Greta Gerwig will be helming the new “Chronicles of Narnia” adaptations for Netflix.
The “Barbie” writer-director officially has “at least” a two-picture deal for bringing the beloved novels to life again, this time at the streamer. Four years after Netflix announced a multi-year partnership with The C.S. Lewis Company, The New Yorker confirmed rumors that had circulated for some months that three-time Oscar nominee Gerwig will be attached to direct the “Narnia” films.
The news was shared in a wide-ranging interview with Mattel executives and Gerwig’s team for The New Yorker centered on “Barbie” and the ever-expanding search to find more IP to adapt.
“Greta and I have been very consciously constructing a career,” Gerwig’s UTA agent Jeremy Barber told the publication. “Her ambition is to be not the biggest woman director but a big studio director. And Barbie was a piece of I.P. that was resonant to her.”
Gerwig added of her upcoming “Barbie” film that she most likely will not make a feature again about a toy.
“It would have to be something that has some strange hook in me, that feels like it goes to the marrow,” she said. “I don’t know if there’s a doll that anyone is as mad at.”
Gerwig most recently appeared in Noah Baumbach’s Netflix film “White Noise” and wrapped production on “Barbie,” which she directed and co-wrote with Baumbach. Gerwig’s previous literary adaptation “Little Women” was Oscar-nominated. She is additionally a co-writer on Disney’s live-action “Snow White” movie starring “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler.
“The Chronicles of Narnia” was brought to the big screen for a film trilogy spanning from 2005 to 2010. The first film, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” grossed over $745 million worldwide. The fantasy film, based on Lewis’ 1950 novel of the same name, starred Liam Neeson (voicing the lion Aslan), Tilda Swinton, and James McAvoy.
The 2018 Netflix deal is the first time a single company has obtained the rights to all seven “Narnia” books. eOne’s Mark Gordan, Douglas Gresham, and Vincent Sieber are set to serve as executive producers on all upcoming films and TV series based on the novels.
“Narnia is one of those rare properties that spans multiple generations and geographies,” Gordon said in a 2018 press statement, via Deadline. “We cannot wait to get started on the multiple productions we hope to undertake.”
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos added, “C.S. Lewis’ beloved ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ stories have resonated with generations of readers around the world. Families have fallen in love with characters like Aslan and the entire world of Narnia, and we’re thrilled to be their home for years to come.”
Author Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham said, “It is wonderful to know that folks from all over are looking forward to seeing more of Narnia, and that the advances in production and distribution technology have made it possible for us to make Narnian adventures come to life all over the world. Netflix seems to be the very best medium with which to achieve this aim, and I am looking forward to working with them towards this goal.”
IndieWire has reached out to reps for Gerwig and Netflix for comment.
