After Damsel, Netflix is tackling a much bigger fantasy project that has been tackled four times in the past and is now becoming a reality with an acclaimed female director.
Netflix has only just released its dragon actioner Damsel, challenging Millie Bobby Brown’s love of fairy tales, and preparations are already underway for the next big fantasy project. Barbie director Greta Gerwig has now given an update on Netflix’s Narnia. With two films, she is to recreate the adaptation of the acclaimed book series, which breathed its last after three films
Violent fantasy remake: Netflix breathes new life into Narnia
Back in 2018, Netflix secured the Narnia rights – and then we didn’t hear anything more about the project for a long time. It wasn’t until 2022 that it was announced that there was still life in the fantasy reboot of the famous children’s book series and that Greta Gerwig was to direct two Narnia films.
A possible sequel to Barbie will therefore have to take a back seat, as director Gerwig told Deadline at an Oscar party that she is currently getting everything ready to resume pre-production on Netflix’s new fantasy film in London. Beforehand, the filmmaker revealed that she was “really scared of it”, although “recurring nightmares” are generally a good sign.
https://twitter.com/FilmUpdates/status/1767262562721087611
It is likely that Netflix’s Narnia series will kick off with the novel The King of Narnia*, which was first published in 1950 but is chronologically second (after The Miracle of Narnia). In it, the four Pevensie siblings are evacuated to the English countryside during the Second World War and discover a magical door in their closet.
The portal leads to the world of Narnia, where the Lion King Aslan rules. Here, the children join the fight against the White Witch, who has been covering the land with her icy winter for 100 years.
Greta Gerwig’s Netflix trip to Narnia is the 5th film adaptation of the famous fantasy world
It is not the first time that the 7-volume fantasy novel series Narnia by author C.S. Lewis has been tackled anew as a film adaptation. Past attempts to adapt the enormous world include the following fantasy films and series:
(Psst: The King of Narnia is coming to Netflix)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1967) – ITV miniseries with 10 episodes as part of the series “Jackanory “
The Chronicles of Narnia – The King of Narnia (1979) – 95-minute animated film
The King of Narnia (1988), Prince Caspian of Narnia and the Voyage on the Dawn Treader (1989) and The Silver Armchair (1990) – three BBC mini-series with 6 episodes each
The Chronicles of Narnia – The King of Narnia (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian of Narnia (2008) and The Chronicles of Narnia 3: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) – three major cinema productions from Disney
The most recent cinema series is currently streaming on Disney+ * but was never continued after the third film, although a script for part 4, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, is said to exist. Now Netflix is setting everything to zero and launching the next closet outing with fresh talent.
Fantasy launch: When are the Narnia films coming to Netflix?
Netflix has not yet announced a specific start date for Narnia 1 and Narnia 2. As filming will probably not start until the end of this year or the beginning of next, we can expect the fantasy return to the world of C.S. Lewis at the end of 2025 at the earliest.
Opinion: Netflix is the worst thing that could happen to the fantasy remake of Narnia
