Well, that was quick. The dust had barely settled on Disney's decision (announced at New York ComicCon, and reported here) to possibly end the Narnia franchise after three films, but then they decided no, not really. They take their cues from Aslan.

MTV Movie News cornered producer Mark Johnson, who revealed he has a list of directors for The Silver Chair, and is closely eying several names on it. (I appreciate that MTV was as shocked as everyone else by this.) Johnson went on to say that he envisions Narnia along Harry Potter lines, with a new director coming on for each installment. "I think [the director of Silver Chair] will be somebody new entirely," John said. "I would like to get somebody totally unexpected."

So, never say never. If they truly go in this direction, I would applaud them, as I think it could add some spice to a film series that hasn't really distinguished itself from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings -- and should have, because the books are pretty fabulous.

Remember that rumor that we reported on several weeks ago -- the one from Jim Hill that said Disney was considering abandoning The Chronicles of Narnia franchise for John Carter of Mars? The response was, well, harsh. No one felt it could possibly be true.

Well, it might be. FirstShowing.net was at the Prince Caspian panel at New York ComicCon, where producer Mark Johnson confirmed that Disney was planning to end the series as a trilogy with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. There are "no plans" at present to film the remaining books -- although there is the possibility that if Caspian and Dawn Treader do well, Disney will revive it. As of now, there's no confirmation that Disney plans to replace Narnia with John Carter -- but you have to imagine they'll certainly explore all options.

The news doesn't surprise me at all. I think Disney's enthusiasm for the beloved fantasy franchise was admirable, but not entirely well thought out. I stand by my original opinion that the books become darker, stranger and nigh unfilmable from this point on. I think A Horse and His Boy would make a spectacular standalone film, though, and an ideal place to revisit the series if Disney ever revived it. Well, at least I'm getting Dawn Treader. I can live just fine without ever revisiting The Last Battle, but give me Narnian adventure on the high seas!

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian comes to theatres May 16th, 2008.