A fourth Narnia episode is in the works after The Mark Gordon Company secured rights from the C.S. Lewis Company to jointly develop and produce The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Silver Chair.

The fourth instalment in the fantasy series comes after the first three film versions grossed more than $1.5m worldwide. Walden Media held rights to the first three films and collaborated with worldwide distributor Disney on the first two, 2005’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and 2008’s Prince Caspian, while Fox took up distributon reins on the third entry, 2010’s The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.

Box office returns for the films have diminished over the years. The first film grossed $291.7m in North America and $453.3m internationally for $745.3m worldwide; the second grossed $141.6m in North America and $278m internationally for $419.7m worldwide; and the final entry mustered $104.4m in North American, $31.3m internationally and $415.7m worldwide.

Mark Gordon and Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham will produce with Vincent Sieber, the LA-based director of The C.S. Lewis Company and the partners will develop the screenplay. Michele Wolkoff and Sara Smith will oversee for The Mark Gordon Company.

“Like many readers, both young and old, I am a huge fan of C.S. Lewis’s beautiful and allegorical world of Narnia,” said Gordon (pictured). “These fantasy stories inspire real-world passion among millions of devoted fans around the world. As we prepare to bring the next book to life, we are humbled and excited to contribute to the outstanding legacy of Narnia.”

“I have a great deal of respect for Mark Gordon’s work and am confident that together we can bring the beauty and magical delight that Narnia engenders in the hearts of those who read the books to the screen in The Silver Chair,” said Gresham.

“We are very excited by this partnership and to be able to work on this movie from its earliest conception on such a collaborative basis,” said Sieber. “It gives us the opportunity to develop a script and then produce a film with some of the most talented industry professionals whilst remaining completely faithful to this much loved book.”