Barbie’s Greta Gerwig Is “Terrified” to Start Work on New Chronicles of Narnia Movies

Greta Gerwig’s latest project has helped create a true phenomenon at the box office, as Barbenheimer is bringing in big crowds to theaters and has become a social media and marketing goldmine. Gerwig isn’t done working with larger-than-life properties though, as the talented director is also working on the upcoming reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix. Gerwig is reportedly on board for two Narnia films and will write and direct. In a new interview with GamesRadar, Gerwig was asked about The Chronicles of Narnia, and she admitted she’s properly scared of it.

“I don’t know,” Gerwig said. “I haven’t even really started wrapping my arms around it. But I’m properly scared of it, which feels like a good place to start. I think when I’m scared, it’s always a good sign. Maybe when I stop being scared, it’ll be like, ‘Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t do that one.’ No, I’m terrified of it. It’s extraordinary. And so we’ll see, I don’t know.”

Gerwig hopes to work on all types of movies in the future and isn’t limiting things to any genre or scope. “I hope to make all different kinds of movies in the course of the time I get to make movies, which – it’s a long time, but it’s also limited,” Gerwig said. “I want to do big things and small things and everywhere in between, and having another big canvas is exciting and also daunting.”

Netflix acquired the rights to the Narnia franchise in 2018, and they have the licenses for both film and television. There hasn’t been a Narnia film since 2010’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third part of a trilogy that also included 2008’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The first two films were under the Disney umbrella, while the third moved to Fox.

The new film will seemingly reboot the franchise, and there’s plenty of room left to explore, as there are seven books total in the franchise, and only three were adapted into film. We’ll have to wait and see how the film progresses, but hopefully, we’ll get more information on Gerwig’s vision soon. In the meantime, you can find the official synopsis for Barbie below.

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. 

The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel. 

Barbie is in theaters now, while the new Chronicles of Narnia film doesn’t have a release date yet.

Are you excited for the new Chronicles of Narnia? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things Narnia with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!