Barbie director Greta Gerwig is attached to direct & write two movies for Netflix's Narnia franchise, meaning the reboot can beat Disney's originals.
Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia reboot has an exciting update as Greta Gerwig signs on as the director and writer of two movies, giving the streamer its best chance to beat Disney’s highly lucrative franchise.
Based on The Chronicles of Narnia book series by C.S. Lewis, the fantasy story received a big-budget adaptation from Disney with 2005’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie, which went on to gross over $745 million at the box office. Two more films followed in 2008 and 2010, with the franchise amassing a total box office gross greater than $1.5 billion. Over a decade later, the classic story is being adapted for the screen once more under Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia reboot. SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Despite being hits at the box office, Disney’s Chronicle of Narnia movies were divisive among critics and audiences, with both commercial and critical success waning as the series progressed. Being able to fully capture the enormity of the fantasy world Lewis built was already a worry for Disney's films, so the expectations for Netflix to exceed the story's previous screen treatment weren't particularly high. However, with critically acclaimed, visionary director Greta Gerwig now on board to helm two of Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia movies, the prospects for Netflix faithfully telling Lewis’ story and redeeming its divisive treatment of fantasy adaptations are much greater. Greta Gerwig's Direction Makes Netflix's Chronicles Of Narnia Movies Way More Exciting What Netflix’s adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia truly needed was a visionary director who would handle the story with care and passion, regardless of whether they had led fantasy franchises before. Since Disney’s Narnia franchise ultimately failed after its successful first installment, a strong revival in excitement for Netflix’s take on the story required the inclusion of a filmmaker who would not only take it in a different direction from the previous movies, but also have prosperous experience with big-budget adaptations of familiar characters. Thankfully, the reboot is now in good hands with the Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig, whose three directed films thus far have been massive successes critically and commercially. Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird, made $79 million on a $10 million budget, establishing itself as a model coming-of-age movie with a Best Picture nod at the Academy Awards. Gerwig followed Lady Bird with an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic story Little Women in 2019, which not only received a Best Picture nomination, but also earned nearly $220 million at the box office on a $40 million budget. Having been one of the most highly-anticipated movies since Gerwig joined the project in 2021, July 2023’s Margot Robbie-led Barbie movie marks her third directorial effort, which is tracking to be Gerwig's biggest box office success and a critical darling. With such a prestigious repertoire, Greta Gerwig changes the outlook on Netflix’s Narnia movies from skeptical to genuinely exciting. Disney's Narnia Movies Were Good, But Gerwig Suggests Netflix's Will Be Better While Disney’s Chronicles of Narnia movies were highly lucrative, their quality diminished significantly after the 2005 adaptation. The films were largely still enjoyable, but as faithful adaptations of Lewis’ story, Disney’s iterations ultimately failed. As proven by their inflated budgets and worsening critical responses, Narnia’s sequels lost the magic of the original movie with less compelling character development and storytelling in favor of better special effects and the pursuit of being the next Lord of the Rings-scale fantasy franchise.Greta Gerwig signing on to helm The Chronicle of Narnia for Netflix suggests the studio will avoid the direction that led Disney to failure, with the director/writer’s proven storytelling prowess being a good sign for the reboot. Gerwig’s movies always put the characters first, meaning their humanity and development won’t be lost as the scale of the franchise increases. With Gerwig behind the camera for two installments, Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia movies have their best chance to be even better than Disney’s franchise as the series progresses. At the very least, they’ll be given an incredible start in terms of creative talent and vision that her successor must maintain. The Chronicles Of Narnia Can Finally Redeem Netflix's Fantasy Adaptation Failures In addition to the fact that Disney’s franchise ended up failing after an optimistic start, Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia movies have been subject to skepticism due to the streamer’s past adaptations of fantasy stories. From Shadow and Bone’s lackluster second season to Locke & Key’s season 3 failures, the ability of the streamer to carry on with these franchises long-term hasn’t always proven to be fruitful. Furthermore, even if the fantasy adaptation is critically acclaimed, there have been some infamous controversies around Netflix’s faithfulness to the source material. Netflix has notably come under fire for its treatment of the fantasy TV show The Witcher, which is based on the book series of the same name. Lead actor Henry Cavill shockingly departed The Witcher after season 3, which is rumored to be due to his disagreements with Netflix straying from his character’s depiction in the source material. This wouldn't be the first time a lead actor disagreed with Netflix’s adaptation of an established character, as Wednesday star Jenna Ortega also took issue with the series’ more romantic take on the gothic Addams Family character. However, Gerwig is very familiar with adapting iconic characters and classic stories faithfully, suggesting Netflix will avoid its common fantasy mistakes. Netflix Needs To Finally Break Its Theatrical Release Rules For Gerwig's Narnia Movies If Netflix truly wants to beat Disney’s Chronicles of Narnia franchise on all fronts, then the streamer needs to permit Gerwig’s movies to receive extended theatrical releases. Netflix has arguably squandered potential commercial smashes by limiting its original movies to week-long releases, as was the case with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s one-week box office success in 2022. The Chronicles of Narnia gives Netflix a proven profitable franchise, and it would be a mistake to simply leave a potentially exhilarating and visually striking theatrical experience to streaming alone. To give both this franchise and Greta Gerwig the high-profile support and exhibition it deserves, Netflix must consider bending its rules to give its Chronicles of Narnia movies theatrical releases.
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