Netflix Eying Barbie Director For Beloved Fantasy Franchise Reboot
Greta Gerwig could be coming on board to helm the Chronicles of Narnia movies in the works at Netflix
It’s been four years since several Chronicles of Narnia projects were given the green light at Netflix. At the time, the streamer closed a multi-year deal with The C.S. Lewis Company to develop movies and series based on the popular books. Then, things came to a screeching halt due to the global pandemic. But now, according to What’s On Netflix, it seems like production is moving forward with two movies in the works and Barbie director Greta Gerwig tapped to helm both.
The 39-year-old filmmaker is one of Hollywood’s brightest talents. So it’s no surprise that she’s getting Chronicles of Narnia off the ground for Netflix. Gerwig first earned attention as an actress in various indie films in the early 2000s, and later collaborated with Noah Baumbach on 2012’s Frances Ha for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination. Multiple projects later, she directed 2017’s Lady Bird and Little Women in 2019. Both earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
But Chronicles of Narnia isn’t the only project the filmmaker is working on for Netflix. Later this year, she will appear as Babbette in White Noise. Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, the movie is adapted from the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. The story follows Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler studies who is torn asunder by an airborne toxic event that casts chemical waste over his town. The film will be released in select cinemas on November 25th, before its streaming debut on December 30th.
Before she tackles Chronicles of Narnia at Netflix, Gerwig will be preparing for Warner Bros.’s upcoming Barbie movie. Directed by the 39-year-old from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, the film stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, respectively. The project also serves as the franchise’s first live-action adaptation after several computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television movies. The filmmaker will also serve as a writer on Disney’s live-action Snow White movie.
Meanwhile, Chronicles of Narnia fans will have to wait a little longer for information about the movies, since they are still in the very early stages of development at Netflix. It’s unclear which movies Gerwig will direct or which books the streamer will adapt. However, some folks suggest that the studios won’t follow the order of the novel series at all. But nothing concrete has been revealed.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of novels by C. S. Lewis originally published between 1950 and 1956. The story follows the adventures of children in the world of Narnia, guided by Aslan, a wise and powerful lion and the true King of Narnia. The children prominently featured in the films are the Pevensie siblings. It will be interesting to see if Chronicles of Narnia focuses on the same characters on Netflix.
Of the seven books, three were given the movie treatment. This includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader released in 2005, 2008, and 2010 respectively. The first two were directed by Andrew Adamson and the third by Michael Apted. Collectively they grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. Hopefully, the Chronicles of Narnia reboot will be just as successful on Netflix.
