Saoirse Ronan Lands Role in Greta Gerwig's ‘Narnia'

Last we heard about Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia,” according to its writer-director, the project was going “full speed ahead” and the film was being described as “ambitious.”

“Narnia” still hasn’t started production, and no cast details have leaked yet. With that said, I can report that Saoirse Ronan has landed an undisclosed role in the film. Ronan has already starred in two Gerwig films (“Lady Bird” and “Little Women”) and I’m being told that it’s a supporting turn in “Narnia.”

Earlier in the year, Deadline reported that Louis Partridge, who previously starred in “Enola Holmes” and “Argylle,” was also cast in Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ movies. That report got quickly shut down by Netflix. Partridge is not in the film.

Gerwig has not mentioned which of Lewis's novels she is adapting, but she will be directing at least two films, and some reports have suggested that one of them will be “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Production on the first chapter was supposed to begin this fall, but it’s possible it might have been delayed to early 2025.

If you can believe it, they’re looking at seven months of production on “Narnia,” which tells me that Gerwig might be shooting both films back to back. Initially, when the project first got the greenlight, the plan was for a December 2025 release on Netflix.

Gerwig has admitted to getting “recurrent nightmares” about the project. In another interview, she said she was actually “terrified.” She did mention that part of the lure for this project was that she grew up with these stories and that the “female perspective” in them had some major potential.

Gerwig signed on to direct ‘Narnia’ months before “Barbie” was released to the public — sometime in late 2022. I don’t think she realized at the time how big “Barbie” would get. She now has a deal with Netflix to write and direct “at least two films” based on C. S. Lewis’ fantasy stories.