First Look: Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia”

By
Garth Franklin
-
Netflix

The first artwork has been released for Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” her new take on the first chronological story in C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” book series.

Empire posted the art, which includes a first look at the lion Aslan who will be voiced by Meryl Streep, Emma Mackey’s take on the White Witch, and the movie’s young leads, Digory (David McKenna) and Polly (Beatrice Campbell).

In terms of her take on the property, the “Barbie” helmer says don’t expect the most straightforward adaptation:

“I wanted a rock opera. I wanted it to be big and transporting. Narnia is literally a world made out of music. It is a world sung to life by Aslan, and rock ’n’ roll to me felt like a world made out of music.”

Key to that is the shift of the story from the early 1900s to a post-war 1950s Britain. That gies the children Digory and Polly a new outlook:

“They had this relationship to pain and loss and something as unpromising as a bomb site, and they made a castle. They made a universe. They made something you could live inside of. I don’t know how you went from David Jones to David Bowie unless you went to Narnia and you saw something.”

Speaking with the outlet about why Steep was the right choice to lend her voice to Aslan, Gerwig says:

“I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness. Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight. I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one.”

The film sees the two friends touch a magical ring that sends them hurtling into another world. They also accidentally release an evil sorceress from her enchanted sleep . She, hungry for ultimate power, is determined to destroy everyone and every world in her path.

But a song from the Great Lion, Aslan, awakens a new hope and a new world: Narnia, where anything is possible.

Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds and Daniel Craig co-star in the film which gets IMAX previews on February 10th 2027, a theatrical run on February 12th and will stream on Netflix April 2nd.