Is Charli XCX about to step through the wardrobe into Narnia? According to Deadline, the British singer is in talks to star in the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia, and is among top choices to have a key role.
Directed by Little Women filmmaker Greta Gerwig, pre-production has started on the first movie adapting C.S. Lewis's classic children's books, and has gathered speed as it enters its casting phase. Recently, there was a casting call for a boy and girl aged 10 to 11 years, presumably to play the young heroes in these stories, and now it looks like they could be joined by Charli XCX.
The singer is best known for her hit songs like "Apple" and "Guess," but she's been looking to break into the movie business for a while, and is set to produce and star in The Moment for independent studio A24, which is based on an the singer's own original idea, though plot details are still under wraps. She's already got a working relationship with Gerwig, having provided the song "Speed Drive" for the soundtrack of her 2023 box office smash Barbie.
Naturally, there's been speculation about who she could potentially play in the Narnia franchise. The most likely choice seems to be Jadis, the White Witch. This would fit if Gerwig is indeed filming the series in chronological order, starting with The Magician's Nephew, as Jadis appears in that book as the main antagonist, being found by the two children Diggory and Polly, and transported from her own world of Charn into Narnia. She also appears in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe again as the main villain, ruling over the land by force and covering it in endless winter.
There really aren't many more characters in the first two books who would be a fit otherwise, unless she's being considered for a voice role, to play one of the talking animals or mythical creatures, or else some big changes are being made to the stories in the adaptation, to bring in some new characters.
It's important to state that as yet this is all still up in the air, as nothing's been finalized yet, but Greta Gerwig is expected to start filming her first movie set in the fantasy land this July, so we should get confirmation soon, if Charli XCX was successful, and should also be getting plenty more updates on who else has been cast in the adaptation as production moves along.
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