When the Chronicles of Narnia first started hitting theaters in the mid-2000s, it was seen as the more kid-friendly Lord of the Rings. Obviously, the books were huge hits in their own right, but the approach Disney seemed to be taking the film had a huge emphasis on the battle scenes, giving it a real high fantasy aesthetic that was popular at the time. However, over the course of two films, enthusiasm petered out. Disney dropped Narnia, and soon after, Fox picked it up, producing the third film in the franchise, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The film didn’t do horrible, but in true Narnia fashion, it seemed to underwhelm at the box office, only taking in $415 million worldwide. Again, not a huge failure by any means, and when all said and done, it likely made some money by the time it got around to Blu-ray and digital sales, but it wasn’t really breaking the box office by any means, and the general consensus seemed to be that the films were trending downward in performance.

In short, following Dawn Treader, there didn’t seem to be much demand for another film. That’s never stopped Hollywood.

According to a report from Variety, TriStar Pictures, the Mark Gordon Company, the C.S. Lewis Company, and Entertainment One are teaming up to bring The Silver Chair to the big screen. On board to direct the new Chronicles of Narnia project is Captain America: The First Avengers director Joe Johnston.

One thing the studio does have to worry about is maintaining continuity with the previous films. Sadly, given that it’s been seven years since the last film, there’s little chance that Will Poulter will be reprising his role as Eustace Scrubb. In fact, if they hope to continue the story, past The Silver Chair, they’ll have to go through substantial recasting at some point, but that’s neither here no there. As with every Narnia film, they’re playing this on a film-by-film basis.

Is there an actual hunger for this film out there? That remains the big question. How can they hope to repackage this franchise in a way that ensures a more sizable box office offering? We’ll have to wait and see.

Will you be seeing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair when it hits theaters? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Variety