My gut: I am not taking this as a hint that she is working on The Magician's Nephew. I think she is just playfully expressing how early in the creative process she is.

We've heard her talk about Narnia a few times now, and she always sounds very reluctant to talk about it and chooses her words very carefully. I think she does not want to reveal anything. If she really was working on MN right now, I wouldn't dropping a hint like this be the last thing she would want to do?

With each new interview, it becomes increasingly clear that Gerwig does has an established relationship with the books. Which should be welcomed news by all — even those sceptical of her handling Narnia.

Glad to hear Narnia means something personal to her and I’m really excited to hear more of that history. 

Posted by: @impending-doom

Was she intentionally hinting at The Magician's Nephew being the first book adapted?

Whichever script she's adapting first, she appears to be going back through all of the books and studying up on them again. Unlike Andrew Adamson who made the LWW and PC from his memory of them. I'm not reading anything about which book she's adapting into her comment, though wishful thinking makes me hopeful this IS a hint she's doing MN.

With each little interview snippet I read, I'm feeling more optimistic with Gerwig. I especially appreciate her nervousness and fear. I hope that stays with her throughout her entire time on Narnia. It leads to greater respect for the material.

It sounds to me like Gerwig still hasn't decided which book to adapt. (That seems a bit odd at this point but that's the impression I'm getting.) But the fact that she specifically referenced The Magician's Nephew makes me think she's seriously considering that one. 

Is this a thread where we can talk about whether we'd like her to do The Magician's Nephew or would that be better for another thread? I have mixed feelings about the idea which some might be interested in reading. 

Anyway, I appreciate that she referenced a book that wasn't The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is the only Narnia book non-fans remember. It's also refreshing to get any interviews about her writing process for Narnia at all after the silence from Matthew Aldrich. 

Regardless of what it means, I'd like to point out what an apt and accurate description that was of the Wood Between the Worlds. She was familiar enough with it to accurately use it in a personal example spur of the moment. I like that. It was kind of funny, because listening to the audio, she kind of stutters and hesitates whether to use the example she obviously has in her mind. I wonder if she was afraid of being too nerdy, or giving something away, or just confusing the interviewer with an obscure reference. 

So I guess Greta Gerwig is going to be doing The Magician's Nephew first. I guess it kind of makes sense, given that the past adaptations have started with The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.

So it should be interesting on what she will do with The Magician's Nephew. Then after that, will she do The Lion, The, Witch, and The Wardrobe next? Or will someone else do that, and she does The Horse And His Boy or Prince Caspian or The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or The Silver Chair or The Last Battle?

I for one am willing to wait to see how her project with Narnia turns out. Even if she decides to do something for Narnia I wouldn't be particularly crazy about, I'm just going to wait and see.

Posted by: @anfinwen

Regardless of what it means, I'd like to point out what an apt and accurate description that was of the Wood Between the Worlds. She was familiar enough with it to accurately use it in a personal example spur of the moment. I like that. It was kind of funny, because listening to the audio, she kind of stutters and hesitates whether to use the example she obviously has in her mind. I wonder if she was afraid of being too nerdy, or giving something away, or just confusing the interviewer with an obscure reference. 

I noticed that too. It's encouraging that she's thinking of "The Chronicles of Narnia" as a whole, and is clearly ruminating on them and paying attention to what they have to say. It's nice to hear a reference to one of the Narnia books in media that isn't The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for a change.  

It's also refreshing that it seems like she is being given time to let her ideas grow organically instead of being rushed to meet a deadline.

I just think this sounds incredibly positive all round. As others here have said, she's confirmed the whole series means a lot to her (her phrasing of it, "have meant a lot to me in my life", suggests this is a long-established thing, so it's likely she first read the books as a child herself); that she sees Lewis as "someone who had a lot of profound things to say"; that she's familiar with all seven books, not just the "greatest hits"; and that she thought of the Wood between the Worlds as a really apt metaphor for the state of thought she's in as she considers where to go with this project! I also don't think this necessarily means she's planning to do The Magician's Nephew first, or even at all, but it's obviously a book she's very familiar with. And I also appreciate the fact that she is clearly going about this project very carefully and not making any hasty decisions, or being pushed to do certain things, and she's wise enough not to give away very much until she herself is certain about what she's going to do. Like just about everyone else who's commented so far, I find this hugely encouraging!

She does have an understanding of themes, more than Adamson did.

(When he described what he remembered from reading LWW as a child, he had inserted a huge battle. Directly after LOTR, we were less surprised than we might have been. But if he'd read the book then, he'd have scaled it down, and probably the focus on battles in PC would have been less. )

So I'm more encouraged too.

I think the battle scene was a major problem in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, because there isn't one in the book. Yet, that's what some expected to see from fantasy movies. Maybe if Michael Adpted had followed the book more closely (or at least read it at the time), maybe it would have prevailed better.

I am also relieved that Greta Gerwig doesn't have any intention to make it about "boys vs girls", because I don't really think CS Lewis meant Narnia to be that way. We certainly don't want the issue of racism or sexism to be played out as Narnia fans.

Then of course, she'll have some other people to work closely with. So it's no like she would be making all the decisions herself.

Posted by: @coracle

When [Andrew Adamson] described what he remembered from reading LWW as a child, he had inserted a huge battle.

If she first read the stories when she was a child, it would be so interesting to ask her what scenes stuck with her the most! I'll have to remember that in case there's ever an opportunity for fans to pose questions.

One thing that I was really struck by in this interview was the fact that she's a long-time fan of the books... how many feature film directors in Hollywood can even say that? I know a lot of people are skeptical about Gerwig and Netflix doing Narnia, but at this point, I'm just incredibly grateful that we have someone at the helm who would consider themselves a fan of Narnia and C.S. Lewis. I don't think we had that with Apted, or would have had it with Johnston.

Also, hearing her describe Lewis as profound makes me think she's read more than just Narnia. I'd love to know what else she's read by Lewis, if that's the case.

Referencing the Wood Between the Worlds could be a tease... or not. Either way, it's awesome to hear her describe it with so much knowledge and appreciation!

Well, Hollywood has been known to make prequels. So The Magician's Nephew could give something for those who are most familiar with LWW (or at least have only read LWW).

Here's how I see the publication order:

LWW, PC, VDT, and SC as original stories, HHB as a midquel (taking place during LWW), MN as a prequel, and LB as a sequel.

Posted by: @coracle

She does have an understanding of themes, more than Adamson did.

(When he described what he remembered from reading LWW as a child, he had inserted a huge battle. Directly after LOTR, we were less surprised than we might have been. But if he'd read the book then, he'd have scaled it down, and probably the focus on battles in PC would have been less.)

I don't think that's actually that different from how a lot of Narniawebbers talks about the stories. They always overemphasize the parts that personally appeal to them regardless of the text. For example, on the Talking Beasts podcast, Glumpuddle says the books have low stakes and they're not about saving the world even though The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew are about saving Narnia from the White Witch, Prince Caspian is about saving Narnia from the Telmarines, The Silver Chair is about saving it from The Lady of the Green Kirtle, and The Horse and his Boy and The Last Battle are about saving it from the Calormenes. (Well, technically, HHB is about saving Archenland but you know what I mean.) Even The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has big stakes in that if Caspian doesn't return to Narnia, it will be without a king. We all view the stories through our own tastes and any adaptations we make would probably reflect those. 

Well, at least she'll have some ideas on how she wants to do Narnia, and cares about the books as any fan. Oh, I'm not expecting her to get it 100% right, because I don't think we really can.

There are some things in the books that she may have to change to make it work for a new medium, and I get that. She may even have to add some things. Well, if done well and if it really adds to the story, it might turn out good.

Well, since she's going to be directing at least 2 Narnia films (unless she ends up directing all seven), I kind of wonder if that would mean if the new Narnia film franchise are to going through different directors (like Andrew Adamson and Michael Adpted for Walden Media and what Joe Johnston was going to do for The Mark Gordon Company)? I think some film franchise have changed directors (like Steven Spielberg directed the first Jurassic Park films and Joe Johnson directed the third, which a lot of fans of the original like to pretend it doesn't exist and even the Harry Potter film franchise have gone through different directors). I think that will be interesting whether Greta Gerwig will end up directing all seven books or will the franchise be going through different directors.