'Narnia' fans to get another C.S. Lewis movie with big changes, producer says

LOS ANGELES (Christian Examiner) – Fans of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" world are going to get another movie with some big changes, film producer Mark Gordon says.

It's all going to be a brand new franchise. All original. All original characters, different directors, and an entire new team that this is coming from.

It already was known that the next film would be "Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair" and that Gordon would produce it, but the veteran filmmaker gave more insight during a brief interview with Collider.com at an unrelated event in January.

"We're hoping to be able to make the movie very shortly," Gordon said. "We're very excited about it."

Asked if any of the cast members from the first three films would appear in "The Silver Chair," Gordon said no.

"It's all going to be a brand new franchise," Gordon said. "All original. All original characters, different directors, and an entire new team that this is coming from."

The first film in the series, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," was a big success and grossed more than $745 million worldwide in 2005, although the most recent two movies – "Prince Caspian" (2008) and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (2010) – made considerably less with more than $400 million each. Still, that was more than enough to recoup their budgets. ("Prince Caspian cost $225 million to make, "Dawn Treader" $155 million.)

Gordon's words were not an official update, and the fan website NarniaWeb.com urged "caution" in "picking Gordon's words apart."

"'Brand new franchise' might seem to suggest abandoning any continuity with the previous Narnia films," a story on NarniaWeb.som read. "But, keep in mind that these quotes seem to have been given in casual conversation, not an official interview."

Lewis' stories are full of Christian allegory and themes.