How does Greta Gerwig follow up the billion-dollar success ofBarbie? It certainly won’t be a case of the filmmaker resting on her laurels. Rather, the director and co-writer of the Mattel doll’s bright-pink blockbuster will tackle yet another huge intellectual property,The Chronicles of Narnia. Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos said in a brand-new interview that Gerwig is an “incredible visionary.” And he went on to promise that Gerwig’s take on the source material will also be “rooted in faith.” Sarandos toldTime:
It won’t be counter to how the audience may have imagined those worlds, but it will be bigger and bolder than they thought.
In addition to her career endeavors, Gerwig recently became Time’s Woman of the Year. And during a sit-down recognizing the honor, Gerwig revealed that she was drawn toThe Chronicles of Narniabecause it felt “euphorically dreamlike” to the filmmaker. Gerwig said in the same interview:
“It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions. As a child, you accept the whole thing — that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic. I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them.”
Greta Gerwig’s Filmmaking Approach
WhileGreta Gerwigmight have been inexplicablysnubbed for a Best Director Oscar nomination, that slight won’t prevent the talented Hollywood creative from moving forward in Tinseltown. The success ofBarbiewill undoubtedly open doors for someone who is, with each and every movie, becoming more of a modern-day auteur than simply a filmmaker. However, when it comes to bringing her projects to life, Gerwig doesn’t need a crystal ball to know what to choose next. Rather, she relies on simple humanity. Gerwig said in the same interview with Time:
“You don’t need specialized knowledge to watch a movie. All you need is your human experience. Everybody knows what it is to love people, and everybody knows what it is to lose people […] There are a lot of smart people who can guide you along and make your movie the best it can be, but at the end of the day, it’s always you making the choice. You’re your own Wizard of Oz, in a wonderful way. Hang on. No, I guess the Wizard of Oz is a fraud. He leaves on that balloon. It’s Glinda! So maybe you’re some combination of Glinda and the man behind the curtain.”
Is Greta Gerwig the Future of Blockbuster Cinema?
Greta Gerwig has directed three very successful films for different reasons. Is she the future of cinema?
Gerwig added:
The power was always within you.
During her time in London, Gerwig has been in Soho busily working on her adaptation of author C.S. Lewis’The Chronicles of Narniaseries — starting with the first installment:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe(1950). So, it will be sometime before a release date is revealed. But rest assured, the grandeur ofGerwig’s growing list of must-see filmswill only expand with Netflix’sNarnia. However, for the time being, fans check out Gerwig’s Time Woman of the Year video interview in its entirety below:
