Netflix wants Greta Gerwig to direct Chronicles of Narnia movies

Back in 2018, a million years ago, we heard that Netflix was planning to adapt C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series. This was back when everyone was trying to snap up high fantasy properties in the wake of the huge success of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Since then, Warner Bros. Discovery has debuted House of the Dragon, Amazon Prime Video has premiered The Rings of Power, and Disney+ has a new Willow show on tap. Even Netflix has The Witcher, but we’ve heard next to nothing about this Narnia project.

Well, that could be changing. Netflix’s plan with Narnia was to go from zero to cinematic universe; it hired Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich to build out a network of shows and movie set in the world beyond the wardrobe. It may have taken a while to get things off the ground, but What’s On Netflix now reports that it’s closing in on Greta Gerwig to direct two Narnia movies.

Gerwig is a red-hot talent in Hollywood right now. She’s behind movies like Lady Bird and Little Women, she’s directing the high-profile Barbie movie coming next year, and she’s signed up to direct Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White.

Barbie director tapped to helm The Chronicles of Narnia movies

We don’t know any details about these Narnia movies. Does Netflix just want to adapt Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books from front to back, starting with The Magician’s Nephew and running all the way through The Last Battle? (There are seven Narnia books in all; The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is far and away the most famous, although it’s the second one in the chronology.) Or maybe Gerwig is doing some kind of spinoff or prequel?

Disney and Fox tried to adapt The Chronicles of Narnia as a series of movies back in the 2000s in the wake of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was the last time Hollywood went through a high fantasy craze. Those movies did alright and then just kind of…petered out. Perhaps Netflix will have more luck.

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