Greta Gerwig To Write and Direct At Least Two ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ Movies for Netflix
It’s been five years since Netflix and the CS Lewis Company announced a multi-year deal to bring the Chronicles of Narnia book series into a live-action adaptation at the streamer, and we’ve seen little movement on it. However, with Barbie now less than three weeks away, the project may see some movement, since Greta Gerwig apparently has a deal to write and direct two feature adaptations.
There had been rumors a few months back about Gerwig possibly taking on Narnia next for Netflix, but now, in a massive interview with The New Yorker, it’s been confirmed that she signed a deal to write and direct “at least two films based on C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia” with the platform. No additional details were provided, but we have to assume that at least one of those will be the first movie Netflix makes, as they will be looking into coming out with a bang.
The original announcement said that Netflix was planning to adapt all seven novels, so we could make an educated guess that Gerwig’s next project will be The Magician’s Nephew, though it’s always possible they decide to shake things up and start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as the film adaptations did. This is probably the most recognizable of all seven titles, too, so they could use it as an announcement of their future plans.
There is, of course, the question about potential follow-ups to Barbie. In that same interview with The New Yorker, Gerwig said that was it for her and movies about toys, but both Margot Robbie and Mattel head Ynon Kreiz confirmed in TIME Magazine’s cover story on the film that there have been conversations about sequels, though nothing is set yet. The film is currently targeting a $80-100M opening in the US market, and it could have long legs into the summer season. If the film is deemed a success for Warner Bros., they would definitely want Gerwig back.
At the same time, with Netflix having acquired the rights five years ago, Gerwig should probably be contractually obligated to start working on that next. More details will surely surface as the marketing push for Barbie gets through the finish line.
The film is set for release on July 21.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
