Greta Gerwig is so scared about work on her next film that she’s having nightmares about it.
Although she did not provide details on what this next project might be, at a recent BFI London Film Festival interview, Gerwig did mention that work on her post-“Barbie” film is already underway:
“I’m working on something right now. It’s hard and I’m having recurring nightmares.”
Although Gerwig is credited as a writer on Disney’s upcoming “Snow White” live-action movie, she’s not the director. So we must assume that she’s probably talking about her upcoming “Chronicles of Narnia” movie which, if I was her, would also cause me unending anxiety. It’s quite the undertaking.
Answering a question about whether her upcoming project would depict the female perspective as on “Lady Bird”, “Little Women,” and “Barbie”, Gerwig said, “I didn’t intend for those to be that way. But I’m extremely interested in the lives of girls and women.”
Gerwig signed on for ‘Narnia’ many months before “Barbie” was released to the public. I don’t think she realized at the time how big “Barbie” would become. She now has a deal with Netflix to write and direct “at least two films” based on C. S. Lewis’s fantasy stories.
Of course, you can believe that Gerwig is talented behind the camera and that she shouldn’t be doing these children’s adaptations. Will she bring anything new to ‘Narnia,’ which has been adapted to death on-screen — maybe? People doubted she could bring a fresh spin to “Barbie,” but she clearly did something original with the I.P. she was given.
Still, if you were Gerwig, hot off the heels of the most popular film of the year, wouldn’t you also be having nightmares about adapting and directing two Narnia films?
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.