The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven books written by C.S. Lewis, which built a huge mythology with a richly defined world and characters that could compete with the Middle-earth series of his friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien. At the center of the series is Narnia, a mystical fantasy world full of curious creatures, which is explored by the four even more curious Pevensie children Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter. Their adventures take them through the whole of Narnia, while more of the unusual otherworld is revealed to them.
While many have strongly speculated that the series is a metaphor for the teaching of the Catholic Church, Slate published an article stating that Narnia is more than just a Christian allegory, and Lewis later clarified that the series should not come across as religious rhetoric as categorized in the fantasy genre, but welcomed all the speculation made by his readership.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe debuted in theaters in 2005, followed by Prince Caspian in 2008. The Journey on the Dawn was the third and last novel adapted for cinematic retelling before the current series was discontinued. An announced fourth film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, was canceled after the collapse of the film series.
Updated on July 5, 2023: This article has been updated by Valerie Parker with new information about the Chronicles of Narnia and the status of the series since its acquisition by Netflix.
It was announced in 2018 that Netflix would take over the responsibility of rebooting the series for the streaming service, but little information about the status of the franchise has surfaced over the past five years. After years of rumors, a recent profile at The New Yorker seems to confirm that writer and director Greta Gerwig has completed her successful adaptation of Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie with at least two films in the Chronicles of Narnia franchise.
There is a lot of speculation about which stories in the series Gerwig will tackle and whether they will be her next project focus, but at this point Netflix is keeping things quiet and even refusing to acknowledge that Gerwig is tied to the project. While the streaming giant continues to work on its upcoming approach to Chronicles of Narnia, here’s a look back at why the Silver Chair movie adaptation never happened.
What happens in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair?
The Silver Chair follows Eustace Scrubb and his girlfriend Jill Pole as they are introduced to Narnia for the first time. The couple are sent by Aslan on a journey to rescue the son of Caspian, Prince Rilian, whom they find trapped and tied to the Silver Chair themselves. Before the couple can free the prince, the two are captured by the lady with the Green Skirt, who turns out to be a Green Witch. Her ability allows her to transform into a green creature resembling a snake, and she is later killed by Rilian. In the end, Caspian is reunited with his estranged son shortly before Caspian’s death, at which time Rilian is appointed the new king of Narnia.
After the coronation, Scrubb and Pole return to Aslan’s land, where they are greeted by a revived, rejuvenated Caspian. The novel ends with the duo’s return to England. The Silver Chair was the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series to be published, but the sixth story in the franchise chronology.
Why didn’t the silver chair happen?
A significant drop in box office receipts between the individual films of the Chronicles of Narnia franchise forced the studio to change its plans. Instead of adapting The Silver Chair, the next book published in the series, the studio instead opted for a prequel with an adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew , an idea that was ultimately discarded when Walden Media lost the rights to The Chronicles of Narnia in 2011.
a new adaptation of the Silver Chair was announced in 2013. While the production on the Silver Chair looked promising at first, after Captain America director Joe Johnston took over the management of the project in 2017, the development ultimately lagged behind. The cast that was expected to resume their roles had aged out of their respective characters’ age groups, which would require an entirely new cast to pick up where the others left off. For this reason, the Silver Chair was intended as a reboot of the Narnia franchise and probably would not have included any cast members from the original film series, including Liam Neeson as Aslan.
Johnston’s adaptation never saw the light of day, and in 2018 it was announced that Netflix wants to take over The Chronicles of Narnia franchise and develop films and television series around the estate. This development seemed to be the nail in the coffin for the Silver Chair film, since there was no direct desire to recover the Silver Chair after complications arose during the planning of the fourth film.
