Charli XCX Frontrunner To Star in Narnia Reboot (and You’ll Never Guess As Who)

Filmmaker Greta Gerwig is reportedly considering pop star Charli XCX for a key role in her upcoming film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. Gerwig is working on the fantasy epic for Netflix, and it’s finally picking up momentum with the hopes of hitting theaters in time for Thanksgiving 2026. On Thursday, Deadline reported that Charli XCX is among the top choices for a key role in the movie, and that there have even been some preliminary talks about the casting already. An insider said that Charli is up for the role of Jadis, The White Witch, but so far that hasn’t been confirmed. Both Netflix and Charlie XCX declined to comment on the report.

British singer-songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison, 32, has been ramping up her on-screen work in recent years, but Narnia would definitely be the biggest venue we’ve seen her in yet. This is the first time the rights to all seven of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia novels have been possessed by one studio, and Netflix is hoping for a huge win here. Gerwig is hot off the success of Barbie, and it’s easy to imagine how some unexpected star power like Charli’s could add to the hype on this project.

The White Witch is the main antagonist of the first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and a fearsome presence in some of the other novels as well. She is an ageless sorceress of uncertain, mythical origin, with mysterious powers and a great deal of entitlement and ambition. She has incredibly destructive powers that she has shown a willingness to use, yet she prefers to rely on trickery and deceit where she can.

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The persona that Charli XCX has crafted in her recent work could work well with this character, and perhaps even lend her some pathos for an ongoing series. This was clearly in the minds of commenters on Thursday as this news made its way around social media. It wasn’t long before fans began tying up references, wondering if Charli could follow up “brat summer” with Narnia’s “Hundred Years Winter.”

Netflix has hired Gerwig to write and direct at least two Narnia films so far, with the potential for more to follow. No cast members have been announced yet, and the idea of Charli XCX playing the White Witch remains a distant possibility for now. The first of these films will debut in IMAX on Thanksgiving day in 2026, then stream on Netflix starting in December.