(Left) Meryl Streep at the 90th Academy Awards. Photo: Ross Costanza Photography. (Right) Aslan from 2005’s ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.
Preview:
- Meryl Streep is reportedly in talks to voice Aslan for the new ‘Narnia’ movie.
- Greta Gerwig is directing the first of potentially two movies.
- Daniel Craig and singer Charli XCX have been rumored for the cast.
When you make ‘Barbie,’ a movie that is as financially successful, award-rewarded and zeitgeisty enough to both dominate the pop cultural consciousness and spawn a portmanteau name with a wildly different film (that would be “Barbenheimer, with fellow summer 2023 release ‘Oppenheimer’), you can, at least as far as the studio system allows, make what you want.
So it has proved with writer/director Greta Gerwig, who decided that she’d parlay her ‘Barbie’ triumph into pushing forward with the two ‘Narnia’ movies that she’d agreed to make for Netflix even before ‘Barbie’ was a thing, with the streaming service having announced plans in 2018 to adapt C.S. Lewis’ fantasy tomes ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’
Her first (more details below) has now clearly reached the casting stage, and according to Nexus Point News (with confirmation arriving via Deadline) no lesser actor than Meryl Streep is in talks to play Aslan the Great.
Aslan is the lion character (usually male, but who wouldn’t want Streep to take it on?) who acts as a wise guide to the human characters, and famously at one point sacrifices their life for the good of Narnia (not least because the entire saga is a honking great Christian metaphor, with Aslan essentially a furry Jesus).
Deadline cautions that Streep’s negotiations have yet to reach the offer stage, so she may not end up in the role.
But she joins a list of rumored actors that grows more eclectic and interesting by the day. While the likes of Natalie Portman, Daisy Ridley, Brie Larson, and Selena Gomez have all shown interest in Gerwig’s project, and the director talked to recent ‘Anora’ Oscar winner Mikey Madison about a role, the closest pair discussed so far have been Daniel Craig and singer Charli XCX.
Nothing is set in stone (table –– little in-joke for the Narnimaniacs) yet, but it certainly appears to be moving along.
What are the ‘Narnia’ novels?
2005’s ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.
In case the various film and TV adaptations have passed you by (the TV series was largely on the BBC in the UK, but the movies were big fantasy productions by 20th Century Fox in an era when studios were looking to capitalize on the success of ‘The Lord of the Rings’), the ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ is a series of seven books by British author Lewis.
“The beloved masterpiece comes to life.”
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2 hr 23 minDec 9th, 2005
Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals.
It narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the Narnian world. Except in ‘The Horse and His Boy,’ the protagonists are all children from the real world who are magically transported to Narnia, where they are sometimes called upon by Aslan to protect Narnia from evil. The books span the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ to its eventual destruction in ‘The Last Battle.’
What’s the story of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ movie?
‘Barbie’ Director/Writer Greta Gerwig attends a Photo Call at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Photo Credit: Caroline McCredie Photography.
According to Nexus Point News, Gerwig’s movie will adapt the sixth novel in the ‘Narnia’ series, the aforementioned ‘The Magician’s Nephew,’ which chronologically takes place first in the series. The novel tells the origin of Narnia and is centered on youngsters Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who discover the magical world through Digory’s uncle’s magic.
Craig, per Deadline, has been in talks to play Uncle Andrew, while Charli XCX has been linked to potentially playing antagonist Jadis, The White Witch.
The biggest development for the movie before casting started was that Gerwig had managed to swing an exclusive two-week Imax global run in 90 countries across 1,000 auditoriums in advance of the movie’s drop on Netflix.
That’s pretty much unheard of in terms of Netflix releases, which has been loathed to give even its biggest talents more than a cursory theatrical release, mostly preferring to drive subscribers to its servers. So it’s a big vote of confidence in the writer/director (but then, again, when you’ve made ‘Barbie,’ it buys you some clout.)
So, when will Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ movie be on screens?
Greta Gerwig attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Tour, Sydney Australia 2023. Photography by Caroline McCredie for Warner Bros/NBC Universal. Contact: jade.perry@nbcuni.com.
Narnia will release in Imax on Thanksgiving Day 2026, so November 26th and debut on Netflix on Christmas Day 2026.
In its current slot, it’ll follow another popular book adaptation, this time the latest prequel to Suzanne Collins ‘Hunger Games’ series, ‘Sunshine on the Reaping,’ due on November 20th that year. Around the same time is an untitled Warner Bros. movie and the usual Thanksgiving release for a Disney animated title, which lands on November 25th.
Let the battle for screens commence!
(L to R) Tilda Swinton and Skandar Keynes in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’ Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.
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