Daniel Craig has been cast in Greta Grewig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.” Yes, that’s seemingly the title that’s been circulating for a few days now.
Craig’s involvement with ‘Narnia’ could also be the reason why he recently dropped out of Luca Guadagnino’s “Sgt Rock,” which was supposed to shoot around the same time as ‘Narnia,’ but that’s just speculation.
It looks like Craig is being eyed for the role of Uncle Andrew Ketterley. He joins Charli XCX as the only other cast member so far announced for Gerwig’s film. Still waiting for Saoirse Ronan’s inevitable casting announcement …
We don’t know much about Gerwig’s planned ‘Narnia’ adaptations for Netflix, but all indications are that Gerwig will be tackling “The Magician’s Nephew.” Her Netflix deal is comprised of two movies she needs to direct. Word recently came out, via Bloomberg, that with or without Gerwig, Netflix were planning to produce eight ‘Narnia’ movies.
‘Magician’s Nephew’ would certainly be a fresh new take on the franchise. If Gerwig were to begin her set of films with a prequel story, this would likely broaden the audience and introduce essential plot elements for the next instalment.
It should also be worth noting that ‘Narnia’ author C.S. Lewis preferred ‘Magician's Nephew’ as the first book in the series and wanted it to be read before all of the other ones.
Rehearsals and filming for Gerwig’s franchise launcher are scheduled to take place in the UK from June through Christmas 2025. A fall production start is being eyed. Auditions are currently taking place for a boy and a girl, portraying characters that are “10 or 11 years old.”
‘Narnia’ has a controversial IMAX November 2026 release planned out. A recent report (via Observer) claimed that the budget on the film would probably “exceed” $200M.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.