Greta Gerwig Having “Recurring Nightmares” Writing Next Project
Filmmaker Greta Gerwig recently revealed during a discussion at the BFI London Film Festival that her upcoming writing project has been the source of “recurring nightmares.” While Gerwig did not divulge specific details about the project, she is confirmed to be directing and writing at least two Narnia films for Netflix.
Towards the end of the Q&A, Gerwig confessed, “I’m in the writing process, and it’s hard because I’m having recurring nightmares.”
Writing is the most painful part [of making a film], it’s a treasure guarded by a dragon. But once you’ve gotten it, it’s so exciting.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that Gerwig has expressed her apprehension about taking on Narnia. She shared in a previous interview;
“I haven’t even really started wrapping my arms around it. But I’m properly scared of it, which feels like a good place to start. I think when I’m scared, it’s always a good sign.
Maybe when I stop being scared, it’ll be like, ‘OK. Maybe I shouldn’t do that one.’ No, I’m terrified of it. It’s extraordinary. And so we’ll see, I don’t know.”
In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to The Chronicles of Narnia. According to The Sunday Times, Netflix paid nearly $250 million. After months of rumors, Gerwig was confirmed to be making “at least” two Narnia movies. Here’s all we know about the project.
I’m scared too. I’ve been following the drama behind Greta’s troubled, co-scripted “Snow White” remake in progress, and I’m terrified she’ll try to fly that flag in Narnia. Honor the books, Greta!
She is messing with sacred matters… hahaha
This is definitely a big task she’s undertaking. I would be having nightmares and difficulty sleeping if I were in her position.
Excited for the future!
Personally i would like him to take the reins of the dawn traveler and the wizard’s nephew.
I think God is stopping her from making a mess of C. S. Lewis’ work, God did after all show Lewis how to make Narnia in the first place.
My advice if you guys are involved in the Narnia series, make a Torch to Angel Studios and many many people would be more than happy to crowd fund a series like that
LOL at the confirmation bias of the previous comment!
At this point, if you’re pre-determined to be negative about Gerwig’s involvement, then of course you’re going to view this negatively. Based on her quotes though, it’s just as easy to believe she’s terrified of directing Narnia because she knows how important it is and wants to make a great film adaptation.
It’s still so early. Netflix could be lined up to create fantastic Narnia films but they could also produce terrible adaptations. We just don’t know. But why not choose to be optimistic, even cautiously? It’s got to be so exhausting choosing to be negative about everything.
Best of luck, Greta! These books are special – we want to see this world explored with tact and respect in your adaptations. Narnia fans are rooting for you!
Do we even know if the project she’s having “recurring nightmares” about is Narnia, though? Along with all the interesting assumptions above along the lines of “she’s going to mess up Narnia and God is preventing her”, this whole news flash seems to be based on an assumption in itself. Until she comes forward with something definite and we get to see it, we just can’t tell what she’s going to do with Narnia, and whether or not it will be sufficiently true to the books to please the majority of fans. And if her Narnia project ends up being scrapped… that wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened with a proposed Narnia adaptation, as we all know. I’d rather just leave off the speculation until something concrete happens.
@Courtenay, I’ve been wondering if she’s actually referring to a different, non-Narnia writing project too, mainly because she didn’t mention what it was and there’s no reason why she should have avoided mentioning it when it’s already been announced and even alluded to by herself. Of course, I don’t of any other writing projects she’s doing so Narnia makes the most sense, but the wording still makes me wonder.
I agree with @Courtenay at this point. Until we get some concrete information about het ideas for adaptations, we should be cautious to say ‘she’s being prevented by God’. That’s not impossible, but it is a leap in assumptions to think. Personally, I voted ‘I have a bad feeling about this’, but let’s be cautious and let’s hope that Netflix doesn’t wreck our beloved Chronicles
@Hopeless Tree,
Thank you for your hopeful and positive attitude, sadly a rarity now in this place of close-minded people.
Well, it raises the question what is the nightmares about Narnia films is Greta Gerwig having about? Is she worried that she might end up ruining it? I know that a lot of us as Narnia fans often worry about that. Well for me, even if she does through in something that I wouldn’t be crazy about it, I am willing to wait and see how it turns out. Who knows? It could even turn out better than we would have ever thought or hoped for.
@jasmine_tarkheena, I feel like it’d be weird for us to speculate about what nightmares Gerwig is having at the moment. It sounds like she has them whenever she’s working on a big writing project. It’s not really our business and I doubt the information would tell us much about her upcoming take on Narnia. Dreams aren’t always as illuminating or meaningful as some people assume. Sometimes they’re just nutty. LOL
@col kilk True! I don’t think she would want to tell us anyhow, let alone let it out on social media!
@ Yavar Moradi
In my limited experience, NarniaWeb is still one of those special places where people are (generally) considerate, kind, and open-minded even if they disagree. Try and not let a few comments to the contrary convince you otherwise.
As a note about the idea that God is “stopping her from making a mess of C. S. Lewis’ work”, I admit that that is a theory that explains all the available evidence, I grant (I am unsure whether that means that God desires her to stay away from Narnia or that He wishes her to do it justice). Yet there are other plausible theories also. She may be afraid that she will not do it justice or afraid even of vicious fan backlash, which is almost inevitable in this day and age somewhere or other online. We have no knowing what she is going to do with Narnia so it is difficult to judge. That said, I do not presume to know the mind of God based on a few vague hints about the dreams of one lady whom I’ve never met before.
I do suspect this is Narnia, however, because it agrees with the remark she made earlier about being terrified of the project. Still, she said that at least in her experience, being afraid is a good sign, and I hope this means she will try hard to do it justice.
A couple of these comments are exactly why I no longer frequent this site.
The one who claimed to “also be scared” of Greta making these films made me LAUGH. Have you people seen Greta’s track record? She makes phenomenal adaptations. Look at her Little Women movie. Captured the spirit of the book better than any adaptation before while breathing new life into the characters. She even made us love Amy, a character so many people hated until now. The Snow White issues have nothing to do with her!
And the one who had the audacity to claim that “God is preventing her from messing it up” needs to do some self-reflection on what their faith means to them, because trying to complain about others in God’s name is precisely what He does not want us to do. Especially when we act like we can read His mind while slandering talented and decent people.
Folk on this site have been so silly and judgemental for so long. [REMOVED BY MODERATOR]
I won’t be returning to this site going forward.
@Col Klink Yes, I agree—it is pretty weird to start dissecting hints about nightmares.
On the other hand, hopefully this means she’ll have a better adaptation of Dark Island than its last rendition.
@Morgan, I suppose it’s pointless to respond if you don’t want to read any comments on this site, but why do you say Gerwig makes phenomenal adaptations when she’s only made one? I agree that her screenplay for Little Women was great, but it was based on a book she really admired and one that had little genre or target audience overlap with Narnia? (I guess I could say that both Little Women and the Narnia books are aimed at kids, but I’d argue Gerwig’s adaptation was aimed more at adults.) None of her other movies are really adaptations of anything. I guess you could say The Barbie Movie is an adaptation of the Barbie brand but based on the plot description, it doesn’t sound like a good one. It sounds like it’s trying to be a comedic sendup of the brand. Nothing wrong with that. I just wouldn’t describe Gerwig as someone whose strength is doing great adaptations. Unless I missed something, her most popular movie, Lady Bird, is an original story,
I will pray that she has good dreams. I would be nervous to adapt a movie too. Especially since everyone has high expectations.