Netflix first announced plans to re-adapt C.S. Lewis' beloved tales from The Chronicles of Narnia back in 2018, and in 2022, we found out that none other than Greta Gerwig (Barbie) was set to direct at least two Narnia movies for the streaming service.
Development has been a slow process, but we finally have our first major piece of casting news, and it's likely to be met with a mixed response.
According to Deadline, pop singer Charli XCX has entered talks for a key role in the new saga, and the trade believes she will play - providing a deal is struck - the villainous Jadis, aka the White Witch.
Apparently, the Grammy winner - who has just been announced as co-headliner of Saturday’s portion of this year’s Glastonbury Festival alongside the legendary Neil Young - is "among the top choices" to play the character, but nothing is set in stone (or ice).
Gerwig's first film is believed to be an adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, which would serve as a prequel to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
We've seen live-action takes on the classic fantasy adventure stories before, both on British television and in Disney's three movies (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). Those films proved to be highly divisive, however, with many Lewis fans feeling that they failed to do the books justice.
Here's what Gerwig had to say about adapting the novels in a recent interview.
"I’m slightly in the place of terror because I really do have such reverence for Narnia. I loved Narnia so much as a child. As an adult, C.S. Lewis is a thinker and a writer. I’m intimidated by doing this. It’s something that feels like a worthy thing to be intimidated by.”
“As a non-British person, I feel a particular sense of wanting to do it correctly… it’s like when Americans do Shakespeare, there’s a slight feeling of reverence and as if maybe we should treat it with extra care. It is not our countryman.”
The filmmaker also spoke about her love for the original stories in a separate interview.
"It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions. As a child, you accept the whole thing—that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic. I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them."
Gerwig has reportedly been working on the first Narnia movie since before she even started shooting Barbie, and there was some talk of the film arriving before the end of last year. Obviously that didn't happen, and we're still waiting for an official production update from Netflix.
How would you feel about Charli XCX playing Jadis in Gerwig's Narnia movies? Drop us a comment down below.