Chronicles of Narnia: Greta Gerwig is “properly scared” to tackle fantasy series for Netflix

Barbie director Greta Gerwig will soon be shifting her focus to another mythical land as she’s been tapped to write and direct at least two Chronicles of Narnia movies for Netflix. While speaking on the Total Film podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), Greta Gerwig admitted that she’s “properly scared” of tackling Narnia.

“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,” Greta Gerwig said of the Narnia movies. “I think when I’m scared, it’s always a good sign. Maybe when I stop being scared, it’ll be like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do that one.’ No, I’m terrified of it. It’s extraordinary. And it’s exciting.” It’s a big project, no doubt, but I have faith Gerwig can pull it off; And maybe we’ll finally get a complete adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ saga.

The last live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy series started off strong with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The first film grossed $745 million worldwide, but the sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, made significantly less with $419 million. Another lackluster sequel followed, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and that seemed to spell the end of the Narnia franchise. Netflix has been developing these projects for quite some time as they signed a multi-year deal for The Chronicles of Narnia franchise five years ago.

While Greta Gerwig may not have seemed like the obvious choice to direct The Chronicles of Narnia, she told Total Film that she doesn’t want to restrict her career to the same types of movies. “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.“

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is now playing in theaters and is on track for an impressive box-office take alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. You can check out a review of Barbie from our own Chris Bumbray right here.