The Chronicles of Narnia series reboot has moved forward in a big way with Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston boarding Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. Disney and Fox previously brought three installments of the C.S. Lewis fantasy classic to life in the middle of the 2000s, but the franchise met its end after Voyage of the Dawn Treader continued a downward trend for the franchise. However, with the long history of the book series, studios have been eager to move forward with another crack at bringing it to life.
Sony is currently the studio moving forward with plans to bring Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair to the big screen. Now, the film has taken another big step forward with the project officially landing a director.
Variety is reporting that Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston will be helming the fourth Narnia film, which will ultimately serve as a reboot of the franchise. Unlike the previous films that followed the story of the Pevensie children, The Silver Chair will follow the story of their cousin Eustace Scrubb (previously played by Will Poulter). Producer Marc Gordon had this to say on Johnston’s addition.
Johnston is no stranger to joining big franchises, starting them, or dealing with wilder concepts. Outside of Captain America, he is also the man who directed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, Jumanji, and Jurassic Park III. Each of these brought with them their own sets of challenges and expectations, yet Johnston was still able to deliver in most instances. It is thanks to this experience that he could prove to be a great choice to help revitalize this franchise.
Joe is a wonderful storyteller who is equally at home in the biggest franchises and the most intimate character pieces. Because C.S. Lewis’ story is iconic and epic but also tender, personal, and emotional, he’s the perfect choice to bring ‘The Silver Chair’ to the screen.
Prior to Johnston joining the project, David Magee (Life of Pi) had completed a draft of the script. It appears that as of this stage in development, his script is still being used, but with Johnston now onboard, The Silver Chair could undergo another rewrite in the future to include the elements Johnston wants to bring to the table. Once the script is finalized or close to it, Johnston and Sony should be able to move into the casting process. That may be some ways off based on how slowly the project is developing overall, but at least it is moving forward.
Source: Variety
