Netflix is working on rolling out a Chronicles of Narnia show and films for a new generation, according to Polygon .
The streaming company was revealed to be involved with C.S. Lewis’ classic story via a press release on the official Chronicles of Narnia Facebook page .
“Under the terms of a multi-year deal between Netflix and The C.S. Lewis Company, Netflix will develop classic stories from across the Narnia universe into series and films for its members worldwide,” the release reads.
“C.S. Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia stories have resonated with generations of readers around the world,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “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.”
The massively popular seven-part book series following the lives of several children in the mythical, magical land of Narnia has been explored on the big screen before.
The book, originally published in 1950 and concluding in 1956, made its silver screen debut in 2005 with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe .
Two sequels followed with 2008’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and 2010’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader .
It’s official: @netflix has teamed up with the C.S. Lewis company to release series and films based on the Chronicles of Narnia ?
(via Chronicles of Narnia | Facebook) pic.twitter.com/gD7Hkh0HFE
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) October 3, 2018
“Narnia is one of those rare properties that spans multiple generations and geographies,” said Mark Gordon, eOne’s president and chief content officer, film & television. “eOne and I are excited to be collaborating with The C.S. Lewis Company and Netflix who have the capacity to translate the Narnia universe into both stellar feature-length and episodic programming. We cannot wait to get started on the multiple productions we hope to undertake.”
Fans of the series immediately took to social media once the announcement was made and expressed their concerns about the Christian book series’ religious themes being watered down.
“I do not trust Netflix to do justice for the series! They will be trying to take God out of it like other companies have [for other] Christian movies,” wrote one commenter on the official Narnia Facebook page .
The move comes as no surprise to astute TV viewers.
Several companies have started production on their own high fantasy series, like Amazon announcing plans to produce a prequel series to the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings series, with HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones going into its final season next year.
Someone needs to fill the niche being left in Game of Thrones ‘ absence. Why couldn’t Narnia scratch that itch?
