Scott Stuber, Netflix’s Film Chief, Steps Down — Will Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Be Affected?
Scott Stuber, Netflix’s Head of Film, is leaving the streamer after seven years to start a new media company, reports Variety.
During his time at Netflix, Stuber was known for attracting top talents like Greta Gerwig and pursuing theatrical releases for films. Stuber also spearheaded a new era of Oscars buzz for the streamer: under his leadership, Netflix became the most-nominated film studio at the Academy Awards for the past three years in a row.
After Scott Stuber’s comments about Netflix’s Narnia plans last year, fans may wonder: will Stuber’s departure affect Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptations?
Variety reports that Gerwig doesn’t have a finished script for Narnia yet, stating that the project is not expected to be “dramatically” affected by Stuber’s exit. Other reports, however, suggest that the outgoing Head of Film may have left over previous clashes about theatrical windows for films. Scott Stuber previously hinted at a theatrical release for Netflix’s Narnia in December of 2022.
Stuber’s new media company will produce films and television series, but at this time, it’s not known if he will continue to be involved with Netflix’s Narnia in any way.
Check out Scott Stuber’s past comments about Narnia:
- Netflix Film Chief on “Interesting Narrative Form” of Narnia Series
- Netflix Exec: Narnia Books “Are Very Much Based in Christianity”
- Netflix Hints at Narnia Theatrical Release
Looking to catch up on all of the news about Netflix’s Narnia? Here’s everything we know.
Even with this news, I have a hard time envisioning Netflix withholding Narnia from a wide release with Gerwig attached.
I ’m sure Netflix’s new head of film will feel similarly.
I’m not worried yet either. If I hear that Stuber’s replacement at Netflix really hates the Narnia books or hates Greta Gerwig or something like that, then I’ll start to worry. And, hey, even in those unlikely events, Netflix could always sell to project to Stuber’s new company.
Is Netflix allowed to onsell the rights to the Chronicles of Narnia? I would think that the CS Lewis Estate would need to approve that.
I assume that with the media attention about Gerwig the past 6 months, where she has often been asked about Narnia, Netflix would still be very happy to produce her Narnia movies.
Of course there’ll be a new chief of film so I hope they feel the same way.
I think the business model of a streaming service might be better than theatrical release alone, like the Walden series had. The need to send many people to the theatre (outside their home) over 2 or 3 weeks is a big ask, especially if they’re not dedicated fans of the property.
If Netflix can project the amount of subscribers they’ll keep and gain due to having Narnia films in their catalogue, that will hopefully show them it’s worth it. They did say a year or two ago that they wanted more PG family films.
Off topic, but curious if anyone has seen Beyond the Brick’s YouTube video “The Chronicles of Narnia Scenes in Lego.” A young lady did a MOC build of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe covering 9 scenes from the Walden movie and she ended up winning 1st place for her MOC in South Africa. It would be cool to see an article on the video. Also, have there been other discussions concerning Narnia Legos? Wonder if there will be Narnia Netflix Legos…
There’s no way this affects this project happening. If Greta wants to do this (and based on all her comments, it appears she really does) then she will do it. Gerwig’s too big of a deal right now for an exec moving on to threaten any development.
I wonder what this all means now, for both Netflix and their production of Narnia. Now that Greta Gerwig is attached, it’s going to be hard to imagine that Netflix would have to withdraw from a wide release.