Next Narnia Movie Remains “Under Wraps” as Fans Hope for Clarity from Trailer | Talking Beasts
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Narnia’s return to the big screen comes in less than 8 months, but remains largely shrouded in mystery. Writer/Director Greta Gerwig recently broke her 2-year silence by acknowledging that her upcoming adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew remains “under wraps.”
Only small scraps of information has leaked the past year, but much of it has left fans puzzled. Will the first trailer (whenever it comes) offer some clarity about what to expect? Listen to our discussion and then post a comment below!
Podcasters: Glumpuddle, Gymfan, Forrest
Thanks for a great podcast. I will be watching the trailer when it comes out. I want to see the movie on opening day. I am really hoping this movie is not done in a controversial or divisive way. I am assuming there will be some negative talk online about it, like there was with Barbie. I hope the movie itself brings people together – like Top Gun Maverick, Avengers Endgame and Project Hail Mary have done.
Thanks guys for the podcast! I also feel uncertain about what to think of the project and that the PC movie had scenes that felt so Narnian that it did make it worth it to watch, even though I still am disappointed in High King Peter’s personality being changed.
For me, I also enjoyed DT, but the feeling was different and the seven swords and green mist additions did not streamline the plot like the director wanted because they didn’t have a deeper meaning.
I do believe Gerwig when she says she loves the books, but that doesn’t mean the plot may not change significantly to where it might not feel like Narnia. I am sure it will be an entertaining movie, and hope it will be successful, but the cosmic nature of Aslan being pure good and creating Narnia… Well it is something I worried would be lost by any movie studio. And then will Aslan be how we imagine? I think with the Emma interview, it would make sense that Meryl could be playing Jadis’ sister in Charn.
With so many trailers out right now, it may be wiser for Netflix to wait on a release, but if the movie will be truer to the book than the rumors are saying, well, I think they are hurting their reputation by not being more open.
I feel the same way, but at the end of the day, Lewis’ books will outlast any adaptation, and any adaptation does not change the books or the lessons found in them. I want TMN to be good, but won’t be devastated if its a mess, I will just go back to the source material.
I would be relieved if Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was cast as Aslan, but I don’t think I’d be overjoyed with the casting choice. Similar to what Glumpuddle has said about Ron Pickup and Liam Neeson, I feel Holdbrook-Smith has a very soothing voice, maybe not intimidating enough for the character of Aslan. Still, he is the right gender, unlike Meryl Streep.
I’m not an expert on Little Women, like Gymfan, but I feel like Gerwig’s movie has more dialogue from the book than any other recent adaptation. (The really, really old adaptations might have more.) It’s true that it’s not word for word since the book is really long and slow paced and more suited to a TV series than a film but it’s much closer to being word for word than the Walden Media Narnia adaptations. In fact, even some of the dialogue in the 2019 Little Women that’s not from the book, I believe, is from other things that Louisa May Alcott wrote. It’s true that the acting is very modern and if you compare the published screenplay to the actual, you’ll see that some speeches were originally written to be closer to Alcott, but they had to change them on set to make them easier to act. But I feel like the script is a lot closer to the book than it sometimes gets credit for being.
I don’t actually like the Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie but I’m going to have to defend it a little bit. I wouldn’t say it’s totally unrecognizable from the book. It’s got the painting in the bedroom, the Lone Islands, the Island of Voices, Deathwater Island, Ramandu’s Island, Dark Island, the wonders of the Last Sea. To me, it’s more like the notes are there but there’s no music.
I don’t think they’ll show Aslan in the first trailer either. I imagine they’ll show Uncle Andrew telling Digory about other worlds and then give us (hopefully) tantalizing glimpses of the Wood Between the Worlds, Charn and Narnia, maybe ending with a shot of the lamppost growing, just to connect this to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That’s what I’d do if I were doing a teaser for The Magician’s Nephew anyway.
Simply having the right names for characters or islands doesn’t meet my standard of recognizability. Pretty much everything is wrong, even if, for example, Aslan says his famous line correctly at the end (never mind that Caspian shouldn’t be in that scene).
The movie as a whole just doesn’t much resemble the book, even if they pay lip service to characters and locations. At best, the movie vaguely, superficially nods at the book. I wouldn’t call that recognizable.
Imagine a sharply dressed explorer who ventures into the jungle, and comes back with a beard, clothes in tatters, covered in mud and bruises, etc…is he recognizable? Maybe somewhere beneath all the wear and tear of his adventure, but not really. He’s not really what he looked like before. There’s too much mess and damage covering up who he was as we first knew him, his appearance which we would recognize.
The Frankenstein first image was released 4 months after filming finished and a trailer was released on the first of June. It’s only been roughly 8/9 weeks since filming finished, maybe there will a first look image or Vanity Fair spread(like Little Women), after the mandatory DGA directors cut time allocation (10 to 12 weeks since wrapping) or the end of May(4 months since filming ended), or something sooner since Meryl (who has recently done two voice performances for the films Hoppers and Project Hail Mary) is doing press for the first time in over a year for Devil Wears Prada 2 where she may be asked about Narnia, as well as Carey Mulligan who is beginning promotion for Beef S2 as well. So Netflix will likely release something anticipating that Meryl and Carey will be asked about Narnia, especially with the next investors call happening on April 16 too.
Considering Greta was observed at a knicks game and at a DGA director’s screening of The Bride! Q and A, I would assume the edit is moving along well. It would be straight up psychotic to to do so if the editing process was in disarray.
Ps-Anyone curious about Neal Scanlan should checkout the new featurette he did for his teams work on Project Hail Mary.
@ImpendingDoom Meryl talking about another film she was working with Amy Pascal in London
https://youtu.be/ErybWbRi0_s?si=pwixAEyEBp_B7f9P&t=151
I doubt we’ll get any substantive information from Carey Mulligan in the next couple of weeks during any press appearances for Beef. Earlier this week, after receiving a CBE from King Charles, she was asked about Narnia and responded: “That’s what everyone wants to know about! i actually can’t say anything. i’ve been explicitly told that! but i can tell you that it was an absolute dream to be a part of. a real dream come true.”
I agree that the first trailer will show us very little, but I do think they would have to show Aslan at least fleetingly (note: show, not hear) even if it is just a lion’s tail, or opening his mouth to roar. From the Elliot McNab poster, I think it’s safe to say that it will be a male lion, though who voices him is anyone’s guess right now.
I still think they set up the older magic, by making Meryl Streep the “Aslan” of Charn. And when ever Jadis hears Aslan speak, she hears her through Aslans Voice.
Who else just wants Liam Neeson and the rest of the old cast back?? ❤️
Agreed! But “no one can ever know what might have been” 😉
Sorry, I don’t think I get it!
Oh, I just meant we’ll never know what it was like to have the old cast together in another Narnia movie…went for an Aslan quote and I guess it fell a little short. Sorry! haha
No, no it makes complete sense now!
True!
I am actually looking forward to a new interpretation of the story! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the Walden films. They were a pivotal part of my life and LWW is one of the most significant films I’ve ever watched. I’m happy we at least got a trilogy, but I think it was tied neatly there. Rebooting them in chronological order might be a great thing for the series, and an incredible director like Greta could mean something so wonderful for this story.
Yes, I know what you mean. It means a lot to all of us to have a new Narnia movie. But no matter how good it will be I don’t think it’ll be able to BE Narnia for me. I am really thankful for it tho
Saying Narnia is “all about rock and roll” makes me think of David Bowe in The Labyrinth. (I liked the movie as a kid, but this isn’t how I picture Narnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBv4Ne67QcM&list=RDxBv4Ne67QcM&start_radio=1)
Just a question, are we getting all 7 books made into films by Netflix or do they now hold the rights to the Walden films and we are getting the remaining 4 books made into films? I am choosing to remain optimistic about what we will get to see
I don’t see any link to Post-Show Chatter. Not that I’m complaining since I’m not that interested in Harry Potter. It just struck me as odd.
CS Lewis had a lot to say about modernity and the change it brought. I would be okay with a time change if it was to better explore this theme with today’s audience. We implicitly understand the change of the 50s/60s. Charn could even be more of a sci-fi futuristic world, representing the eventual result of such modernity. Digory’s choice in the garden stands in contrast to Jadi’s use of the deplorable word; straight out of the Abolition of Man’s commentary on ‘men with chests.’
Do I expect this? No. But Gerwig is an intentional and reflective filmmaker. This film may be different from the book, just as Dawn Treader was. But unlike Dawn Treader, the film will not be a low effort, paint-by-the-numbers adaptation.
I’m still excited. I may not like the film, but I’ll be there opening night!