Here we go! Netflix has revealed the first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s anticipated Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, and it’s definitely not the stodgy, British fantasy film most of us remember from childhood. In fact, Gerwig goes big by setting the whole thing to the sound of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven.” The expectations she’s setting are very high, but as she showed with Barbie, she’s more than capable of surpassing them.
Newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell star as Digory and Polly, with Emma Mackey as Jadis, the future White Witch. Along with Meryl Streep as the kingly lion, Aslan, there’s Carey Mulligan, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma. Excellent casting.
Gerwig previously said she wanted her vision of Narnia to be a “rock opera”, and it certainly seems that is the vibe she’s going for. “I wanted a rock opera. I wanted it to be big and transporting.”
She continued, “David Bowie saved my life. Paul McCartney saved my life. David Gilmour saved my life. Pete Townshend saved my life. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant…“When I heard their music, I had this deep sense of [thinking], ‘You’re gonna be okay.’”
Gerwig connects those artists and their music to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, which was sung into existence by the Christ-like Aslan… “Narnia is literally a world made out of music. It is a world sung to life by Aslan, and rock ’n’ roll to me felt like a world made out of music.”
The music is also key to Gerwig’s biggest change from Lewis’ novel. Instead of the early 1900s, Digory and Polly find themselves in 1950s postwar London, part of the generation that helped change British culture through music. Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt provide the original score.
So yeah, it sounds like Gerwig is going all out with this one, and why shouldn’t she? Netflix has ponied up a hefty $200M, so they have faith in her create something fresh and groundbreaking as she did with Barbie. It has also promised Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew a 45-day theatrical window beginning February 10th with IMAX previews, followed by nationwide theaters two days later, and finally Netflix on April 2nd.
