Producer Mark Gordon says there’s active development on a film version of The Silver Chair, based on the fourth book of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Of course, it’s being billed as a reboot. Which makes no sense whatsoever.
Good... er ... bad... er... news! Even as a fan of the Narnia series, I tend to forget that they made it all the way to the third book for the latest adaptation. I remember The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. I forgot they released The Voyage of the Dawn Treader five years ago. Which is frankly shocking, since Narnia is ripe for an epic fantasy franchise. These should be huge films, so it’s a good thing that they’re trying to right this ship.
Gordon told Collider that they’re hoping to start making The Silver Chair “shortly,” but then added this weird caveat:
No [none of the original cast will be in it], 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.
Collider called this a “reboot.” Which, no? They’re not remaking The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book published. Nor are they starting over by adapting The Magician’s Nephew, the first book chronologically. To say this is a reboot makes no sense, since the other movies aren’t being ignored—they can’t be, otherwise there’s going to have to be a lot of exposition in the new movie. This is just a new creative team, which used to happen all the time without it being called a “reboot.” It’s just that “reboot” sounds fresh and sexy. Whereas “we fired everyone and hired a bunch of new people” sounds like they’re admitting to mistakes.
Plus, to say that none of the original actors are showing up isn’t that big a deal. Almost no one from the other stories shows up in The Silver Chair. Caspian is in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but he’s ancient by the time The Silver Chair rolls around. Only Eustace, a kid from our world who traveled to Narnia in Dawn Treader, is close enough in age to be recognizable. So one person is getting recast. That’s another thing that’s happened all the time without it being a “reboot.” But, again, “recasting” sounds like something went wrong.
Anyway, we’re actually getting another Narnia movie. Fingers crossed this one goes as well as it should.
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