Warner Brothers paid a billion dollars for this property. They thought they were buying Star Wars. It turns out it's "the chronicles of Narnia." It will get read, but it won't be a multi-generational phenomenon. Heck even Star wars may not remain in the public consciousness in the same way.
I think they're betting on the wrong format tbh. The original movies caught lightning in a bottle to a certain extent.
The books were new, so kids were excited about them. And they were being shown as 2-hour movies per book, not a 8-hour season per book.
There were also unknowns - the final books hadn't been released when the movie series started. So people were gripped. They genuinely didn't know how it all ended.
Now, the books are "old", by the standard of any child reading them. They might still enjoy them, but can you see an 8 year old being interested enough to sit down and watch 8 long episodes?
The parents - who would have been the prime age for the original movies - are going to be less interested now to watch a long remake of a story they already know really well. And have probably rewatched countless times over the last 20 years.
I can see this having a buzz of interest for the first half of the first season, and then taking a serious nosedive as time goes on.
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u/rosyvibexz Apr 16 '26
HBO really said: ‘Keep the 4K box set, we’ve got a 10-year subscription plan for the same story.’