Greta Gerwig isn’t shying away from religion in adapting C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.” She says it’s a part of who she is.
The “Barbie” director unveiled the first glimpses of the film, due out in February, during a media event at New York’s AMC Lincoln Center on Tuesday, Oct. 13, screening a trailer – which blasts Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” – and behind-the-scenes footage.
Lewis’ books are famously grounded in Christian theology. Gerwig, 43, was raised in Sacramento as a Unitarian Universalist, went to Protestant churches and attended St. Francis, an all-girls Catholic high school.
Gerwig told moderator Stephen Colbert that religion “has been a thread through all of my films,” beginning with “Lady Bird” (2017), her first solo directing effort.
“For me, film and faith have always gone hand in hand,” she said, calling both “communal experiences.”
Greta Gerwig attends the IMAX exclusive sneak peek of “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew”at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square 13 on Tuesday, Oct. 13. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix)
Gerwig chose to start the new Narnia cycle by adapting the sixth of the seven books, rather than the first, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” because “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” published in 1955, is a prequel.
She notes that Lewis himself often urged children to start with the prequel, and called it “a spiritual quest.”
It follows two children, Digory (David McKenna) and Polly (Beatrice Campbell), in 1900 London who, through a magic ring, are transported into another world and witness Narnia’s creation by the lion Aslan (Meryl Streep).
“Have you ever seen a world born?” the trailer’s narrator asks, emphasizing the theme of creation.
Daniel Craig is Andrew Ketterley, the magician of the title. Emma Mackey, Ciarán Hinds and Carey Mulligan also star.
“Movies this size are usually about destruction,” said Gerwig about her $280 million film.
Gerwig said she met personally with Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to secure the rights to “Stairway to Heaven,” which is not a song they often license.
“They did it because they saw the heart in the story,” Gerwig said, “and they, too, love C.S. Lewis.”
Gerwig explained that Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” were a foundational experience to her youth. The only comparable experience, she said, was reading Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” which Gerwig adapted in her 2019 film.
“I don’t remember a time I didn’t know the books,” Gerwig told Colbert. “I would not be who I am without these books. They created me.”
“Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” is scheduled to hit theaters, including IMAX, on Feb. 12, and stream on Netflix beginning April 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This article originally published at Greta Gerwig credits her faith-based Sacramento upbringing for shaping new ‘Narnia’ film.