Members of C.S. Lewis' family issued a statement supporting the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Magician's Nephew amid a claim that they were "very upset" by Meryl Streep's casting as Aslan.
The families of David and Douglas Gresham, the stepsons of the late British author through his brief marriage to Joy Davidman Gresham, made their statement in the wake of Movieguide founder Ted Baehr claiming last month that they feared the uproar from fans over Streep's casting would "destroy the brand," according to a Tuesday report from NarniaWeb.
“From our ongoing conversations with [director] Greta Gerwig, we have personally witnessed her sincere passion for the Narnia series. Her life-long love of C.S. Lewis is apparent to everyone involved with this film," the statement said. "We saw this enthusiasm during our visit to the set in London.
We are thrilled to be working with such a talented and accomplished director and production team, and are keen to continue working with them on future projects. Our vision is for this movie to be enormously successful and for this calibre of talent to be applied to all of the Chronicles of Narnia," continued the statement, which was issued through Netflix. A shorter version was also published in an Oct. 4 story by The Associated Press.
NarniaWeb, which touts itself as "your source for Narnia news since 2003," claims it has been in contact with the Gresham family, who maintain that they have yet to view any footage or listen to any audio of Gerwig's "The Magician's Nephew." David Gresham died in 2014 and Douglas, 80, is reportedly suffering from dementia and Parkinson's disease, though he retains an executive producer credit on the Netflix adaptation.
The film, which is slated for a theatrical release next February and a Netflix release in April, has drawn