A fourth installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series has taken an important step forward.
Narnia fansite NarniaWeb (Not NarniaNet? Anyway…) points out that Life of Pi and Finding Neverland screenwriter David McGee recently tweeted that he’s finished the screenplay for The Silver Chair, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia series:
“Completed the final draft of The Silver Chair today,” he wrote on Twitter. “I’ve had the immense pleasure to work on the project for over a year now. So fulfilling.”
We first learned that McGee was penning the screenplay back in December 2013 after The C.S. Lewis Company announced that they were teaming up with producer Mark Gordon’s production company to make it happen. Walden Media was the previous owner of the film rights, but they left the franchise after the contract ran out with Lewis’ estate expired.
“I have a great deal of respect for Mark Gordon’s work and am confident that together we can bring the beauty and magical delight that Narnia engenders in the hearts of those who read the books to the screen in The Silver Chair,” said C.S Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham after their new deal with Gordon’s company was announced a year and a half ago. “I am very much looking forward to diving once more into Narnia, this time with Mark Gordon and his team.”
The Chronicles of Narnia film series opened movies in 2005, 2008, and most recently in 2010 with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader starring Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley. The Silver Chair book was released by C.S. Lewis in 1953.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Chronicles of Narnia movie, but maybe this long gap between Narnia films, coupled with a new production company at the helm, will help the series move forward successfully.
Now that a screenplay is complete, expect a director and a distributor to come on board after the script gets touched up.