16 Years Later, Netflix’s Biggest Fantasy Reboot Is Making One Big Mistake

The post-Game of Thrones fantasy boom is still alive and well, and Netflix is still looking for its definitive entry into the genre. The streamer has a major project on the way with nearly all the ingredients for success — The Chronicles of Narnia. However, Netflix is making one fundamental error here that could spell doom for the adaptation: it’s making movies, not TV. By now, we’ve seen how well fantasy books translate into prestige dramas, with many fans arguing that the medium suits novel adaptations better than movies ever did. That’s especially true for The Chronicles of Narnia, but Netflix is still pushing the series towards the big screen.

The Chronicles of Narnia may be the most esteemed intellectual property Netflix has ever gotten its hands on. Unlike the studio that produced the film adaptations from 2005 to 2010, Netflix has the rights to all seven books. The original novels were written by C.S. Lewis, a colleague and friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, and published between 1950 and 1956. While these books may not have a lot in common with the likes of The Witcher, Shadow & Bone, or Game of Thrones, it’s safe to say we wouldn’t have any of those series without them. Still, Netflix has chosen to bend these books into movies rather than letting them unfold as a TV series.

‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ Are Episodic

The biggest fantasy hits on screen have followed an overarching central plot — whether they were movies or TV shows. The Narnia books are not like that — each one is fairly self-contained, with no cliffhangers unresolved between them. There are references between volumes that bring the world to life, but very little tangible continuity that needs to carry through. With that in mind, it would make sense to give each book eight or 10 episodes to introduce its new characters, catch fans up on the changes to the setting, and tell its story.

Instead, each book will get three hours or less on the big screen under Netflix’s current plan. It will be hard to re-establish everything from scratch in each new installment, especially when years or even centuries can pass in Narnia between books. It would be hard enough to make the seasons of a TV series feel connected that way, but with movies, the challenge will be exacerbated.

Movies will also leave less time for the kind of worldbuilding that keeps fans engaged with this series. That includes the history and culture of Narnia itself, as well as the obscure connections between characters. The Narnia books are not nearly as long as some of the other fantasy novels being adapted these days, but they will still need to be abbreviated if they’re going to fit into a single movie each.

Netflix’s ‘Narnia’ is Ignoring Other Success Stories

Image via Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett Collection

By adapting The Chronicles of Narnia into movies instead of a TV series, Netflix is retreading familiar territory for any fans over 16 years old. We already saw the first three installments of this series on the big screen in 2005, 2008, and 2010, with relatively minor gripes from fans. It’s true that this time around, writer-director Greta Gerwig is adapting the series chronologically, beginning with The Magician’s Nephew. Still, this franchise has been on the big screen before, and it could have used a fresh start in a new medium.

On top of that, the compatibility of novels and TV adaptations has been proven time and time again in the last decade or so. The best comparison for Narnia seems to be Apple TV’s Foundation, which faced similar problems including a massive timeline and few characters that appeared consistently throughout the entire story. Foundation not only worked around these issues, it is thriving on TV, setting the standard for adaptations of its kind.

Netflix is far from a failure in Hollywood, of course, but in this specific niche of fantasy novel adaptations, it has not found the big hit that every streamer has been looking for since Game of Thrones. The studio saw some success with both The Witcher and Shadow & Bone, but neither project made it all the way to the end. To see Netflix get another chance with one of the most iconic fantasy stories ever written, only to choose the wrong medium for it altogether, is disappointing to say the least.

Hopefully, Netflix and Gerwig’s movies are so great that they turn this article into an embarrassment. The first installment, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, is scheduled to hit theaters on February 17, 2027. Lewis’ novels are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.

Release Date

February 12, 2027

Cast

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  Carey Mulligan

  Mabel Kirke

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  David McKenna

  Digory Kirke