Conflict in Netflix‘ Narnia

Door Jam: October 19, 2024

Oct 19, 2024

∙ Paid

The Door Jam is a place to squeeze in relevant articles written about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, their work, adaptations of their fantasy worlds, and other potentially interesting news, information, and articles. Unless otherwise stated, I’m not necessarily endorsing (or criticizing) any of these, but merely sharing them with you.

The top story this week is about some potential drama between Greta Gerwig and Netflix over the release plan for her Narnia adaptation. Other news for paid subscribers includes a new worry, A.I deepfake videos claiming to be C.S. Lewis, welcome news about the upcoming Hunt for Gollum movie, Amazon’s commitment to Tolkien’s world is solid and could be growing, and more.

Top Story

We talked about this some last week, but the rumors have grown louder. Gerwig—and other high-profile filmmakers—are frustrated with Netflix’s insistence on a streaming-only release and their resistance to giving major movies a proper run in theaters.

Some Hollywood rumor sites have even suggested Gerwig may want to get out of directing Narnia completely, either due to the streaming model or her expressed fears over mishandling it.

So far, any complaints seem to be falling on deaf ears. In an earnings call reported by Variety, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos stressed their commitment to their strategy.

“I’m just going to reiterate: We are in the subscription entertainment business, and you can see in our results, it’s a pretty good business. It appeals to a very large segment of consumers and fans. Our top 10 films that premiere on Netflix all have over 100 million views, among the most watched films in the world. It’s our desire to keep adding value to our consumers for their subscription dollar. We believe that not making them wait for months to watch the movie that everyone’s talking about adds that value.”

Again, my hope is that they become more flexible and allow some major projects, Narnia included, to have a theatrical run.

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

It is not your business to succeed (no one can be sure of that) but to do right: when you have done so, the rest lies with God ….

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2: Books, Broadcasts, and the War, 1931-1949

Tumnus’ bookshelf

A book by or about C.S. Lewis

I’ve written a lot about Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship. If you want to learn more through a creative experience, try this new graphic novel, The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien.