With Netflix making a movie series adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia, it’s the perfect time to revisit the movies and books; however, understanding the right order isn’t agreed upon. Five years ago, Netflix acquired the rights to every book in The Chronicles of Narnia, the first movie company to purchase them all. They soon announced they’d be creating a mix of movies and a series that brought the Narnia books to the big screen. In the years since then, they’ve refined the plan. Netflix’s The Chronicles of Narnia will now only be films with Greta Gerwig writing and directing the first two.
As more news comes out about the upcoming film project, now is a great time for future viewers to get familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia. Author C.S. Lewis published the first Narnia book in 1950, gaining worldwide popularity. While he didn’t expect to write more than one book (Collected Letters III), Lewis would go on to write six more books in the series. Unfortunately, the release order conflicts with the chronological order, creating a debate within the fandom about which is the proper way to read the books. Multiple movie adaptations exist for each book, adding extra confusion to the Narnia franchise.
How To Read The Chronicles Of Narnia Books In Chronological Order
- The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
- The Horse and His Boy (1954)
- Prince Caspian (1951)
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
- The Silver Chair (1953)
- The Last Battle (1956)
For a new reader, it’s better to read the Chronicles of Narnia books in chronological order instead of release order. This approach presents the events linearly, making it easier to follow from start to end. It has a clear start and end point in the timeline, rather than jumping around. C.S. Lewis even preferred this method of reading, according to a letter to a child published in the Collected Letters III. It’s also easier to find boxsets with this numbering and listing because the publisher HarperCollins switched universally to numbering the books chronologically. Any books with a different numbering were published before 1994.
How To Read The Chronicles Of Narnia Books In Release Order
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
- Prince Caspian (1951)
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
- The Silver Chair (1953)
- The Horse and His Boy (1954)
- The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
- The Last Battle (1956)
Lewis first wrote The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – objectively his most famous work – in 1950, five years before the prequel The Magician’s Nephew. Additionally, The Horse and His Boy follows the same time period as the end of the second chronological book, but it didn’t come out until four years later. This makes the story difficult to understand when read in release order.
However, by approaching the series this way, modern readers can experience the books how others did when the Narnia books first came out. Additionally, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has more action and a faster pacing than The Magician’s Nephew. This makes it more captivating as a first book for readers with a lower attention span. By the time the prequel comes around in release order, there’s enough investment to get through it. Moreover, the first four Narnia books follow the Pevensie siblings, keeping the narrative tightly following a small group of people rather than exploring the larger world outside of Narnia.
10 Lessons Netflix’s Chronicles Of Narnia Reboot Can Learn From The 2000s Movies
Netflix is rebooting CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia with a series of films that will need to learn from the mistakes of the 2000s movies.
All Chronicles Of Narnia Movies In Order
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1979)
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988)
- Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989)
- The Silver Chair (1990)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)
Production companies have tried to adapt The Chronicles of Narnia multiple times for the big screen because of the phenomenal world-building, lore, and fantasy characters. The first time around, CBS created a two-part movie adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for TV. As of the time of writing, this is the only animated version of the Chronicles of Narnia. The second time, the BBC took on the book franchise, making four of the books into a film. Interestingly, they combined Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, two of the longest books in the series.
It took another fifteen years before Disney rebooted the franchise for the third time. With a Disney-level budget, the visuals looked impressive and realistic. The Chronicles of Narnia cast boasted big-name actors like Tilda Swinton and Liam Neeson and newer actors like Georgie Henley and William Moseley. Unlike previous versions of the famous book series, these movies went over exceptionally well. Disney adapted three of Lewis’ works with a three-year break between the first and second as well as a two-year break between the second and third.
Netflix’s Chronicles Of Narnia Reboot Using The Original Books’ Ending Would Be A Huge Mistake
The Chronicles of Narnia books conclude with The Last Battle, but this final chapter may not work as the ending for the upcoming Netflix reboot.
Plans were in the works for a fourth movie, but the actors had aged out of the roles by the time the company announced plans for The Silver Chair. The director would’ve needed an entirely new cast, adding an extra layer of difficulty. Additionally, each movie in the franchise grossed less than the previous film, making it more difficult to justify making a fourth movie. In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to the franchise and announced plans for an entirely new movie franchise, restarting The Chronicles of Narnia cinematic adaptations over again. Still, this unfinished movie franchise is still worth watching due to its high production quality and phenomenal acting.
