why did they stop making narnia movies

Why didn’t they make more Narnia movies?

If you keep wondering why did they stop making Narnia movies you will find the answer here, we will be discussing about the movie adaptations and we will reveal to you the sad reason that caused the producers to cancel The Chronicles of Narnia 4.

Thimovie adaptation was produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures (except for the last film), but of the seven books of this series, only three of them were adapted into movies. why didn’t they make more Narnia movies? let’s find out!

Why did the Narnia movies stop being filmed, when there were more books to adapt?

The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic of children’s literature. And only the first three volumes in the series had a movie adaptation. Therefore, if you want to know how this story ends you will have to read the books. So here you have them all:

Or, if you want to know more, here you have this post where you will find all Narnia books in order and lots of interesting info about this series.

These books have sold over 100 million copies and have been translated into 46 languages. Having so many fans all around the world it is hard to believe that the Narnia movies were cancelled, don’t you think?

Why was narnia cancelled?

One might think that given that only three out of the seven Narnia books were adapted into movies maybe their box office was not good, and therefore they were not profitable. Was it that so? Let’s see how each of the Narnia movies grossed:

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). Directed by: Andrew Adamson.  Budget: $180 million. Worldwide box office gross: $745 million.
  • Prince Caspian ( 2008)  . Directed by: Andrew Adamson. Budget: $225 million. Worldwide Box office gross: $419 million.
  • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). Directed by:  Michael Apted . Budget: $155 million. Worldwide box office gross: $415 million.

As you can see, the movies did more than quite well on cinemas. The third Narnia movie, despite the fact that it didn`t perform as well as the previous ones, was more than profitable. So their grossing doesn’t seem to explain why Narnia failed as a movie franchise.

Were the bad reviews the reason they stopped filming Narnia movies?

As you see, The Chronicles of Narnia movies did more than well at the theatres. Maybe it was because of the critical and public response? Word mouth is really important in this kind of movies, so let’s take a look:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Rotten Tomatoes: 76% Metacritic: 75.

Prince Caspian: Rotten Tomatoes: 66% Metacritic: 62.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Rotten Tomatoes: 49% Metacritic: 53

The scores are pretty good, even the last movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, has a somehow decent score. If it was neither a matter of grossing or public response how come the next installment, The Silver Chair, had never a movie adaptation?

Disney’s decision to dump the Narnia films

While The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and its first sequel were co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, this wasn’t the case for third movie. Disney decided not to coproduce the third movie in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, this lose of interest was never fully explained, but Disney said it was due to budgetary and logistical reasons.

Why did Walt Disney decide not to finance The Voyage of the Dawn Treader?

Aslan furious after finding out why they didn’t make more Narnia movies

This is just an assumption, but it may be a financial decision: just notice how the numbers of Prince Caspian are not so far from the box office gross achieved by the first movie. Specifically, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe grossed $291,710,957 in North America while  Prince Caspian grossed $141,621,490. Similarly, worldwide office gross of the prequel is way lower than the first one.

So maybe Disney had just seen this box office decrease as a warning, and decided not to coproduce the second prequel. Were they right? Well, it is true that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader grossed $104 million in North America, but given that the worldwide box office gross worldwide was $415 million, the figures are only four million below its predecessor movie.

But if Warner coproduced the third movie why did they stop releasing Narnia movies?

In 2011, Walden Media’s contract of the series’ film rights expired in 2011. In 2013, The Mark Gordon Company acquired these rights and entered into an agreement with the C. S. Lewis Company to produce an adaptation of the next installment, The Silver Chair. It was not until 2017 when it was announced that Joe Johnston would be the director.

However, in October 2018, a different announcement was made: Netflix and the C. S. Lewis Company had made a multi-year agreement to develop a new series of film and TV adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia. As a result, Narnia movies would not continue, The Silver Chair film has apparently been canceled instead having a tv adaptation.

So this is the sad story of why the Narnia movies were canceled, did you expect such an outcome? Don’t forget to comment!

If you liked this post, you will surely will like this post about why did they stop making Percy Jackson movies.

You can always read the books,

Discover more on Wottaread.

18 Comments on "Why didn’t they make more Narnia movies?"

  • Still disappointed that they didn’t continue the movies.

  • The Chronicles of Narnia is a long favorite collection that continues to be a strong part of English Lit classes in H.S. and Colleges, and shared reading in grade school. I was so excited to hear someone was finally going to put all chronicles into movies. When I discovered Disney was going to be involved I cringed. Don’t get me wrong, I live Disney, but this was not the right story content for them…they would take its information and viere away from the authors words to make it softer. The script writers, producers, directors, costumes, tech individuals the did “Lord of the Rings”, “Pirates of the Caribbean, or even “Harry Potter” would have done a better job. Persomally, “Lord of the Rings” individual would have truly brought C.S. Lewis’ story to unimaginable life and did everything to keep the script accurate to the story. I’m sorry, Disney failed miserably. I have seen it multiple times and I shutter at how they drifted from books.

  • What fools to stop producing these fantastic stories when they are rehashing everything we have already seen. I loved LTW so much. I was into the soundtrack – and I am an adult of 36 without children – I couldnt afford the cinema but the film attracted to an online streeming service.

    I suppose movie makers never know how much we need these deeply uplifting films whilst they are making them. How great it would have been to be able to go and see a Narnia film with all the family after the pandemic.

    I wish they stopped making decisions based upon the $$$$$ signs – they spend millions analysing us so they can predict our spending habbits but they didnt predict a pandemic.

    We all need escapism right now, and we are closer to family than ever. We miss going out so when are free will so willing to see uplifthing, intelligent, positive and classic films that unite the family – young and old.

    p.s
    Dont cast the guy who played Dorian Grey in the film of its name – EVER as anything but an antagonist. I couldn’t get behind him as Prince Caspian. And you changed Narnia too much too quickly. We need escape – this is one rough time in history and this is what movies are for.

  • It really sucks that they cancelled the movie productions of the Narnia books!! Love the first 3 movies!

  • Your right, the original Disney overlords would’ve continued this great saga.
    Today they’re just pandering to a not so healthy ideal of the population. And yes it’s the $$$$$ also and of course.
    Too bad. Should’ve been handed over to the crews of lord of the rings or Harry Potter, at least they would’ve probably create in film the whole series.

  • Please reconsider making the silver chair and the last battle I am sure the public will be delighted to be able to watch the films

  • Please reconsider the decision on making the film the silver chair. I’m sure people will be delighted to be able to watch it.

  • C.S Lewis was a prolific author and devout Christian whose works, though not entirely Biblical scripture based were and still are highly motivational and encouraging. The fact they were cancelled despite their success is not surprising as any media even loosely labeled as “Christian” is doomed by Disney’s (and most others) counterculture embrace and fear of ridicule by secular media. That said, the books stand alone as timeless classics and hopefully someone like the Kendrick Brothers will translate the remaining ones into cinema.
    The message is timeless, the lessons learned, crucial…RR

  • To be completely honest I think the Chronicles of Narnia was one of the greatest movie / book series so how do you explain why they kept the lord of the rings or the pirates of the Caribbean franchises going in my personal opinion they are utterly retarded of how many people actually watched it maybe someone who is smarter will pick it back up where they left of

  • I loved all three movies and feel it is a great shame not to make the remaining books from the series. So many poor films are made today without the background of a classic story to base them on. A real missed opportunity. Let’s hope someone continues.

  • Can always read the books?? What is that?

    Why would i read when i could watch, the movies are far better than a book.

    Shame really … rather have had more narnia, percy jackson AND eragon THAN stupid harry potter and twilight saga.

  • I was sooo pleased the books were being made into films as have read them all. I have enjoyed the books and loved all 3 films( the first being my favourite). However I am extremely disappointed that the rest of the books have been cancelled. Very poor decision and not on our behalf! When Disney are involved I do wince…as they have a behind the scenes reputation which is not complimentary.. and I suppose the dollar signs were not high enough after the 3rd film…
    They really do under estimate the the other avenues of viewing eg video/online purchasing which can gain a wider audience!!
    If Netflix do plan on filming all the books please don’t put us through re filming what is not broken but continue where the last ended with the 4th film. We have waited long enough.

  • I hope they change their minds on the Chronicles of Narnia movies. They are fantastic! I watch them over and over again.

  • Where is the TV series? I prefer them to movies anyway.

  • The Chronicles of Narnia has been almost as successful as the J RR Tolkien novels of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Why the later has been completed and CS Lewis work have not? I hate conspiracy theories but I would adventure to say it’s been the same reason why another English classic more successful than Tolkien or Lewis, The Pilgrim Progress, hasn’t been made into a movie either. Why? Because it’s sublime Christian messages and how it may offend today’s society. It’s amazing how hard Hollywood is pushing the LGBT+ diversity agenda when only about 20% of US population would define as part of that community; yet almost every picture nowadays has a LGBT+ character. At the same time, they work so hard to exclude religious (mostly christian) remarks, characters and stories of the movie theaters and video streaming platforms. Why Disney discontinue the stories of Narnia? Because they were simply: “too christian” for its audience. Unfortunately, diminishing success of the story, confirm they were right! Is sad the church and the huge christian community in the US, didn’t lobbied to reverse this decision

  • This is truly disappointing! Love the entire series of books by CS Lewis! I hope someone decides how wonderful these stories are and decides to finish producing the rest of them.

  • I love the C.S Lewis novels Chronicles of Narnia!! I was and still confused that the movie’s weren’t completed, the best was still to come!! Why tease us with the first three and then Not to Complete Them?? So I guess I’m grateful for the first three but always hoping for the rest!!

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