|
It’s been years since Netflix announced a reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia franchise. Things are finally moving in a positive direction, though, with Barbie‘s Greta Gerwig attached to direct. However, fans can’t get over the fact that Charli XCX is up for the role of the White Witch.
Deadline broke the story, revealing that the musician is one of many people up for the villainous role. The news was met with a mixed response, with some fans being open to the idea of seeing Charli XCX continue to build up her acting resume. After all, she’s gearing up to appear in a movie from Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan called The Gallerist alongside Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega.
The other side of the Internet isn’t a fan of the artist making the transition, mostly because the Narnia franchise is so beloved and already dealt with botched adaptations in the early 2000s. They don’t want anything to go wrong, and taking a chance on someone who doesn’t have a lot of acting experience is a massive risk.
“The hope I had for this adaptation lasted for exactly one announcement, that’s crazy,” wrote one X user.
“Who asked for this??” asked another.
One argument against her playing Jadis that’s gaining a lot of traction doesn’t have anything to do with Charli XCX at all. Instead, it’s about how well Tilda Swinton tackled the role in the first live-action go-around, striking fear into children around the world. Some feel as if Swinton should just return and torment Peter and the rest of the gang once again, but Deadline didn’t mention her as one of the other actors going after the part.
The issue with bringing back actors from the original films is that there’s a certain stigma around them. While the first movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, had a great box office run, bringing home more than $700 million worldwide, the two sequels struggled, raking in just over $400 million a piece. A fourth film was in development at Walden Media for a while, but it failed to materialize, which allowed Netflix to swoop in and make a deal with the C. S. Lewis Company.
The good news is that, despite causing a stir with its first rumored casting choice, Netflix is looking to do right by the Narnia property. It’s already locked down a two-week IMAX run for the first movie in Thanksgiving 2026 before it releases on the streaming platform. Gerwig is also rumored to be looking at child actors for the main roles, which would make the project hew more closely to Lewis’ source material.
Content shared from www.escapistmagazine.com.
Published: Mar 6, 2025 01:39 pm