The Next Narnia Film: Where We Are Now

For quite some time now, Narnia fans have been waiting patiently for news on whether or not there will be another Narnia movie. But in the past few days, many rumors and bits of news have started circulating over the internet and our forums–both that more films are actively being scripted and that work on the Narnia films has ceased entirely. We were hoping for an official statement before posting any more news on the situation, but now we feel that things need to be cleared up immediately.

During the negotiations between Fox, Walden, and the C.S. Lewis Estate, the film option that Walden Media owned was allowed to expire and Walden Media no longer has exclusive purchasing rights to any further Narnia films. (What’s the difference between a film option and the film rights? Check out Wikipedia’s article here.) This has been confirmed to us by representatives of the C.S. Lewis Estate.

And while Walden and Fox have confirmed they are both interested in making more Narnia films, our understanding is that, by law, the C.S. Lewis Estate must wait a certain period of time (called a moratorium) before they can sell the film option for the Narnia books again. And when they do, it will be available to any film company out there interested in bidding on it, not just Walden and Fox.

So what does this mean? It means that the ball is entirely in the C.S. Lewis Estate’s court at this point, and they have to wait this mandatory period of time until they can sell the film option again. We here at NarniaWeb don’t know exactly how long this moratorium is, though it is likely several years. What we do know, however, is that Doug Gresham has mentioned many times that it’s his dream to make all seven Narnia books into movies so he probably won’t rest until he’s done that. This is not the end of the Narnia movies! We’re only going to have to wait a while before we see another one.

696 Responses

  1. Thee Narnian Meerkat says:

    YES!!!!! Finally. A Narnia movie update. I am at least so happy that this is not yet the end for Narnia movies. I really hope New Line Cinema and hopefully Peter Jackson will direct The Silver Chair and hopefully the rest of the Narnia movies! Peter Jackson is just such a GREAT movie director. He is very good at sticking to the books. 🙂 So, yes!!!! LONG LIVE ASLAN!!!!!!

  2. Thee Narnian Meerkat says:

    And I'm sorry if sometimes you see my name as Thee Narnian Meerkat and just plain Narnian Meerkat, I want my official name to be THEE Narnian Meerkat, so I have to remember to always add the "Thee" in my name before I post a comment…Is there a way to make your new name official???

  3. narnia fan 7 says:

    I hope we don't have to wait two to three years for the next film.

  4. Thee Narnian Meerkat says:

    Yes, certainly! That would just be way too long!!

  5. fantasia_kitty says:

    If two to three years is how long the Estate has to wait before selling the movie rights again, we'll be waiting even longer for a movie. Add on another two years for the actual time it would take to make the movie.

  6. yeswelovenarnia says:

    Gee, I hope it won't take too long. I really want them to make more. :/ Why did they have to let the rights go bad?

  7. Dylan says:

    Peter Jackson is great! I would love to see him do Narnia! And have Howard Shore do the music!

  8. Dylan says:

    It is sad to say it, but I dont think they will be able to use Poulter as Eustace again if it will take that long. I am so sad to here this news and relieved at the same time just to here some news.

  9. Eowyn Pevensie says:

    That would be AWESOME!!! 🙂

  10. lysander says:

    Well, my guess is that's it, folks. What kind of an audience would they be able to bring in in five years? Maybe in 20 we'll get a satisfactory reeboot.

  11. lysander says:

    *reboot. Excuse me.

  12. cmrichey says:

    This is pretty good news, actually, if they do end up making more movies…I'd like to see someone take a different vision to the films, closer to what Lewis intended. Different people in charge could be very happy. 🙂

  13. Praying Pevensie says:

    Dadflam it!

    I wrote the first comment and some how it got off! Is there anyway it could have been deleted?

  14. Dylan says:

    Awesome name!!!! I think weve found all the LOTR fans!

  15. Dylan says:

    I think it was because a while ago when I was on I saw that it said 5 comments, then when i had to reset the stupid internet, I went back and it said 4, so I dont know.

  16. Dylan says:

    My biggest concern is that the Lewis Estate doesnt want to give back the rights, but i may be wrong.

  17. Dylan says:

    Ever since I first went on the site, I just put my username and email, and every time i visit the site on my computer its always there, so idk.

  18. Kor says:

    I hope they have stopped making them. They kept getting further and further away from the books. I wish someone who had a passion for these books like Pete Jackson's passion for LOTR. I mean… The nickname for this series is CON… and that is exactly what they are.

  19. Kor says:

    Let me restate… someone who has the passion like Peter Jackson, not Peter Jackson, should make these movies. Peter isn't interested in Narnia, so it wouldn't work for him to make them.

  20. WarriorOfNarnia says:

    I'm so sad!!!!! That is so stupid! I was so hopeful!

  21. Jeanette says:

    I like the idea of Peter Jackson directing, but only if he loved the books. He was great with LotR because he deeply loved the books. We've had directors do both Narnia and Harry Potter films who knew precious little about the books; they just wanted the film on their resumes. As a result, both the third Narnian movie and the third HP movie were travesties that completely obliterated the spirit of the novels. I don't mind departures from the book – LWW had those – but you still have to keep faithful to the book's spirit. VDD was all doom and gloom, not anticipation and excitement. Given the lousy job done with it, I wd be quite happy never to see another Narnian film ever made. Douglas Gresham either had no influence or he sold out. I felt horribly betrayed.

  22. Jeanette says:

    ABSOLUTELY!!!

  23. Dylan says:

    I dont know if Narnia would be his type of film.But I would absolutley love to seem him do these movies. The only reason I would accept a rebooted Narnia is if PJ directed them.

  24. Delpheas says:

    I saw an update in my facebook news feed, and was excited. Now I'm kinda sad. By the time they make silver chair and the last battle, the actors will be too old. 🙁

  25. Queen_Emily says:

    It's brilliant news to find out that there will be another Narnia film, but the problem is the aggravating wait! How long will it be before another film is released? And how do we know that anybody will want to take up the task after the drop in popularity? Worse still is the idea, that if someone does make another Narnia film, it won't be done well because of lack of money! I'm very worried!

  26. WarriorOfNarnia says:

    Why does EVERYONE want Peter Jackson to direct? Why? Yeah, he did a wonderful job with the Lotr book, but if he did a Narnia movie and if Howard Shore composed the music, it would be a cheap spin-off of the Lotr movies. No, P.J. should stick to Tolkien and not Lewis. Adamson was great on the first movie, and pretty good on the second. What is wrong with him? And Harry Gregson-Williams created a beautiful score for the movies. What is wrong with him? Now, if all the lotr fans are complaining about Michael Apted's directing, feel free to continue.

  27. Ma Reich says:

    I hope they don't re-sell to Walden. Walden had their chance and were getting progressively worse in their productions. (I'm sorry, but the VDT movie was only 30% true to the original book, and that's pathetic). Sell the rights to a company that is worthy of the product and dedicated to staying true to the these amazing books!

  28. Dylan says:

    Yes, they knew precious little about the books, but LWW and PC I think stayed to the spirit of the books, as opposed to gloomy old VDT.

  29. Ma Reich says:

    I am SOOOOOO agreeing with you!

  30. Dylan says:

    Bring back Adamson!!! I think hes the answer for this series! WarriorofNarnia, its not that I would specifically want him to direct it, its that if he decided to direct it i would enjoy the movies alot. Harry Gregson Williams is an amazing composer, and i loved his score for LWW and PC, but VDT seemed like it was trying to be too overly magical.

  31. TheeReepicheep says:

    for some reason it always takes forever for a sequel to be released for the narnia franchise. why cant they just keep on pushing them into theaters year after year like with the harry potter movies….

  32. Dylan says:

    Adamson stayed true to the spirit of the stories, and Apted, oh, I dont want him doing anymore Narnia movies. No offense, but they went so far out to make the movie different then the book it ws kind of stupid. It was like he was trying to write his one story, with little elements and characters borowing from Narnia.

  33. QueenLucytheValient says:

    Yay News!!!!!!!!!! That would be totally awesome of Peter Jackson directed it, although he hopefully wouldn't try to make it like LotR. I am totally a fan of LotR, but Narnia is a different world, it should be different.

  34. QueenLucytheValient says:

    I made a mistake, I LOVE lotr.

  35. Jeanette says:

    As I recall, Adamson loved the books, which wd explain why LWW and PC were relatively true to the spirit. However, I thought he was tired after those two and wanted to move on. (Although PJ was eventually convinced to do Hobbit, so maybe AA cd be convinced to go back to Narnia.) I'm also with you about Harry Gregson-Wms. Very good composer. David Arnold is fine for James Bond movies, but he doesn't have the emotional depth required for Narnia. Funny how you said VDT was trying to be too magical with the score, considering how in overall effect, the film was anything but magical.

  36. Emily Pevensie says:

    I can't wait for them to make another Narnia movie. I don't really care which one they do next, just as long as they do another one. On second thought, I would care if they did Last Battle next. That would be just wrong.

  37. Sam says:

    Well there's the sequel to that article that I wanted, but it's not the ending I had hoped for

  38. Dylan says:

    Trust me, if you listen to the Dawn Treader main theme they play during the whole movie, and then watch the scene with Lucy seeing the snow, it seemed SO goofy and stupid. It seemed like the whole thing was trying to be so magical it was cheesy.

  39. Sam says:

    Well I didn't mean to reply to your comment Ma… On the bright side if it takes another 5 years, and they continue the series rather than rebooting it, than they can use the original kids to play their adult selves in Horse and His Boy, but Idk who they'd get to play them in Last Battle. 🙁 I guess the best option will probably be a reboot *sigh*

  40. Dylan says:

    For me its like this, LOTR first, Narnia second, and then maybe Redwall. I want them to make a live action/cg mix movie for Redwall.

  41. Jeanette says:

    Oh, I'm totally with you. I just meant it was ironic. Although actually since I saw the film once, I don't even remember the theme. (Instead I went back to see Tron again, which sadly had more Christianity than VDT.)

  42. Shawn says:

    Drop in popularity? VDD grossed the same amount as Prince Caspian. Narnia still has a huge following, and if promoted and directed correctly, can put out huge movies.

    I am betting the "moratorium" period can't really be that long of a wait – that is the only piece of information that doesn't have solid facts behind it in this posting. It is speculative. And with everything that is speculative, we have to be skeptic. I'm sure the Lewis Estate has options for moving forward in a reasonable time frame.

    I just want official news….

  43. Shawn says:

    I loved the soundtrack for LWW… "Wunderkind" is one of my favorite soundtrack songs ever!

  44. coracle says:

    Mr Gresham had a lot more influence and success in making changes, than it seems to you. But I can understand your concerns.

  45. Dylan says:

    So its sad that VDT and Tron had Christianity in it?

  46. Dylan says:

    You are so right! I cant agree more!! Please start filming soon!!!

  47. Dylan says:

    Hmmm… as far as I am concerned, Gresham did not direct the movie, produce the movie,do the screenplay, write the script, act, edit, or compose the score, and it still turned out to be a horrible fail at an adaption. As far as I am concered, Mr. Gresham is a minor factor in the turn out of the movie.

  48. Dylan says:

    Actually PC grossed more then VDT, but it doesnt matter.

  49. Noogah says:

    Well, I guess that settles it. If there will be a movie, it will probably have to wait several years anyhow.

    I'm actually happy, just knowing that they haven't really "pulled the plug", so to speak.

  50. D-T says:

    I was just on here this morning I come back and BOOM!
    I was shocked to see something different one the home page!
    Waiting for that next film!

  51. Hiking Peter says:

    Dylan, I am so agreeing with you on the Lucy/snow scene. I really really very strongly dislike the music! Oh, I cringe every time I see or hear it!

  52. narnia-fan1 says:

    I think that is a very important question and i've been asking myself the same many many times. I don't know if you are christian (I am) but if you are, you have to consider that the Chronicles of Narnia are books with very strong themes about the live as a christians and themes from the bible.. so It's no miracle that in a world where satan rules (for the time being) of course, there is much more fight (in the invisible world) that clearly influences ours, about a christian movie than a film about wizards and magic. I think, this is the answer to this question. blessings from switzerland

  53. Dylan says:

    Oh, and then she has that stupid smile! I cant stand it, every time i see that scene i think in my head "Lucy looks like she has serious gas" lol.

  54. Shawn says:

    Worldwide, PC and VDT grossed within 10-15 million of each other.

  55. Jeanette says:

    If he had any influence and success, then I wd really hate to see what the movie was BEFORE he got the so-called changes made.

  56. Jeanette says:

    Dylan, no, it's sad that a movie based on a Christian book had less Christianity than a completely secular movie.

  57. Fire Fairy says:

    Hmm, this isn't exactly good news, but it isn't exactly bad news either. Not too happy that we have to wait so long, but at the same time, at least they're still planning on doing them. I just hope that whoever picks up the series again a) finds a way to redeem the movies, b) stays true to the books, and c) maintains a sense of continuity (as in making them seem like they are all a part of the same series). Not to mention makes a good movie. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

  58. Dylan says:

    I never saw Tron so I wouldnt know. I guess that is sad in a way.

  59. Queen Lizz says:

    To me, Douglas Gresham has done a fantastic job helping out the directors. He always fought to get Lewis's true message into all the movies, and I agree with the article that he definitely wants the movies made, and made right. For that, he's my hero! I can be patient, even though if the moratorium is too long it could mean a new Eustace (He's really the only one we have to worry about, cos if they do MN next that will take a whole new cast and he's really the only returning character in SC.), I think it will be worth the wait for a company to buy the rights and really run with this franchise and make it great.

  60. Finally were getting some news on another Narnia movie. I thought for a moment there that the whole franchise had been died; but now that it's in the hands of the C.S. Lewis Estate there is going to be another movie for sure I think. Because let's face it the C.S. Lewis Estate isn't going to kill the Narnia movie franchise. Now we just have to wait and see weather that next movie will be The Magician's Nephew, or The Silver Chair, and hope to God that it'll be in the hands of a good filmakers like Peter Jackson, because that's what the Narnia franchise needs, and NOT filmakers like Micheal Apted. Because when it comes down to it, that's what will make the rest of this series successful, is by putting it in the hands of the right filmakers. And I'm sure the studios will be willing to produce more Narnia movies, if like I said put in the hands of the right filmakers. This waiting process may be long but I have a feeling things will turn out for the better for us Narnia fans.