I'm willing to be fairly definitive on this one.. it's close to zero on the believability scale for me.

For all of the following reasons:

• The website isn't an authoritative industry source (like Deadline).
• The website isn't a respected movie media outlet (like Collider).
• The website haven't offered up any sources of their own 
• The timing is too early for voice casting.
• Meryl Streep feels all wrong for a Greta Gerwig casting.
• Meryl Streep is too old for the role (75)
• Meryl Streep is American.
• Greta Gerwig has said how careful she's being with the adaptation.
• Female lions don't have manes.
• It's just after Snow White hit the headlines for it's own controversies.
• It's exactly the sort of click bait culture war nonsense that Twitter eats up.

Oh yeah and it's April 1 for half the planet right now.

It would just defy belief for Netflix to let slip this exact sort of information, to such a random source,.on this exact date, at exactly the time you don't want your IP getting embroiled in an online culture war.

1. It's April Fool's Day here.

2. Douglas Gresham has strongly indicated that Aslan should not be played as a female (?by a female). I have seen a copy of a letter he sent to a theatre company about this.  I'm sure that the C.S.Lewis Co will continue to insist this.

Update:

3.  The information is incorrect; Lewis did not write Aslan as an allegory!!  (just a representation)

Admittedly, my fear is wanting me to believe it’s true 😔

But I’m holding onto the hope that this rumour is false. Not only would it fly in the face of C.S. Lewis but also what Greta Gerwig herself has shared publicly about the project.

Posted by: @coracle

Douglas Gresham has strongly indicated that Aslan should not be played as a female (?by a female). I have seen a copy of a letter he sent to a theatre company about this.  I'm sure that the C.S.Lewis Co will continue to insist this.

Does the C. S. Lewis Estate still have the final say over what Narnia adaptations get made though? It's been a while, and the copyright might have expired.

Please don't take that to mean I believe the rumor! I mean, I can't disprove it, but it would make more sense for it not to be true, largely for reasons that both you and Icarus have mentioned. 

If Meryl Streep were to be offered a role in The Magician's Nephew, my guess would be Aunt Letty. (Or maybe Mrs. Lefay if they want to show her in flashback or something.) 

@impending-doom I found out about this from Not the Bee (not exactly a formal news source, but it does link up to formal sources). I'm hoping it's not true. I've been skeptical of Gerwig since she harbors very anti-Christian views. In the end, the C.S. Lewis estate holds the ultimate decision, so I'm hoping they have common sense. 

@icarus You make a very fair point there

Posted by: @carithewriter

 I've been skeptical of Gerwig since she harbors very anti-Christian views.. 

I actually don't think that's true at all.

Have a read of the "Everything Greta Gerwig has said" section on Christianity:

https://www.narniaweb.com/everything-greta-gerwig-has-said-about-netflixs-narnia-movies/

Yes, she is not a currently practising Christian (but neither was Adamson or Apted as far as I could tell) however in every single interview she's given about every one of her movies so far, she has always spoken with deep reverence for her upbringing in a Catholic school, and she clearly attaches a.lot of cultural weight and personal self-identity to that fact.

Sure, that might still not be enough for some people, but in the grand scheme of things there are very few directors who speak so openly, honestly and positively about their views.on Christianity as Greta Gerwig does.

https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/10/26/greta-gerwigs-lady-bird-rallying-cry-catholic-schoolgirls-everywhere

https://www.the74million.org/article/inside-lady-bird-greta-gerwig-says-she-wanted-to-write-a-different-kind-of-love-letter-to-catholic-school-and-it-might-just-win-her-an-oscar/

@icarus Oh, okay! I guess I'm just skeptical after seeing Christian values being disregarded in modern Hollywood. I'm just hoping that she leaves the source material as is, without sneaking in a modern "feminist" agenda. I wasn't a fan of her take on Little Women, and I really am not sure about her "Barbie."

@col-klink the Estate has legal rights over all the Lewis material except in a few specific countries where copyright laws are different from the rest of us (I know of Canada and Japan).
Permission to stage a live version of any Narnia story is usually required, except in small local groups (eg a church drama club, primary/elementary school). There are of course people who just ignore the legalities and even simple courtesy of asking.
People who assume that the copyrights have all expired are unwise.

The Netflix production is not a free-for-all. The Estate still has the right to refuse anything that is really wrong.

@carithewriter  The three Walden films were not produced by Christians, but still promoted a number of values (in spite of a few glaring changes).  Female directors aren't all extreme feminists, so please put aside your anxiety.

A pseudo-satirical site is not the best place to get trustworthy truthful information.
'In a world where the truth is more unbelievable than fiction, we bring you the headlines that make you question whether you're reading CNN or The Babylon Bee. From bizarre news to cultural chaos, “Beyond Parody” proves that the line between news and satire is thinner than ever. Get ready to laugh, cringe, and question everything. The official podcast of Not the Bee.'

Just a reminder:   ASLAN will be animated, and this is only a voice role. (yes Streep has a deep voice).

Posted by: @carithewriter

I found out about this from Not the Bee (not exactly a formal news source, but it does link up to formal sources). I'm hoping it's not true. I've been skeptical of Gerwig since she harbors very anti-Christian views.

Just a quick journalistic note: If Not the Bee, World of Reel, or MovieWeb all reference the same source, that doesn’t necessarily add any additional credibility to the original rumour. Confirmation bias and the drive for engagement often lead sites to run with unverified claims rather than conducting their own investigations.

If this story is picked up by Deadline, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, or Variety, that would indicate a secondary source has corroborated it. Until then, it's still just one site claiming this.

Part of the reason I'm refusing to believe this is actually because of how positive Gerwig has spoken of aspects of Christianity especially. I think there's a lot of presumption of what she believes online. Of course, this thread is definitely not the place but that extended discussion but would recommend reading the article @icarus linked to 😊 

Posted by: @col-klink

Does the C. S. Lewis Estate still have the final say over what Narnia adaptations get made though? It's been a while, and the copyright might have expired.

It's hard to say... Vincent Seiber (Director of the C.S. Lewis Company) is a producer on Netflix's Narnia but I'm pretty sure it operates independently of the Estate. The books' copyright will always belong to them though!

Posted by: @carithewriter

I wasn't a fan of her take on Little Women

Are you familiar with the original book by Louisa May Alcott? Because in my experience, people who object to the 2019 movie seem to be more fans of the 1994 movie than of the source material. There are actually a lot of things about the 2019 adaptation that are closer to it than other movie versions.

• It depicts Amy's romantic subplot in detail. In most film versions, it just comes across as a random and unsatisfying case of Pair the Spares.
• It shows Meg having struggles after her wedding. Most film versions lose interest in her at that point.
• It includes Marmee confiding in Jo that she has anger management issues too. FWIW, the 2017 miniseries also includes that if I recall correctly but none of the other movies do. 
• It depicts the relationship between Beth and Mr. Laurence Sr in more detail than other movie versions. This is notable in that I'd expect someone with Gerwig's politics to be hostile to the character. 
• It's the only movie version to really show Prof. Bhaer interacting with Jo's family and show that he fits into it well.

Of course, that doesn't mean the movie doesn't take any license with the book or that everyone has to like it or that Greta Gerwig wouldn't cast Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan. I'm sorry for going so far off topic. I just find the topic a lot more appealing that the casting rumor. I heard that the Talking Beasts podcast was going to do an episode that was like a debate between a Little Women fan who liked the 2019 adaptation and a fan who disliked it. I'd love to listen to that. 

Posted by: @impending-doom

Confirmation bias and the drive for engagement often lead sites to run with unverified claims rather than conducting their own investigations.

Ain't that the truth?  

I'm on the April 1st bandwagon.

But I've said it elsewhere and I'll say it again here. Should they make Aslan female, I'm out.

@fantasia FWIW, I'd prefer an adaptation that kept all Aslan's dialogue from the book and made him female than an adaptation that kept him male but changed his personality a lot. Not that those are the only two choices. 

Even though a female Aslan wouldn't ruin the movie for me personally, I think it would be an incredibly poor decision to go that route from a pure business/financial perspective as there WOULD be a sizable backlash from Narnia's core audience and it would lead to fans boycotting the project altogether.  

I'm going with the April 1st thing, honestly — along with the fact that this rumour didn't come from any kind of reputable website.

On the other hand, it's exactly the sort of thing that a satirical writer would deliberately toss out there, in the knowledge that the Narnia books have a Christian basis, just for the fun of watching the fans jumping up and down and screaming in utter horror. Which some, it seems, are already doing, particularly as the idea of a female director, and one who is not a practising Christian, is obviously already upsetting enough for some people.

I know this isn't a place for political or theological debates, and rightly so, but it might be worth noting that there's a lot of variety within both Christianity and feminism worldwide, and in fact there ARE such things as feminist Christians and feminist Christian theologies. Not that Gerwig herself identifies with any of these, as far as we know, but I'm just pointing that out in the interests of fairness and accuracy.

And in the meantime, if the rumour IS true... well, Meryl Streep is well-known as an utterly brilliant actress, and she can do a very credible English accent, as shown in her almost scarily accurate portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady!! And if it really did come to this, well — overall, I too would rather have a female Aslan who is otherwise true to Aslan's character in the books, than a male Aslan who is otherwise not much like what Lewis created.

But I really, really don't think it's going to happen. I honestly reckon it is just someone trying to troll all those Christian fans of Narnia — and trolls are better left unfed.