‘Silver Chair’ Still a Possibility?
Inside Out has posted a a 32-minute podcast interview with Micheal Flahery (Walden Media president). The first five minutes are the most interesting for Narnia fans. Flaherty talks about why he thinks VDT’s box office started slow, the darkness in Prince Caspian, and finally gives an update on the status of the next film.
Last we heard, it sounded pretty certain that if they made another Narnia film, it would be The Magician’s Nephew. But here, Flaherty seems to indicate nothing has been finalized:
“We’re still in our conversations right now with 20th Century Fox, and the C.S. Lewis Estate who own the rights to all the books. We’re all trying to come to an agreement about which film to do next and how to film it. So, we’re waiting to see where that goes.”
Flaherty talked about book sales in his last update. Here, he gives another reason they are considering The Magician’s Nephew:
“But there are some elements in [the books] that are a little tough, and Caspian is the darkest, and Silver Chair is pretty dark too… physically and tonally. A lot of it takes place underground. That’s why, for the next one, we’re really hoping to go in the direction of The Magician’s Nephew.”
UPDATE 2: The clip is on our YouTube Channel. Listen below…
Transcript:
(1:50 – 5:14)
IO: [Dawn Treader] started out very slowly in the United States.
MF: “Yeah, very slow. Made for an agonizing opening weekend.”
IO: What do you think went on? Why do you think it was so slow?
MF: “People are just so busy at Christmas time. And we in Hollywood are so ego-centric. We feel like everyone can just drop everything they have, all their family commitments, all their Christmas commitments and dedicate themselves to seeing a movie on opening day. And we’re real impatient. But, eventually the movie stayed in the theaters and ended up doing really well. We were pleased with it.”
IO: It did much better overseas, didn’t it?
MF: “Three times what it did here. It’s quite a puzzle, and it’s fun because there’s so little research that’s done in Hollywood. You’re free to just forward as many theories as you want. And, I don’t really know why the disparity is. What’s interesting in the United States is, ticket sales almost exactly mirror the book sales. So the number of people who saw Prince Caspian was half the number of people who saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And the book sales are half. The people who saw Dawn Treader was about a third less than the people who saw Prince Caspian. And the book sales are about a third less.”
IO: Prince Caspian was a bit darker and grim and violent.
MF: “Yeah, and this is the paradox when you want to do faithful adaptations. That book is a dark war kind of novel. And we actually pulled back a little. In one scene, Peter beheads a couple of people [laughs]. At the end they run into some Greek gods who give everybody wine and they get drunk. So it’s amazing because I think a lot of us, in our minds, have this perfect image of these Narnia books because we grew up with them. But there are some elements in there that are a little tough, and Caspian is the darkest, and Silver Chair is pretty dark too… physically and tonally. A lot of it takes place underground. That’s why, for the next one, we’re really hoping to go in the direction of The Magician’s Nephew.”
IO: You talk about mirroring the book sales. The Magician’s Nephew was the second-highest seller of the series, wasn’t it?
MF: “Yes. And pretty close, sort of nipping at the heels of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s amazing and it’s a great origin story. And I like the way that Lewis did it and that’s what we’re trying to do with our film, which is: You actually start in the middle of the story, so then when you tell the origin it’s much more interesting. You can say to yourself ‘that’s where the lamp-post came from!’”
IO: Oh yeah, you can connect the dots on that which is always a lot of fun. What about production schedule and all of that? Do you have a script for this yet?
MF: “No, we don’t. We’re still in our conversations right now with 20th Century Fox, and the C.S. Lewis Estate who own the rights to all the books. So, we’re all trying to come to an agreement about which film to do next and how to film it. So, we’re waiting to see where that goes.”
Back in October, NarniaWeb posted a poll on the homepage asking which film should be made next. 86% voted for The Silver Chair (1,841 total votes).
UPDATE 1: We just added a new poll. Go back to the homepage and scroll down to the poll on the bottom-right.
I'm with you!
Very well put. They need to give SC the green light and hire a new director and trust the director that he will do a good job, because when studios control movies they always become duds (Spider-Man 3, Iron Man 2 anyone?)
Will Poulter is to great not to carry on in this franchise!
I wanna see more of Eustace and a lovely Jill to match!
Give us the Silver and let us all have a Chair!
Give The Silver Chair the green light!
Give The Magician´s Nephew the green mist!
😉
Honestly, If they could only make two more films, I would hope they would do HHB and MN. I think that they are the most exciting of the ones that are left and they would both make an exellent screenplay.
Really??? Never knew that. Well, that will be hard to pull off unless they get a new cast. They've already tried to pass Ben Barnes off as a teen in Prince Caspian. Can't really imagine a 7 year old in a movie with such a dark story as The Last Battle. In a book, it's ok. On screen, that's harder to show to family audiences.
WILL THEY JUST DECIDE!!! I think this is just getting a
little rediculous. It makes way more sense to do SC first,
and they need to decide now. I think SC would make a way better movie than Magicans Nephew. And you know what, if PC was to dark, then SC is like a horror movie by their terms. If they wanted to lighten up the series a little bit, sure, go ahead and do MN, but there are just too many disadvantages with doing MN first. I think from the beginning, they just need to do the movies in order of the books, and then maybe a couple years later do HHB and MN too revive the series. If they decide to do SC, I cant wait
to seee what they make puddleglum look like.
I think thats what makes a good fantasy series, creating that aptmosphere, capturing their world, and as far as I am concerned, Lewis nailed it. He didnt just make a good story, he made a world. He and Tolkein are the two greates fantasy writers of all time.
If they take swallowing up boys and girls and kings and queens and cities and realms out, then thatw ould be one of the biggest mistakes the could ever make. Like they say, hes not a tame lion. I think there just trying to make an overly perfect image of Aslan. In the PC movie they just had Aslan roar instead of pick Trumpkin up and shake him in his mouth. In VDT they had Aslan scratch the dirt instead of scratch Eustace. HES NOT A TAME LION.
No, dude. 7 years oldER.
Give us the silver-light!
Yeah, I totally agree that VDT movie is darker than SC book, but if they totally revamped SC like they did VDT, then SC would be extremely dark
No, Shift was the false prophet, and Puzzle was, well, the antiaslan
The reason that MN has so many sales is that because the books have been reordered some people seem to think it is the first book of the series. LWW is the first book of the series so that is why it has a lot of sales and some people think MN is the first book so that has a lot of sales. That doesn't mean that more people will see MN.
Sometimes i think they are just not too bright. The issue is that they need to make better movies. Certainly better then VotDT which was just not good and better then PC which had issues.
😀 GOOD!
LWW had so many sales because it was the most well known of all of the books. Chronologically, LWW is the second book but it was published first, which is why it is so well known.
Yeah, I think that's the key. Cast a really phenomenal, charismatic actress as Jill. The marketing should focus on the kids, a couple of grade school misfits who become unlikely heroes in a Sleeping-Beauty style quest (except that Sleeping Beauty is a guy). That's something that could bring in casual fans. Let them know that there's a real story here, not a tired reworking of the LWW plot structure (like PC) or a contrived, puzzling plot structure (like VDT). And let them know that there are dynamic, relatable characters. Special effects alone won't sell a movie.
The thing is, Walden actually did some marketing research into it, and the overwhelming response of former-fans was that the film was too dark and not magical enough. I think what it really boils down to is that film took itself too seriously. At times, it felt a lot like a period drama, rather than a family fantasy film. Wasn't a problem for me, but there wasn't much to engage the upper-elementary crowd, who were the target audience of the books and the first movie.
Did anybody read those books on how they made the movies by Perry Moore? If so, remember that little rumor on how Andrew Adamson might play Puddleglum?
yup… Puzzle was the antiaslan thingy, because he was pretending to be Aslan and so the sort-of-narnian-god Lion.
But you could call Shift the masterbrain. And the interesting thingy is that the antiaslan thingy is being used and that the antiaslanthingy becomes a friend-of-aslanthingy. It is an interesting perspective. But perhaps I translate the story too much to our world?
. . than they were in Silver Chair. So, 16.
me too make so much sense
my brother says they should try to do both at the same time. i agree, it just might be a lot of money, but that way you can please the general audience with a not so dark film (which, personally, i find Magician's Nephew equally as dark as Silver Chair, but anyway…) and please the narnia fans who wish to stay in the order that the movies were going in. i really dont mind entirely which movie they make, im just leaning more towards Silver Chair, mainly because i really, REALLY want to see Will Poulter as Eustace again ;-), but as long as they keep the movies up im happy happy. i'll be praying for you guys for wisdom! thanks for all the hard work you're putting into the movies! we really truly appreciate it. i speak for all narniawebbers 🙂
I took the poll and I clicked The Silver Chair to be the 4th Narnia film. Simply because it follows right after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and also, we need to think about WILL POULTER AGING! I mean, he looked young in Dawn Treader but now I have seen recent pictures and he looks much older and mature. Grant it, Magicians Nephew would be great and is the 2nd best seller out of the series… still, I am thinking of Eustace and how he would look if we waiting too long. Although I will admit that if Magicians Nephew is next, I would love seeing Tilda Swinton reprise her role as The White Witch again as she has done with all films so far.. but this film would tell her whole story of where she is from and what her history is like before The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
I vote sc to the max
I'm for Silver Chair too, though partly just to get it out of the way. It's always been my least favorite book! It might be good to make them concurrently, getting both Jadis and Eustace before they get any older. (and then they can stop bringing her into every daggone movie!)
The thing is, you really have to keep making the core 5 without stopping just to get ages right. Then they can go back and make Horse when the actors are a litle older. Magician's should have been started as a side project right after the success of LWW since Jadis is supposed to stay the same age.
Anyway, that's been my opinion since the first movie came out. I'm glad they aren't giving up on the franchise, though they really need to do a better job with them. Don't know how that mist monster was an improvement on people being drunk or beheaded. Ugh. But I'll still go see them all!
I wholeheartedly agree! Will Poulter was just too perfect to not get him into SC! I also could care less which order there done in, just as long as there being done!
I was just thinking that today! Will IS Eustace or a AMAZING actor, who the likes of has not been seen since…I don't even know when!
Definetely want the Mgician's Nephew to be next! I think it's an amazing story and it's really very magical! Lots of people will like the idea of finding out where this world NARNIA really comes from!!!!!!
Man I really hope they will make SC next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The earlier they made the movie and release it, the better for the series won't have an age gap. SC might be a dark novel/film (for it's darkest of the chronicles) but we are talking about the light side of it. in the beginning and middle of it can be dark, but in the end, there is the LIGHT-HIS LIGHT!
I wish people would vote based on what the franchise needs and not what they personally want to see. I would like to see the Silver Chair, and I'd like to see Will as Eustace. But If Silver Chair gets made next (like 70% of fans are voting for) and it ends up like Prince Caspian we'll be in the SAME situation gripping to our chairs and biting our nails watching the box office hoping it'll break even and then bring in enough profit to HOPEFULLY make another movie. The franchise needs a beginning, something for those who haven't seen Narnia (and we mainly want to attract THEM). If Will Poulter is sacrificed for the ENTIRE franchise to continue, well that's what they need to do and that's what should be done. Will Poulter IS NOT Narnia, he is a crucial character, but maybe the stories themselves are a bit more important? And if Fox/Walden don't do something that will draw a larger audience to the stories (i.e. the Creation/origin of all this Narnia stuff), we could end up Silver Chair (to the satisfaction of many fans) and nothing more :(.
I disagree that MN is more accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the series. A lot of MN is devoted to explaining things that happened in LWW. A number of scenes and plot points, including those that are the most interesting if you've read LWW, would seem irrelevant if you haven't. Now, I would agree that you don't need to read any of the other books to appreciate MN. I think if they make MN they need to market it as "The White Witch Story," because that's the only thing it has going for it, from a marketing perspective. Even that's dicey. People who have been following the series are used to the White Witch being used in marketing even though she has a minimal presence in the films. Basically, "The Chronicles of Narnia" have become synonymous with lame attempts to milk the success of LWW, and I don't think MN will counter that perception.
The thing about SC is that it can be read as a standalone book. In fact I know people who read it first and actually liked it the best. Eustace's character is more interesting if you've read VDT first, but, since Jill is really the central character of SC, the only thing you need to know for SC to make sense, is that Eustace has been there before, and that's explained in the intro. You don't actually need to know the details of his adventures there. I think if they make it, they should drop the "Chronicles of Narnia" part from the title, though. The brand name has been through the mud.
Magician's Nephew is more marketable to those who haven't seen the series because Fox/Walden will push the whole, "In the beginning there was" "how it all started" "before there was ____, before there was ____, there was ____." I didn't say it was more accessible as far as the movie, because if they haven't seen the other movies they will not be able to connect certain dots like the lamp post or maybe even the tree being made into the wardrobe. I said it would attract more attention being that it's the starter story of the whole series.
But, why should anyone care about what happened before there was ________ , if they haven't seen ________ in the first place?
I really hope they make SC next They have to bring Eustace back!
@anhun, your answer actually supports making MN first. LWW made 755 million, so 3x more people have seen it vs the small amt. that have seen VDT. makes more sense to describe the origins of the more popular movie.
LWW is the original story, the others were just lamer followups.
Okay…What I was really trying to say is that the only reason LWW had such a large box office amount was because so many people were familar with it, whereas the others are much less known and much less popular.
Amen to SC!!! And Eustace!! But I'll still enjoy MN if they make it instead. Though I would prefer the SC since it is one of my top favorites. 😉 🙂
You clearly didn't read my answer. In the same way that you don't have to read MN to understand LWW, you don't have to read VDT to understand SC. SC could and should be marketed as an interesting story in its own right.
Unlike Batman Begins, X-men first class, or Smallville, MN is an origins story that has none of the original heroes in it.
High Queene, are you trying to make people mad? How were the other books 'lame'? And if they are 'lamer', does that mean LWW was lame as well, only not as much?
^I disagree. LWW is a very strong story, although the book isn't nearly as well written as some of the later books in the series. It translates well to film, and I think the fact that many people are likely to have seen earlier film versions may have contributed to the success of the Disney version.
As for the "lame follow ups," it depends on the book. PC, MN, and LB were written as follow ups, and I would agree that they aren't as good as the original. PC and LB were down right bad, MN was enjoyable and intriguing but it didn't stand on its own two feet.
VDT, SC, and HHB, on the other hand were not follow-ups at all. If you try to read them as such, you won't appreciate them. On the other hand if you read them as unique adventures separate from the LWW story, you will realize that they are actually a lot better than LWW. In the case of each book, Lewis clearly had a story to tell, and he used the Narniaverse to tell it.
Prince Caspian wasn't a dark book… they made the movie extremely dark in spite of the book. I mean, it was about as dark as The Last Battle should be, but it wasn't a good kind of dark. And I've never thought of Silver Chair as dark until they go underground. Good grief, if Mr. Flaherty and the rest don't even understand the books, then why are they even making them into movies?
Good point, the charactes are different in MN, and I think that itis now or never for MN. I had thought that SC would be the best option right now for the series, but I think they can take a break, and kind of try to get the crowds back to the theaters, and showing the creation of Narnia is the absoulute best option. Like you pointed out, it will explain things like the lampost and all that for the people who have never read the book. I honestly think that they need to stop adding the White Witch into all the movies, which in this case it is unavoidable if you do MN. Losing Poulter is a huge risk, and if they lose him I do think that all IS lost. I dont think that any acter could replace him. As a fan, I dont care which movie they do, because I like both books. In my opinion, if they can do all the books, that would be great. I would like to see HHB made into a movie,but I think that if they do Mn, after that its just SC and LB. If they do SC, I think they are just gonna finish it up with LB.
The PC movie was dark in a sense, but Ithink that SC is pretty dark. Lewis basically set a dark tone in the book. THe book was dark BEFORE they even went underground. You have an old Caspian going to sea searching for his son (who nobody has seen in years). Even the names of the characters ( GLIMfeather, PuddleGLUM)sound depressing. Over all, this has got to be the darkest book of all the Chronicles.
Yeah, that was a little irratating. If someone thinks the books are lame, then I really don't understand why they would be on Narniaweb…
Agreed. One of the darkest parts for me in Silver Chair was before they went underground. The giants seemed a bit creepy. Not even in the sense that they were going to cook the children, but there was just something very sinister about how Lewis built those scenes. After Googling Will Poulter, he does seem to have an unchanging boyish appearance. It might not be too late for him, but his voice will probably change. Maybe if they do decide to do Magician's Nephew next they can make Silver Chair and HHB at the same time (I doubt that HHB will have a very expensive production budget) so that Will can come back and finish his role. Might be wishful thinking, but I'm far from a wet blanket XD.
Silver Chair is what the franchise needs. A chronological sequel to Voyage Of The Dawn Threader, which made 417 mil on a 140-155 mil budget. It can be made on a 130mil budget, and will involve some quite interesting, stand out scenes, like the part with the giants (has to be showcased in the trailer). It being "dark" has nothing to do with it. It's how much it'll stand out, if it will be released not with 10 other movies (poor Prince Caspian), and not too much deviation from the source material (the fans are a big part here whether they want to admit it or not).
Magicians Nephew is excellent too but it can wait until after the Caspian story is concluded.
Hopefully this last battle won't end in Walden Media and Fox breaking off their relationship, otherwise New Line or Universal will have to take over.
I vote for Zach Synder to direct because he likes to adapt things directly, he would make almost no alterations to either story, I don't know if he'd do somewhat religious fantasy though.
Oh, and thank god they have no intentions of skipping SC or MN and doing The Last Battle or something. I hope Michael Apted directs that one and makes a bunch of changes to it.
*Michael Apted directed the World Is Not Enough and Voyage Of The Dawn Threader, and they both were excellent movies.
But how would the creation of Narnia get people back in theatres, when audiences have lost interest in the Narnia franchise? Sure, there are plenty of people who would have been excited to see a prequel to LWW in the years after it came out, but those very same people came to see PC and were turned off to the franchise. American audiences will no longer show up to a movie just because its Narnia, it has to be a movie that can be marketed on its own merits.
Will Poulter's voice had already changed when they filmed VDT.
This is what C.S Lewis himself said: "I think I agree with your order for reading the books [chronologically according to events] more than with your mother's [in order of publication]. . . . [But] perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone reads them". I agree with Lewis. I personaly perfer to read them MN, LWW, HHB, PC, … , but does it really mater?
And NO Narnia book is lame at all. They are all exelent peices of literature.
I agree that Michael Apted is a decent director, but I don't think that he is exactly good for Narnia; Dawn Treader was far from a good movie. I am really hoping that Andrew Adamson returns to direct some future Narnia films.
How come no one ever mentions them making HHB? I think it would be the best one they could do. It is by far the most exciting of all of them…
I didn't cut any heads. I wouldn't hurt a fly. *hides the fly-swatter behind his back*.
I totally agree the book Prince Caspian wasn't dark. Though the cover of my copy was dark blue with an artistic immage of Caspian on it, the writings within the book were black. But the black writings were on WHITE. So: not dark.
So getting drunk, Bacchus and Silenus are tokens of darkness. It is more a token of happiness. Of the oppression of Miraz finally ending. I think the real reason for taking this out was: it was to boring (in the opinions of the director). And they didn't get drunk. Even if Bacchus was a old (50 years kind) dirty batty person that had anal, drunk-getting parties in Greek mythology…
Lewis made a Narnian version (maybe thinking Bacchus was misunderstood) that was a young boy (or was that silenus?) and that made grapes grow, destroyed the bridge of beruna (so the rivergod was freed), and yes made some of the most delicious wine. Which together with Aslans presence brought a drunken-like happiness. But they obviously didn't really get drunk (in my imagination).
Drunk and drunken in my simple Dutch mind mean: having consumed buckets and buckets of alcohol and thus having drunken to much or something. But maybe the real English word is something else.
Okay? And by the time they shoot Last Battle it'll most likely have changed again. Lol
True that
Ya, the giants were a bit creepy.I wonder what they will make them like in the movie( if they do it).By the time that they do LB Poulter will be a totally different person. Just loook at how much Skandar Keyes changed while playing Edmund.
I dont care which one they do next, just that they make another movie!