Netflix has acquired the rights of the entire 7 books of C.S.Lewis' fantasy series and the streamer is planning to create a Narnia Universe out of them
Netflix is adapting C.S.Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia books into TV series and movies. Yep, you heard it right. The beloved childhood fantasy books are coming on-screen (again) after the streaming giant picked it up for an adaptation project that will span for years. The series has already seen numerous adaptations in the past, which includes a BBC series, a radio series, and of course, the Disney movies. The biggest adaptation of the book series came through Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media after “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” released in 2005. Two more films distributed by Disney and later by Fox Century were also released later on. A fourth film was planned, but this never happened. Now that Netflix has picked up the fantasy titles let's dive deep into the streaming giant's ginormous plans for Narnia.
Reports about the streaming giant teaming up with C.S. Lewis Company dropped back in October 2018. Netflix got a 'multi-year' deal, which grants them the exclusive rights to produce films and series projects based on the books of Narnia. The deal marks the first time for a single company to hold all the rights for the entire Narnia books, which gives us hope to see the other books which were never adapted by previous owners to finally appear on Netflix. In a statement alongside the announcement, Ted Sarandos, content head of Netflix, said:
“C.S. Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia stories have resonated with generations of readers around the world,” adding, “Families have fallen in love with characters like Aslan and the entire world of Narnia, and we’re thrilled to be their home for years to come.”
What's even more exciting is Netflix intends to adapt the books into a Narnia Universe, think of Game of Thrones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but with a more family-friendly approach.
Mark Gordon, Douglas Gresham, Vincent Sieber are on board to help in the majority of the upcoming Narnia projects. In 2019, Netflix announced that “Coco” co-writer Matthew Aldrich would be joining the team as 'creative architect' for the upcoming films and series projects. The announcement read:
“Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich will serve as the creative architect and oversee the development of all films and shows adapted from C.S. Lewis’ beloved Narnia universe for Netflix.”
“Coco” co-writer Matthew Aldrich will serve as the creative architect and oversee the development of all films and shows adapted from C.S. Lewis’ beloved Narnia universe for Netflix pic.twitter.com/k77EG6f9N4
— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) June 12, 2019
'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' is the first book in the Narnia series. However, 'The Magician’s Nephew' is a prequel, so Netflix is likely to adapt the entire book series in the following order:
The Magician’s Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
There are also speculations that Netflix's Narnia Universe might be darker, just like what happened to Anne with an E series. We will have to wait for the official trailer to confirm this, but it will likely take a while.
According to IMDB, an Untitled Netflix/Chronicles of Narnia Series and another Untitled TV movie were reported to be under pre-production back in October 2018. Some of Disney's Narnia movies are still available on Netflix, but we are expecting them to be removed once the streamer drops their adaptation of the fantasy series. The only update we have about the series so far is from Netflix France in March 2021, which confirmed that the series and projects are in the works.
The project still hasn't entered production as of this update. We will continue to watch out for more updates for you. Make sure to follow us to get the latest news.
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