‘Little Women’ director confirmed for two ‘Narnia’ movies at Netflix
We’ve finally got some solid news on Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia adaptations.
The streaming service first revealed its plans to adapt British author C.S. Lewis‘s classic novels five years ago.
Since then, development on the project seemed to have gone rather quiet, but it looks like Netflix has now found its director!
Seven stories in the children’s fantasy series were originally published between 1950 and 1956.
The Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies, with numerous previous screen adaptations made, but the final three stories – The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, and The Last Battle – have never been adapted for TV or film before!
Most recently, we had movies a trio of movies from Walden Media, with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005, Prince Caspian in 2008, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.
An adaptation of The Silver Chair was set to follow in 2013, but the film never made it into production.
Very excitingly, Netflix’s “multi-year deal” is the first time that the rights to the entire book series have been held by the same company.
“Narnia is one of those rare properties that spans multiple generations and geographies,” said Mark Gordon, eOne’s President and Chief Content Officer, Film & Television in 2018. “We cannot wait to get started on the multiple productions we hope to undertake.”
The plan is to bring all seven stories to life as “stellar feature-length and episodic programming” with a combination of TV series and movies.
It has been discussed earlier this year that American director Greta Gerwig was in negotiations to board the project.
Well, it looks like the rumours were true!
In a new interview with Oscar-nominated filmmaker, The New Yorker has confirmed that “she has a deal with Netflix to write and direct at least two films based on C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.”
Gerwig’s biggest success so far is her Little Women movie in 2019, with the adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel picking up six Academy Award nominations.
Her debut film Lady Bird was also nominated for Best Picture at 2018’s Oscars.
She’s also reportedly contributed to the screenplay for Disney’s new live-action version of Snow White, which is set for release next year.
Next up for Greta Gerwig is the upcoming Barbie movie, which looks set to be her biggest hit to date!
With a starry line-up of British talent among its cast – including Emma Mackey (Emily), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary), Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who), Connor Swindells (SAS Rogue Heroes), and Dame Helen Mirren (The Queen) – the film arrives in cinemas later this month.
Watch the Barbie trailer here:
Hopefully Gerwig can combine the wholesome warmth of her Little Women film with the magical energy of Barbie.
There’s no official confirmation yet on which two Narnia movies she’ll be directing.
However, our bet would be on new adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.
The first of these films looks likely to premiere on Netflix in 2024 or 2025.
The complete collection of Narnia books is available on Amazon.