I know a lot of us (myself included) hopes that Greta will stay close to the books as much as possible. Though she doesn't have to be a 100% accurate (because adaptations are not anyways). If she wants to extend on some things in the books or even characters, I would be fine with that, as long as it doesn't come to the point of being too distracting.

Ah, I've just noticed that the "Latest News" report here on NarniaWeb, about filming beginning in August, has now been re-labelled as "DEBUNKED" — it turns out that the What's On Netflix website has taken that report down. So it looks like we can conclude it's not true.

I'm really quite relieved, much though I'm looking forward to seeing a new Narnia adaptation at last (at least to see what it's like, whether or not I personally like the results!). August is so close that, even if Gerwig and her team had been doing a whole lot of confidential work behind the scenes, it would seem very rushed. I'd hate to think that the new screen version of Narnia might come out looking like it was hastily thrown together to meet a deadline. I'd rather have them take their time over it and make the best they can out of it, even if it means we have to wait another year or two (or even longer) for the finished product!

@courtenay Hopefully by 2027. I’m praying for it. Anything longer I might start pulling out at my hair.  

I thought I'd explain why I'm not super excited about Greta Gerwig specifically doing a Narnia adaptation even though she's a Big Deal in the moviemaking world. I believe that she's a director who puts thought into every single shot in her movies. But she doesn't actually succeed in stirring the desired emotions in me with those shots. Like the only time I remember really admiring her cinematography was the opening scene of Little Women. The main character gives a manuscript to a magazine editor and says it's a story her friend wrote. Then we cut to a closeup of her hands and see they're covered with ink stains. I love that! The only movie she's done with particularly fun visuals is Barbie and honestly, I don't even get why people are so gaga over those. Like people say how great it is that everything looks like a Barbie playset or accessory only life size and I'm like...well, yeah! That's whole premise of the story. What else were you expecting it to look like? I expect the visuals for Netflix's Narnia to be perfectly competent but nothing that'll really capture my imagination.

I know Gerwig has made movies that are some people's personal favorites so my dismissing her visual style might hurt some feelings. But, well, one of my favorite movies is Les Misérables (2012), the director of which also put thought into every shot, and people on the internet condemn that film all the time. And they don't just say the visuals are pedestrian. They find them annoying. So, I believe Greta Gerwig fans will recover from reading this post just like I've recovered from my favorites being criticized.  

Louis Partridge has been cast in Greta Gerwig’s ‘THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA’ adaptation for Netflix.

https://x.com/FilmUpdates/status/1830882055967645750

https://deadline.com/2024/09/breaking-baz-alfonso-cuaron-disclaimer-oscar-consideration-1236076028/

"I also notice that Greta Gerwig has read the memo about him because she has cast Partridge in her untitled Chronicles of Narnia project for Netflix."

@rilianix Just to clarify, that rumour has been debunked — here's the NarniaWeb news posting on it.

I did see the same rumour being promoted on a British TV guide's website just earlier, which surprised me — obviously it's got about, and I'm guessing so many people are getting desperate for news about the new Netflix / Gerwig Narnia production that writers of articles will jump at even the tiniest hint of something new to say, even if it's totally unverified.

It's getting to be a bit of a bore, honestly, especially when it's already been so many years since Netflix originally announced they were going to do a Narnia series. I mean — I don't know much at all about how film and TV productions work, but is it actually normal for there to be this level of secrecy about a new movie or series, for this long? Couldn't they at least tell us which book(s) Gerwig is planning to adapt, or hint at even a vague timeline? I can understand them not wanting too much info to leak out ahead of time, but being so extremely tight-lipped about it is problematic too — especially when incorrect rumours start flying around in the absence of any genuine and factual information. 

We can expect that fake or wishful thinking news will get about, because people will get excited when they see something posted, even if the names are not known to them. This is what it was like before each of the three Walden films; the reason we have a Rumours forum here is because these will pop up regularly!

Probably more so because Greta is a known name (all sorts of people loved Barbie, lots enjoyed Little Women), and many people are so longing to hear news of a Narnia film or series.

I did find it somewhat interesting that as soon as the Louis Partridge rumour came up, everyone instantly assumed it meant he was being cast as an aged-up Digory Kirke in MN, although there was no indication of that anywhere. If the rumour had been true, then for all we know, he could in fact have been cast as an aged-up Peter in LWW, since we still have no confirmation of which one Gerwig is going to do first. (I can imagine Peter being played by a 21-year-old who's able to look 16 or 17, as you could believably have Peter that age without ruining the story. Whereas making Digory any older than he is in the book — about 12, according to Lewis's timeline — would take away quite a bit of his vulnerability in fearing he'll lose his mother, as people were discussing in other threads about the rumour. I really can't see that working.)

I guess all we can do is keep on hoping for real and verified news some time soon, or soon-ish...  

Posted by: @courtenay

I did find it somewhat interesting that as soon as the Louis Partridge rumour came up, everyone instantly assumed it meant he was being cast as an aged-up Digory Kirke in MN, although there was no indication of that anywhere. 

To be fair, the rumour all stemmed form an IMDB cast listing which had him down as Digory Kirke.

I suspect it was added by a fan who saw him dressed up in Victorian period costume in Enola Holmes, and didn't realise he had aged a good 5 or 6 years since then and is now a man in his twenties.

Still, I guess they had 25 year old Ben Barnes playing the 13 year old Caspian, so stranger things have happened.

@icarus Ah, I didn't see the original IMDB posting, so that explains it. Still a bit strange that someone would post that online in the first place when there was never any actual evidence for any of it, but people do odd things.

I do hope the next version of Prince Caspian, whoever it's made by, won't age Caspian up again. He's meant to be "only a kid", in his words, who has to step up and find his way in the adventure — and the war — he's thrust into. Definitely not a mature guy and a love interest for Susan...  

Posted by: @courtenay

Still a bit strange that someone would post that online in the first place when there was never any actual evidence for any of it, but people do odd things.

That’s true, they do. That’s why you shouldn’t take everything that’s posted online as fact, because it may not be. 

Posted by: @courtenay

I do hope the next version of Prince Caspian, whoever it's made by, won't age Caspian up again. He's meant to be "only a kid", in his words, who has to step up and find his way in the adventure — and the war — he's thrust into. Definitely not a mature guy and a love interest for Susan...  

Yes. Though they’ll probably end up having Caspian portrayed by two or even three actors- when he’s a child in PC, when he’s a young man in VDT and when he’s old in SC. But that’s right: not mature and not romantically involved with Susan. 

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

That’s true, they do. That’s why you shouldn’t take everything that’s posted online as fact, because it may not be. 

Having been around since before the World Wide Web existed, I did know that.   But as I said, it does show how desperate everyone is for news about Netflix's Narnia, that these total furphies come up and get circulated. I'm guessing we'll see more of them unless and until we get some reliable information, unfortunately.

Though they’ll probably end up having Caspian portrayed by two or even three actors- when he’s a child in PC, when he’s a young man in VDT and when he’s old in SC. But that’s right: not mature and not romantically involved with Susan. 

They could probably get away with using the same actor for him in both PC and VDT, since he only ages three years in between those two stories — of course the Walden movies used Ben Barnes (already too old for the part) for both, whereas the BBC version used two different actors, who bore no resemblance to each other apart from both having curly hair. Obviously they do need someone elderly to play him in SC, since he needs to be unrecognisable even to Eustace!

Posted by: @courtenay

@icarus Ah, I didn't see the original IMDB posting, so that explains it. Still a bit strange that someone would post that online in the first place when there was never any actual evidence for any of it, but people do odd things.

I think the psychology of some people is that they think that if they can promote their fan casting as being real, it will somehow manifest itself into actuality.

A few year back I would have just called.that wishful thinking from over-eager fans, but given that studios have started to lean into internet memes for their fan service moments in big movies recently (like giving John Krasinski a cameo in Doctor Strange 2 off the back of a long-running internet fan casting) maybe these people suddenly feel more emboldened to try their luck?

Posted by: @icarus

I think the psychology of some people is that they think that if they can promote their fan casting as being real, it will somehow manifest itself into actuality.

A few year back I would have just called.that wishful thinking from over-eager fans, but given that studios have started to lean into internet memes for their fan service moments in big movies recently (like giving John Krasinski a cameo in Doctor Strange 2 off the back of a long-running internet fan casting) maybe these people suddenly feel more emboldened to try their luck?

Riiiiight. So you mean, if enough of us NarniaWebbers get together, agree on our dream cast for the new series, and start posting claims all over the Web that this is what's going to happen, it might just...???  

(Only joking. I do not actually advocate doing this, partly because it's not exactly honest and partly because it's not exactly likely to work.)

Posted by: @courtenay

I don't know much at all about how film and TV productions work, but is it actually normal for there to be this level of secrecy about a new movie or series, for this long? Couldn't they at least tell us which book(s) Gerwig is planning to adapt, or hint at even a vague timeline?

An idea has occurred to me as to why Netflix hasn't listed a title yet, but I don't want it to be true, so I haven't shared it out of an irrational fear doing so will make it so. The idea is that they might combine the stories of (at least) two Narnia books into one movie. In that case, they might not be sure what the title would be. FWIW, Greta Gerwig's Little Women, as well as every other cinematic adaptation, sort of did this though not intentionally. You see, originally, the first half of the book, in which the titular characters are kids and teens, was one book and the second half was a sequel titled Good Wives. I don't remember when or why they started being published as a single story titled Little Women, but they did. (I suspect it was because the sequel wasn't as fun as the original and it wouldn't sell as many copies otherwise. )

What Gerwig's adaptation did that the publishers didn't was intersperse the second half of Little Women, formerly known as Good Wives, with scenes from the first half. It occurred to me that she could do something similar with Narnia. (Prince Caspian interspersed with flashbacks of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe interspersed with flashbacks of The Magician's Nephew.) I don't particularly think she will do that just because she did it with one movie though. If anything, that might motivate her not to do it since that would lead to accusations of repeating herself. (And, as I said, it was the publisher's idea to combine two books, not any moviemaker's.) But it would be a reason for Netflix to be so cagy about the first movie's title and it would explain why they've talked about carefully planning the structure of their series.