Whether you grew up wandering around in wardrobes or were introduced to the fantasy world much later in life, there’s no denying that C.S. Lewis‘ <em>The Chronicles of Narnia</em> has been quite influential to many readers and authors alike. The seven-book series was penned by the scholar and theologian and published between 1950 and 1956, beginning with perhaps the most famous of the novels, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Although Lewis originally wrote the series out of order, there is still a chronology involved.
In the late 1960s, Narnia was first adapted as a 10-part television serial. An animated film followed, and later the BBC made its own multi-season adaptation covering the first four books in the publication order. Eventually, a trilogy of Hollywood blockbusters was made, but even so, most of these have only brought a select few of Lewis’ larger Narnian stories to life. As Netflix is currently working on its own adaptations, here is the entire book series ranked by which books we would like to see brought to the screen.
7
‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’
There is no better place to start when it comes to The Chronicles of Narnia than with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The way Lucy Pevensie first describes her adventure into the wintry wonderland that is Narnia ought to be the reader’s first journey to this world as well. Nevertheless, the truth about Lewis’ 20th-century fairy tale is that we’ve seen it before. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been brought to life on screen several times already, with the most recent film version having hit theaters back in 2005.
While it’s certainly a pivotal chapter in Narnian history (in some ways, perhaps the most pivotal), if we’re going to venture back into Narnia, then it ought not to be to re-tread material that’s been done so masterfully before. Whether you prefer the BBC version or Andrew Adamson‘s Walden Media picture (this author’s favorite), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a story that has already been told.
6
‘Prince Caspian’
Lewis’ first return to Narnia, Prince Caspian, is another chapter of the larger story that has already been adapted before. The first time was in the second season of BBC’s The Chronicles of Narnia series, with the second being the sequel to Andrew Adamson’s aforementioned The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film. As the Pevensies return to Narnia a thousand years after they left, they find that the world is different than they remembered, and they help establish a new ruler in the titular prince.
Prince Caspian is arguably the least thrilling of the seven-book series, with Walden Media’s film adding additional material to keep things engaging for modern audiences. While we would absolutely love to see a proper adaptation of Prince Caspian, right now it’s a bit low on our list. Perhaps next time this book is brought to screen, it will be closer to Lewis’ original story — though much of it consists of characters recounting their parts of an adventure.
5
‘The Last Battle’
While“The Last Battle”would be an incredible film that is certainly worth building towards adapting it outright would not have…
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