Picture: Parixit / Wallhaven
In October 2024, it marked the sixth (!) anniversary of Netflix’s first announcement that it had acquired the rights to adapt new Chronicles of Narnia movies and series. Since then, things have been quiet beyond a couple of announcements, but there have been a lot of recent developments. Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s The Chronicles of Narnia adaptation with Greta Gerwig at the helm as of November 2024.
Note: This live article will be updated as we learn more. It was last updated on December 10th, 2024, after being first published in 2019. The latest updates include filming start date in July 2025, filming location, and other updates.
What are The Chronicles of Narnia?
Let’s start with the basics. The Chronicles of Narnia is a fantasy series by the famed author C.S. Lewis, published in the 1950s. The series transports us to the fictional realm of Narnia. Seven books were published in total under the Chronicles of Narnia banner, with those being:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Published in 1950
- Prince Capsian – 1951
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – 1952
- The Silver Chair – 1953
- The Horse and His Boy – 1954
- The Magician’s Nephew – 1955
- The Last Battle – 1956
Over the years, the series has seen a myriad of adaptations, including a BBC TV series, a radio series, and, of course, the Walt Disney-distributed movies.
The first of the Disney movies was released in 2005, where it collaborated with Walden Media and released the first movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The second movie released in 2008 adapting Prince Capsian with the third movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, releasing two years later (this time distributed by 20th Century Fox) released in 2010. A fourth movie, based on The Silver Chair, was planned but never materialized.
The Chronicles of Narnia book by C. S. Lewis. – Picture Credit: Shutterstock
How and when Netflix scored the Narnia franchise
The news of Netflix teaming up with The C.S. Lewis Company dropped back in October 2018. Netflix struck what it called at the time a “multi-year deal” whereby it will have multiple film and series projects on the go, all based on the books of Narnia. Alongside the original announcement, Ted Sarandos, the then chief content officer and now the co-CEO of Netflix, said:
“C.S. Lewis’s beloved Chronicles of Narnia stories have resonated with generations of readers around the world. Families have fallen in love with characters like Aslan and the entire world of Narnia, and we’re thrilled to be their home for years to come.”
It was also reiterated multiple times that Netflix would be adapting Narnia into a Universe, positioning the series to go up against the likes of Game of Thrones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, albeit for a more family-orientated audience.
Picture: Walt Disney Pictures
The original press release still remains life on the Narnia Facebook page and on Netflix’s company blog, but here are the main lines:
“Netflix will develop new series and film projects based on C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series. Under the terms of a multi-year deal between Netflix and The C.S. Lewis Company, Netflix will develop classic stories from across the Narnia universe into series and films for its members worldwide.
All series and films produced through the deal will be Netflix productions, with Mark Gordon of Entertainment One (eOne) alongside Douglas Gresham and Vincent Sieber serving as executive producers for series and as producers for features.”
The most important aspect of the Netflix deal, which makes it more unique than what has come before, is that it has access to all seven books. This means some of the later books that have never seen adaptations before could be coming to Netflix, which previous license owners haven’t been able to do. At the time, Mark Gordon, Douglas Gresham, and Vincent Sieber will be involved with most of the upcoming Netflix Narnia projects.
History of Development of Narnia at Netflix
So Netflix acquired the rights in 2018 so what’s taken so long? Let’s review the timeline:
2019 – Matthew Aldrich Becomes Architect of Narnia’s Universe
Months after waiting for more information on Narnia on Netflix, we finally got some news on June 12th, 2019. That news was that Matthew Aldrich would serve as the “creative architect” of the Netflix franchise.
The news came that the co-writer for Disney Pixar’s Coco, a double Oscar-winning movie, will work on Narnia. The press release said:
“Netflix has announced that Matthew Aldrich has come on board to oversee the development and creative live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series. All series and films produced through the deal will be Netflix productions, with Mark Gordon of Entertainment One (eOne) alongside Douglas Gresham and Vincent Sieber serving as executive producers for series and as producers for features.”
Matthew Aldrich and his projects: Coco, Spinning Man, and Lightyear – Credits: Disney / Lionsgate
2020 – All quiet on development with dribs of information
In January 2020, Narniaweb posted that Douglas Gresham (stepson of C. S. Lewis) has little knowledge of where Netflix is at with production.
Jordan Raynor: What is the latest on this partnership between Netflix and the C. S. Lewis Company?
Douglas Gresham: Yeah, to be honest, I can’t tell you very much at all. We did the deal quite some months ago and I haven’t heard a word since. I mean, I am listed as the producer, but I’ve heard no word on what they plan to do or how they plan to do it or when they plan to do it for that matter. Looking at things, I don’t know whether Netflix is ready to rock ‘n roll on this or not, but we will find out in due course.
~2020-2021 – Matthew Aldrich Splits From Netflix
In a podcast released in September 2024, Alrdich shared that he had only worked with Netflix on Narnia for about a year and a half before departing because of “creative differences,” comparing the venture to “uphill sledding.”
Going on further, Aldrich said, “I had a very specific idea about what I wanted to do with the Narnia material. I had laid out for them a sort of strategy of film and series to adapt the seven books in a way that was both respectful but also not precious and try to update them in some fun ways. Ultimately, that’s not the direction Netflix wanted to go.”
2021 – A mention from Netflix’s then head of film, but still quiet.
In January 2021, Scott Stuber, who at the time headed Netflix’s film division, told the New York Times that Narnia was among the projects predicted to release “beyond 2021,” meaning that although we might hear of projects this year, we’re not expecting the release of any.
2022 – Greta Gerwig eyed for movies + series still in development
In early 2022, we spotted that Ted Biaselli, a network executive at Netflix who is a “Director of Original Series,” lists Narnia in his LinkedIn bio at the time (Narnia has since been removed), reading:
“Spearheaded the formation of the 4-quad Family Programming slate including development and production of Netflix Original Series Fuller House, Haters Back Off, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lost in Space, The Umbrella Academy, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, Raising Dion and Green Eggs and Ham, Sweet Tooth and the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia.”
Picture: Getty Images
Then, in late 2022, we got the big news. We exclusively reported in November 2022 that Netflix was eying director Greta Gerwig to direct two movies. The year after that announcement came the sensation of Barbie, which grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. Before that, Gerwig had worked as an actress, director, and writer on over 40 projects, including Lady Bird, Mistress America, Frances Ha, and Little Women.
2023 – Greta Gerwig Confirmed To Direct
Our scoop was confirmed in July 2023 in a profile on the toy manufacturer Mattel, where the New Yorker confirmed that Greta Gerwig was on board to direct at least two movies for Netflix.
Around the time of the release of Barbie, Gerwig spoke about the upcoming Netflix movies for the first time, saying she was “terrified” of them. She told GamesRadar:
“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.”
In November 2023, Scott Stuber revealed to Variety that Amy Pascal (who worked with Gerwig on Little Women) would be serving as a producer on the project alongside Mark Gordon. Speaking about why Gerwig is perfect as the director, Stuber said:
“[Gerwig] grew up in a Christian background. The C.S. Lewis books are very much based in Christianity. And so we just started talking about it.”
Scott Stuber and Ted Sarandos – Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage
Collider also spoke to Scott Stuber in November 2023 about acquiring Narnia and Gerwig’s involvement with the upcoming movies. They somehow managed to decipher from his thin comments that filming would start in 2024. However, this has turned out not to be the case.
2024 – To IMAX or Not To IMAX and Non-Stop Rumors – 2026 Release?
Although production never got underway in 2024, the rumor mill surrounding the development of Greta Gerwig’s first movie went into high gear.
Much of the reporting surrounding the movie surrounded how Netflix would be releasing the movie. Beyond very limited theatrical releases for its award contenders, Netflix, except for Knives Out 2, has never given its movies broad theatrical slates. Numerous reports from the Hollywood trades, plus contributions from Puck and Bloomberg, suggest that Netflix is in talks with IMAX to get the movie into select theaters from Thanksgiving 2026 with an expected Christmas Netflix release. The movie will be exhibited in over 2,000 theaters globally if the deal is pulled off. Bloomberg reports that the budget for the upcoming Gerwig Narnia movie “will almost certainly exceed $200 million.”
Beyond the IMAX question, rumors have been flooding in about production starts. We heard (incorrectly) that the movie was eying an August start in London, and more recent production dates suggested the movie would start filming in January 2025 in New Zealand. None of those are correct, with no production start penciled in, although it would need to begin filming in 2025 for its planned Christmas 2026 release.
Rumors weren’t limited to production dates, either. There were two major casting rumors in 2024, with Louis Patridge and Saoirse Ronan rumored to be attached. Neither is currently the case. Rumors also extended to Gerwig getting out of the project too citing the fact that the director is adamant about a theatrical release.
2025 – Filming to start in the Summer and filming in London
In an interview with Deadline, producer Amy Pascal revealed a couple of new details about the upcoming production. She expressed that this version will have a “very new take” and intriguingly described it as being “all about rock and roll.” Greta Gerwig’s impressive track record and unique vision were emphasized with the producer confirming they are scheduled to begin shooting in July.
Shortly before this interview, a Times article revealed that Shepperton Studios, just outside of London and the home to a number of big Netflix Originals, will be filming home of the movies.
Where will The Chronicles of Narnia on Netflix start?
The Lion, Witch, and The Wardrobe is the natural starting point for Narnia, given that it’s the first book and it’s also where Disney chose to start, but actor Jason Isaacs, in a feature in the news outlet called The Week in November 2024, seemed to reveal that Netflix’s starting place will be The Magician’s Nephew. The actor said, “I loved all the Narnia books as a kid. When Peter was told he wouldn’t be coming back, I understood something devastating about mortality. I picked [The Magician’s Nephew] because Greta Gerwig is about to make a film of it, which I can’t wait to see.”
In November 2023, in the Variety piece mentioned above, Stuber suggested that the movies may not be adapted in order, saying:
“Obviously, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ is kind of the preeminent one, but there’s such an interesting narrative form [to the Narnia series] if you read all of them. And so that’s what she’s working on now with [producer] Amy Pascal and Mark Gordon and they’re trying to figure out how they can break the whole arc of all of it.”
Our sources told us in early 2023 that Gerwig’s first adaptation would be of The Silver Chair. Stuber’s comments tie into this, so we’ll keep our ears on more, as it’s yet to be confirmed. Netflix did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
As a reminder of the order Netflix could chose to take, here are the books in the so-called “Harper Collins” order:
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
In chronological order, however, the order is as follows:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Last Battle
That’s all we know so far. There’s a lot to be announced, a lot to be excited about, and a lot to be learned. We’ll be there every step of the way to see what’s in store for Narnia on Netflix.
Are you excited about Narnia on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
