Netflix bosses have lifted the lid on what Greta Gerwig has in store for her first project since the hugely successful Barbie movie.
It was widely reported that Greta, who helmed the films Lady Bird and Little Women before putting her spin on Barbie, would be adapting the C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles Of Narnia for the streaming giant.
And it sounds like it could be her most epic work to date.
As part of an interview with Time magazine, Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos praised Greta as an “incredible visionary”, and hinted at what she was planning for the film.
“It won’t be counter to how the audience may have imagined those worlds, but it will be bigger and bolder than they thought,” he teased.
Intriguingly, he also said that Greta’s version of Narnia will be “rooted in faith”, in keeping with the original stories.
Elsewhere in Time’s piece, Greta revealed that she’d actually been working on her Narnia movie since before Barbie came along.
Enthusing about the Narnia stories, the Oscar nominee said: “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.”
Greta previously told Radio 4 of her latest venture: “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.”
Next week, Greta will attend the Oscars, where she’s in the running for the Best Adapted Screenplay prize for her work on Barbie.
The film is up for eight awards in total – although it’s also been at the centre of debate thanks to Greta’s apparent “snub” in the Best Director category, while leading star Margot Robbie is also missing from the Best Actress shortlist.