Netflix is Making TV Shows and Movies on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
By Tess Farrand, Staff Writer
“This is the land of Narnia,’ said the Faun, ‘where we are now; all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea.” – Mr. Tumnus, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Just yesterday, news broke that C.S. Lewis’ beloved series, The Chronicles of Narnia will soon be home to Netflix. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the streaming service will fashion a TV series as well as movies based on the beloved stories, giving Netflix multiple Narnia projects. “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,” said chief content officer of Netflix Ted Sarandos.
When Disney released LION WITCH AND THE WARBRODE in 2005, they continued with PRINCE CASPIAN and VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER movies, but they didn’t make the four other movies based on Lewis’s remaining books in the series like The Silver Chair or The Magician’s Nephew. As of now, no news is out if Netflix will include storylines from all seven of Lewis’ Narnia books.
Like Netflix, Amazon is also utilizing fantasy classics, developing a Lord Of The Rings series that will last for five seasons and will cost $1 billion to make. Perhaps it’s appropriate that these literary classics are coming out around the same time. In the 1940’s, Lewis and Lord of The Rings author, JRR Tolkien were real-life friends and Christians. Oftentimes the two men would sit in a pub in England to discuss mythology and theology. In fact, Lewis encouraged Tolkien to write Lord of The Rings. “He was for long my only audience. Only from him did I ever get the idea that my ‘stuff’ could be more than a private hobby,” Tolkien said.
The Chronicles of Narnia is an allegory of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation which many characters serving as mirrored characters from scripture. Most notable perhaps is the character of Aslan who represents Jesus throughout the seven books. Christians who’ve seen movie and TV renditions of Narnia see Christian imagery all over the place. The Disney version grossed over $1 billion internationally, and non-believing audiences also enjoy the adventures of Narnia.
Lewis’ genius is due in part to the fact that he fashioned the biblical narrative in a manner where people would be attracted to the truth. Lewis is quoted saying, “ Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first, there wasn’t anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord.”
In recent months, Netflix has released a variety of inappropriate and blasphemous shows that mock Christianity. Please pray that this new development would help to change Netflix’s tune and honor C.S. Lewis’ work.
For interesting and important insights into The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the entire Chronicles of Narnia series as well as C.S. Lewis, read NARNIA BECKONS by Dr. Ted Baehr. Dr. Baehr was the President of the Ministry that produced The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for CBS Television in 1979 and 1980. That TV production had 37 million viewers and won a prime time Emmy Award.
For more updates on this, keep checking back Movieguide®.
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