'Chronicles of Narnia 4': Why 'The Silver Chair' Movie Adaptation Didn't Happen

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven books written by C.S. Lewis, one that built a vast mythology with a richly defined world and characters that could rival those of his friend and peer, J.R.R. Tolkien, in his Middle-earth series. At the heart of the series lies Narnia, a mystical fantasy world brimming with curious creatures, which is explored by the four even more curious Pevensie children: Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter. Their adventures take them throughout Narnia, gradually revealing more of this unusual and magical world.

Following the success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001, the Narnia books would gradually be adapted into feature-length films. In 2005, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe debuted in theaters, followed by Prince Caspian in 2008. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was the third and final novel adapted for the cinema in 2010, before the ongoing series was brought to a halt. An announced fourth film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, was canceled following the collapse of the film series.

In 2018, Netflix announced it would reboot the Narnia franchise. After years of waiting, the project picked up steam when Barbie director Greta Gerwig signed on to helm a new Narnia movie. Gerwig intends to adapt The Magician’s Nephew, which is the sixth book in the Narnia series but the first in the franchise’s chronological order. Gerwig’s The Magician’s Nephew is set for release in November 2026, with a rare IMAX release before debuting on Netflix in December of that year. With all that in mind, here’s a look back at why The Silver Chair movie adaptation never happened.

Update October 27, 2025: This article has been updated with new information regarding The Chronicles of Narnia and the status of the series since being acquired by Netflix.

What Was ‘The Silver Chair’ About and Why Didn’t the Film Happen?

20th Century Studios

The Silver Chair was the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and the sixth story in the franchise chronology. The plot follows Eustace Scrubb and his friend, Jill Pole, as she is introduced to Narnia for the first time. The pair is sent on a journey by Aslan to rescue the son of King Caspian, Prince Rilian, whom they find captured and bound to the Silver Chair itself.

Before the pair can free the prince, the two are caught by the Lady of the Green Kirtle, who reveals herself to be Rilian’s shapeshifting captor. Her ability allows her to transform into a green, serpent-like creature, and she is later slain by Rilian. In the end, Caspian is reunited with his estranged son shortly before Caspian’s death, at which time Rilian is named the new King of Narnia. After the coronation, Scrubb and Pole return to Aslan’s Country, where a revived, rejuvenated Caspian greets them. The novel concludes with the duo being returned to England.

Though The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe performed well in theaters, the fate of the Chronicles of Narnia film series was slowly marching towards its own downfall. A significant decline in box-office revenue across the Chronicles of Narnia franchise forced Walden Media, the studio, to shift its plans. It dropped the rights to the Narnia franchise, and in 2013, a new adaptation of The Silver Chair was announced, this time in the hands of The Mark Gordon Company.

While production on The Silver Chair looked initially promising after Captain America director Joe Johnston signed on to the project in 2017, development ultimately lagged. The cast expected to reprise their roles had aged out of their characters’ age ranges, requiring an entirely new cast to step in where the others had left off. For this reason, The Silver Chair was intended as a reboot of the Narnia franchise and would likely not have included any cast members from the original film series. Johnston’s adaptation never saw the light of day. In 2018, Netflix announced it would take over the Chronicles of Narnia franchise and develop films and television series based on the property. This development seemed to be the nail in the coffin for The Silver Chair film.

Why Did the ‘Narnia’ Movies Fail To Catch On?

Buena Vista Pictures

When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was released in theaters in 2005, the film was a major hit for Disney. It was the second-highest-grossing film at the domestic box office in 2005 with $291 million, even beating out the theatrical heavyweight Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Worldwide, it grossed an impressive $745 million. With a strong box office and six more books to adapt, it seemed Disney had found a new franchise that it could rely on for years to come. However, unlike Harry Potter or later franchises like Twilight and The Hunger Games, Disney did not quite strike while the iron was hot.

Instead of having a sequel ready for the following year, there was a three-year gap between the release of the first film and its sequel, 2008’s Prince Caspian. This extended gap between sequels, and the series’ move from a holiday release to a summer release date, where it faced fiercer competition from the likes of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man, meant that Prince Caspian struggled to find an audience. Prince Caspian grossed $141.6 million domestically and $419 million worldwide, a steep drop from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Because of the diminishing box office returns, Disney decided not to renew its option on the third entry, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 20th Century Fox picked up the franchise, which, ironically, would revert to Disney following its purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was released in theaters on Dec. 10, 2010, hoping that a return to the holiday season would yield better results than Prince Caspian. With $415 million worldwide, it was just $4 million below Prince Caspian. Yet the writing was on the wall: many audiences jumped ship from The Chronicles of Narnia series, and its time had passed.

It’s possible that the studios simply overestimated the Narnia property. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was a hit film because it was an adaptation of a beloved book that people read as children, but for many, it was the only entry in the franchise they knew. Unlike Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, or Twilight, much of the audience was unaware that this was only the first in an interconnected series of novels, ones that don’t share the same mainstream recognition as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

What was supposed to be a series to compete with Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings turned into a one-hit wonder and another in a long line of disappointing franchise starters for Disney that eventually led them to buy Marvel and Star Wars. Here is a full breakdown of the Chronicles of Narnia box office.

Greta Gerwig Takes on ‘Narnia’

Buena Vista Pictures 

In October 2018, one year after The Silver Chair fell through, and eight years after the release of the previous Narnia movie, news broke that Netflix had acquired the film rights to The Chronicles of Narnia. In 2019, Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich was attached as the architect for Netflix’s Narnia plans, which were set to include film and television series. The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly stalled all work on the Narnia franchise, but on July 3, 2023, just three weeks before Barbie opened, Greta Gerwig signed on to direct two Narnia movies.

Now the project is moving along. Gerwig is adapting The Magician’s Nephew, the first book in the franchise’s timeline that explores the origins and creation of Narnia. Titled Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, the cast includes Emma Mackey (Sex Education) as Jadis the White Witch, Carey Mulligan (An Education) as Mabel Kirke, and Denise Gough (Andor) and Daniel Craig (No Time to Die) in unknown roles. Child actors David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell are cast as the leads, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, respectively. Meryl Streep is rumored to be in discussion for the role of Aslan.

Filming for The Magician’s Nephew began on Aug. 11, 2025. While Netflix has been somewhat dismissive of theatrical releases, Gerwig seems to have convinced the streamer to allow a theatrical release window. Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be released theatrically on Nov. 26, 2026, exclusively in 1000 IMAX screens. The film will then be available to stream on Netflix starting Dec. 25, 2026. This will be 21 years after the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Maybe Gerwig can deliver the magic touch the franchise needs.

Stream The Chronicles of Narnia franchise on Disney+.

Release Date

December 9, 2005

Runtime

143 Minutes