Greta Gerwig Is "Terrified" of Directing the "Daunting" Narnia Movies For Netflix

Way back in 2018, Netflix announced that it had nabbed the rights to develop new TV series and films based on C.S. Lewis's most revered series, The Chronicles of Narnia. A year later, the streamer announced that "Coco" scribe Matthew Aldrich would be overseeing all the live-action adaptations. Then, in a July 3 article, The New Yorker reported that Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig will be directing "at least two" Narnia movies for Netflix.

Lewis published the seven Narnia novels in the 1950s. They follow four siblings — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie — who find the magical world of Narnia at the back of their wardrobe and go on to have fantastical adventures. Perhaps the most memorable Narnia resident is Aslan, the great lion, who Lewis wrote as a parallel to Jesus Christ.

Gerwig addressed how she feels about helming the movies in the July 20 episode of the "Inside Total Film" podcast. "I haven't even really started wrapping my arms around it. But I'm properly scared of it, which feels like a good place to start. I think when I'm scared, it's always a good sign," Gerwig confessed, per People. "Maybe when I stop being scared, it'll be like, 'Okay. Maybe I shouldn't do that one.' No, I'm terrified of it. It's extraordinary. And so we'll see."

Of her filmmaking future, the Oscar nominee explained, "I hope to make all different kinds of movies in the course of the time I get to make movies, which – it's a long time, but it's also limited. I want to do big things and small things and everywhere in between, and having another big canvas is exciting and also daunting."

The Chronicles of Narnia book series has been adapted for TV multiple times, including in a 1979 animated cartoon series and a live-action series from the BBC that aired between 1988 and 1990. In 2005, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was released in theaters, the first in a new series of films. The story continued in 2008's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and 2010's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," but the production company ultimately lost the rights to Netflix and abandoned plans to adapt the series further.

As for Gerwig, she just released the box office smash hit "Barbie" film, which is her third solo directing credit. She also wrote and directed 2017's "Lady Bird" and 2019's "Little Women," which, like Narnia, is an adaptation of a beloved novel. She is also co-credited as a writer on Disney's upcoming live-action "Snow White."