What's New With Netflix's Narnia Series?

I forgot that almost five years ago that Netflix was under contract to make movies and a series based on CS Lewis's, The Chronicles of Narnia. You may not even know that it was happened! For someone who loves the books and the Disney/Walden Media adaptation of The Lion Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, using Netflix and the beloved stories in the same sentences makes me cringe a little. Netflix has produced some great series - Stranger Things, Mind Hunter, Wednesday, but there's no doubt that Netflix caters to an adult audience, and C.S. Lewis's stories are family friendly stories that target children. 

Saying all of that, has there been any updates on what's happening with Narnia with Netflix, and what will they be doing with it? 

Let's first chat about WHY Netflix bought the rights in the first place. It's no surprise that fantasy series have gained traction. Game of Thrones, House of Dragon and the latest Rings of Power series have been popular. To compete with these franchises, Netflix bought the rights to all seven books in 2018. Netflix saw The Chronicles of Narnia as an opportunity to compete with HBO and Amazon but even four years later, not much has been shared.

Fans of the Narnia series know that the Pevensie children aren't Starks, Targaryens or anything like the people from Game of Thrones. To keep it family friendly and to help fans of the series stay engaged, Netflix plans to make the Narnia series family friendly. According to a press release shared from 2018, "Under the terms of a multi-year deal between Netflix and the CS Lewis Company, Netflix will develop classic stories from across the Narnia Universe into a series and films for its members worldwide." Basically, Netflix is making a Narnia Universe based on all seven books, which has never been done before. 

There hasn't been any information shared on who will star in these series, or if any of the cast from the Disney/Walden Media movies will return. We do know that Mark Gordon, Vincent Sieber (he worked on the previous Disney/Walden Media Narnia movies) and Douglas Greshman (C.S. Lewis step-son) will be involved in most of the upcoming Narnia projects. We also know that Matthew Aldrich, will serve as the creative architect for the series, you'd know his work best from Disney's Coco. In June 2020, he did an interview where he said that he runs the scripts he is writing by his own kids and other children to see what excites them about these stories and keeps the parts kids are interested in and elaborates on those.

Since this announcement in 2020, there hasn't been much shared on production. Tweets on Netflix France's thread say that the Narnia series is still moving forward. But if you need something to think on while we wait, according to various news sources, it has been rumored that Netflix is in talks with Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) on directing two Narnia films. 

As a fan, I'm excited to see what Netflix has in store, as long as they keep the stories family friendly. The stories mean so much to me, their messages of redemption and sacrifice are what make them gold, and those are stories we rarely see today. Fans of C.S Lewis know that he wrote these books to make Bible stories entertaining for kids. If Netflix plans to pull their own stories together based on characters from the books, I really hope they continue to make the Pevensie's magnificent, valiant, just and gentle. To stand out from their competition this is the most important thing I think they will have to do. This is what Game of Thrones and House of Dragon lack, and even though those stories are compelling, there isn't goodness in those universes, everyone has an angle and it's corrupt. I'd like to see in a fantasy series now.