Greta Gerwig Breaks Near Two-Year Silence on Adapting ‘Narnia’ During Netflix Press Event
Greta Gerwig has made the first public comments on her upcoming Narnia film since May 2024 at a Netflix press event on Wednesday.
The ‘Next on Netflix’ event in Hollywood was hosted by Netflix film chairman Dan Lin and chief content officer Bela Bajaria, and introduced Netflix’s upcoming film and TV slate for the year ahead.
According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, Narnia director Greta Gerwig also appeared via video message to talk about her film:
“It’s all very under wraps right now, but it’s something that I’m just so thrilled about because it was the book of my childhood. It was the book series that I loved, and I lived through, and I spent so much time imagining myself inside of Narnia … It’s been a joy and an honor to be the person who gets to imagine this universe.”
Greta Gerwig
Chief content officer Bela Bajaria also shared that, “I don’t think there is a bigger fan of that book series than Greta.”
Gerwig’s reverential praise for the book series echoes similar comments she made earlier in the production process, but perhaps stands in stark contrast to those made by other members of the senior producing team over the past year.
During Netflix’s presentation, Head of Film Dan Lin apparently described the film as a “Rock and roll” take, according to reporting from the event by Variety’s senior entertainment writer Matthew Donnelly. This echoes producer Amy Pascal’s earlier comment about Greta Gerwig’s adaptation being “all about rock and roll.”
Curious what else Greta Gerwig has said about Narnia? Here’s everything she’s said about her Netflix films so far!
Mixed messages – but at least Greta sounds like she values the books and wants to make something that honours them.
Not in reply to you specifically, but I find the reaction to this post absolutely bizarre. There is nothing controversial about them, and the fact that some fans are twisting these comments into a negative is pretty depressing.
People can like or dislike the film when it comes out or interact critically with the adaptation, but not every quote /article in the meantime needs to be spun up into an end-of-the-world scenario.
Just to clarify, the story itself does in fact highlight two different quotes – one from Greta Gerwig and one from Dan Lin – and the story also notes that there is a “stark contrast” between the two quotes, so i think David’s comment here is perfectly valid.
FINALLY – some actual comments from the filmmakers, and some very pleasant comments at that.
Fingers crossed!
She sounds so lovely! Here’s hoping her movie honours the essence of Narnia, just like this.
I didn’t expect her to use the phrase Rock n Roll. And I notice the phrase “all under wraps” is reminiscent of the Netflix press release from early this year. They really want to keep a lot of the details hidden!
If she loves them so much, why is she changing them so much?
Directors usually have to change stuff for the studio to approve the movie, so we can’t know if the changes were hers or Netflix’s without further information.
This is a good time for us to reread Narnia and imagine how we would make the movie.
Changing the entire time line which affects 5 of the other books is not something that needed to be done.
JoAnn, yes, they do not need to shift the time period. I am not meaning to endorse their movie.
I will not be seeing the movie unless I know certain things from the books are kept.
I did not watch Columbus’ Percy Jackson adaptation for over ten years. I still have never read The Cursed Child. I only watched one episode of Rings of Power. So, yes, I may take the same road with Netflix’s Narnia and never watch it.
That is why I want to spend time rereading the books and imagining the world of Narnia for myself.
You can love something and interact with it critically. C. S. Lewis himself believed that.
Just a quick reminder that the comment section isn’t the place for ongoing debate/discussion about religion or politics. We’ve removed a few comments from this thread to keep things on topic. Please see our guideline below 🙂
http://www.narniaweb.com/comment-section-rule/
Ironical that this is not the place for religious discourse seeing how Lewis books are all about alorgory…the magicians nephew is very clear …
Let all be real here, this “hush hush” method is honestly a rage bait effort to not leak anything. As we have seen from the past few months/ years even with little to no news from the direct contributors (Netflix, Greta Gerwig, actors/actresses, and those who are involved), there would still be something to be feed whether it is a big meal of a news or small crumbs from “here and there” onlookers, yet at the end of the day nothing is reveal until it is basically released so to speak. I mean the desire that many or some individuals wanted this production to “give an outline” of what they are doing like a “how-to-guide” although nice would only feed onto the perception of “this does not look like what I in-vision” when say too much news get flooded out yet it also the same with little news as the crumbs we do get feed into the paranoia of “not the vision” as well.
I feel that at the end of the day, we can cry in horror in our echo chamber, but nothing can be or will be done until we actually finally see it when it is released. Some of us are aware and know this is coming out, but the majority of the population is not worrying about this or isn’t on their radar cause there are more important things happening in life right now, with stuff like war or other things coming. Those connected to the project are not the ones to ask a summary of a book, they can only express how they felt working in the environment without revealing too much of the movie so the only “comments we should expect at this point are ones related to their experience” not a presentation of how their character or whatever part they are involved cause they aren’t “word-to-word” their characters experience like some History Documentary imagining ancient times like “imagine living as an Egyptian” and so forth. Their job is to promote what they could allow to be said on their plate, which, honestly, none of them can at this point.
I will say this to sum up this “feeling” that is about the project: “Nothing is final until it’s engraved on the tomb.”
Also, for those who are saying Meryl Streep is “too big of an actress with her Oscar and Emmy wins” to be put in ” a small, petite role”, I say to you “try me”. Just because she is a big actress doesn’t mean she couldn’t play small roles or big roles. A role is a role at the end of the day, nothing more, nothing less as the actor/ actress are hired to play their part so instead of doing cross-elimination of roles to think of, just believe there will be a role that will have heartful impact to the movie whether if its big or small as Greta know what the heart of the movie needs. There is a saying I heard: ” Words are god creation through the person writing it and thus the life line to flourish out of nothing”, which can mean depend on who the writer, there is no end to words if you still have words to say as a writer of the art.
Anyways, we have like 8 months til its released, and if you divide it in half, expect something to come around the end of June or mid-July.
BBC film adaptations remain the best…idc what anyone says…bring that quality lbvs. Really expecting good things of this production tho.
Well, at least she seems to share Andrew Adamson’s childhood love of Narnia…..hope she just remembers why childhood Greta loved them 😉
Yeah greta dont mess it up
I really wish Netflix would just let Greta Gerwig do a full interview about their Narnia movie. She seems like the only one involved in the process who’s saying positive things about the books.
Mind you, I don’t think a full interview with her would make me like the adaptation since all the controversial things would still be in it. But a full interview might make me respect her vision more even if I don’t like it. Maybe I would even be able to understand it.
Is Netflix allergic to positive buzz among book fans or something?
BBC versions are still gold standard. I’m not happy about what I’ve seen of this so far.
Greta Gerwig is a truly remarkable creative in Hollywood. Barbie and Lady Bird are gold standard modern classics. I’m confident that her vision for Narnia will be absolutely well worth the wait.
I kind of feel like her film will be in the same mystical vibe as that of A24’s The Green Knight.
I love the Narnia books and I was thrilled to hear The Magician’s Nephew was going to be made into a film. The news that a female voice was going to be used for Aslan filled me with dismay. How can a male lion have a female voice? I don’t get the need to change this aspect of CS Lewis’s books.
How can any animal have a human voice? It’s a magical place, and our world’s rules aren’t their’s. If Jesus can be a lion in another world, why can’t that lion have a woman’s voice?
That`s my point! People here are always treating a fiction book as their bible! It`s not!
And it would be a really nice subject to folks on NarniaWeb to write here. Just saying.
(Written in a kind/not sassy tone/not arguing just expressing my opinion) Though that’s true for fairytales. The whole point of the Chronicles of Narnia was to bring children in closer relationship with God. As a kind of launching pad, if that makes sense. If I’m not mistaken that’s mentioned in one of his letters. The thing is, is Aslan is such a key character in the chronicles. That for me, if you gender bend his character then why make an adaptation of narnia at all? Why not make your own movie then? I get annoyed when movies make changes to follow culture as well as disrespecting the religion of the authors of the adaptations they are making. I’m personally fatigued from it. Not only is Hollywood creating less original content… they are obsessed with distorting classics. They love doing that to the true, good and beautiful. I’m tired of it and why I don’t watch many movies or shows anymore.
You lost me when you made Aslan a female. I dont mind some changes but this is a significant change because of what it is analogous of.
Aslan isn’t female in Gerwig’s movie for the record 🙂
I was so so excited for this. But CS Lewis was a Christian author, conveying elements of the salvation story of the gospel. Aslan in his perfection offers himself up to stand in the place of a sinner who is not worthy and rises from the dead to conquer death. This is the gospel. Jesus is at the heart of these books and I’m saddened that she can be such a fan and miss all that. Casting Aslan as woman (and I am a woman!) is just not something I can look past. Lewis would not approve
As I posted earlier, I for one feel the comment from Emma mackey about acting alongside Merryl Streep is totally heartening. If merryl Streep was to be the voice of Aslan, she wouldn’t be acting alongside Emma, as such. The voiceovers would done in post production. Also, There is no way she will be doing motion capture as Aslan, so unless she wears a lion costume ala the Wizard of Oz, that rules that out. If Merryl was cast to be the voice of Aslan across 7 movies (12 to 14 years to make?) that would make her fairly old. I also agree about her not doing sequels, so again this is not likely.
Finally in the on set poster shown in the background of one of the stills, the lion has a mane. Slight hint here I think. I certainly hope this will be the case.
Lewis was all about supposals. If Jesus can be a lion in another world, why can’t that lion have a woman’s voice?
As long as they keep the Christian backbone of Narnia since that’s literally the heart of the story I’ll be very happy
Can’t wait to see the finished film. It’s going to be great.
I don’t want to see lots of spoilers before it comes out, I want to enjoy the surprise of seeing it for the first time in an Imax cinema.
I couldn’t care less about the Christian aspects to the story. They meant nothing to me as a child reading the books. I didn’t pick up on it at all. I was, and still am, only interested in the adventure, mystery and fantasy of it all.
I hope she doesn’t destroy it from the original, it does not need to have her interpretation of it, especially if she rehashes the same previous story ‘ remake’ if that’s the case bring on AI, for everything and get the copycats out
Well, given the time period where Digory and Polly first entered Narnia is set in the 1950s instead of the late 1800s (Which means if The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe gets made, the Pevensie children will enter Narnia in the late 1990s or early 2000s), having a woman voicing Aslan and possibly adding a lot of AI into the movies shows Netflix has made a big mistake.
Unapologetically, I am not one of the many here who was awed by the Barbie movie. So I’m not in a place of unmitigated anticipation for the brilliance Greta is going to bring to the Narnia franchise. I am one of caution knowing the lack of quality Hollywood is noted for in their recent “imaginings” of story telling. Plus we all know the inclusivity restrictions in play if the creators want this picture to be Oscar worthy. Greta says she loves the Narnia books from her childhood. This does not, however, mean she or the producers truly understand what is at the core of the storyline. I only hope the focus is on this core message and not on the fantasy. My doubts were raised when I heard the rumor that Ms. Streep was going to voice Aslan.
“I don’t think there is a bigger fan of that book series than Greta”
Sure Bela. I’d argue I’m a bigger fan of the series, given how I have an entire tattoo sleeve dedicated to Narnia. I’m sure there are bigger fans than me too.
With all due respect, your response sounds very childish. Seems as though you’re saying that because you have a Narnia tattoo sleeve, that makes you a bigger fan than someone else? You absolutely don’t need a tattoo or lots of merchandise to be considered a big fan or “prove” your love of a series.
Unless she says, “I’ve changed my mind and decided that Aslan is obviously a male lion, so having Meryl Streep voice him is absurd. We’ve gone with a male actor instead,” then I don’t want to hear what she has to say. I especially don’t want to hear how much she loves the books. Anyone who knows C.S. Lewis at all would know a female -voiced Aslan would be a non-starter.
Getting Greta to oversee Netflix’s Narnia was a very bad idea. I don’t even care if the movies ever got shown in theaters. Changing anything from the books, including the time period where the children are from is just a disappointment in the making.
Zero confidence in this.
It will be a disaster. Guaranteed.
Friends of Narnia, brace yourselves for another “Rings of Power”, Zegler Snow White, or Gatwa “Dr Who” [MODERATOR REMOVED] from Greta. Because right now in the industry nothing else is possible. Side, to any/all loyal-wise Narnia Code people … our world is now deep in Silver Chair mad/moon phase … . Read that book again, and stay strong!
“stay strong” lol.
It’s okay to not like a movie. You’re going to be okay and make it through.
In these moments I can only think back at the wonderful early 2000s adaptions of the wonderful books. Time to rewatch them!
The only hope i have fo the change in the timeline is that they are pulling our strings and in reality this is actually the silver chair with Meryl Streep as the Lady of the Green Kirtle lol. Otherwise, messing with the timeline completely destroys the essence of the other books as there is no other historical time in Britain that would cause the pevensies to be forced from their homes because of bombings (i.e. the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe). Sure you could change the timeline to another war after WWII but this war and the global effects of it were unlike any after it and, thus, there cannot be a “good” Narnia movie outside of it. No doubt, the cinematography of the movie will be stunning, but if you are taking the creative liberty to change something as big as the whole timeline I’m afraid of what else you may use “creative liberty” to change.
Nice quotes from Gerwig. I’m glad she considers herself a big fan! Looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out. Hope it doesn’t disappoint!