Next Narnia Is The Magician's Nephew

The Chronicles of Narnia came back on a high last November with Voyage of the Dawn Treader (4.5/5), so it's no surprise that producer Michael Flaherty has today confirmed that another book from the seven-part series will be adapted onto the big screen. What has come a little unexpected, though, is that the next film will not follow the chronological order of the Narnia timeline and move onto The Silver Chair, but instead return to the origins of the series and look at the prequel novel The Magician's Nephew. Taking place half a century before the events of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (the most famous of C.S Lewis' fantasy series and the first to be released as a film), the book focuses on two children called Polly Plummer and Digory Kirke, showing how the land of Narnia was created by the lion Aslan and how seeds of darkness began to emerge with the treachery of the White Witch Jadis. How 20th Century Fox hopes to promote a film that takes place so long before the movies kids grew up with and focusing on completely new characters (perhaps have Lucy and Edward voicing over, telling a story they were taught in their monarchy? It could be named Narnia Origins: Digory! Maybe not...), but Flaherty also said he's aiming for a Christmas release in 2013 or '14; that might be a tad risky when Avatar 2 and 3 and the final part of The Hobbit are set for those festive seasons, yet given the quality of Voyage I'm sure the flick could hold its own!