book.”
The first three Narnia films combined have grossed over $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office.
A classic series of seven novels that have sold over 100 million copies worldwide, C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” began with the publication of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” in 1950. Six more novels (including the prequel, “The Magician’s Nephew,” and the sequels, “The Horse and His Boy,” “Prince Caspian,” “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “The Silver Chair” and “The Last Battle”) would follow in the next six years. The final title in the series, “The Last Battle,” was awarded the highest mark of excellence in children’s literature, the prestigious Carnegie Award.
