A friend of C.S. Lewis' stepson claimed this week that members of the late author's family are "very upset" by Meryl Streep's casting as Aslan in Netflix's upcoming Narnia adaptation and are attempting to "regain control" of the company that manages the literary and media rights to Lewis' works. "They're very concerned about it, because they're worried that it's going to, you know, destroy the brand," Movieguide founder Dr.
Ted Baehr told CBN News, noting that Lewis' 80-year-old stepson, Douglas Gresham, is godfather to his daughter-in-law. Baehr also served as president of the Episcopal Radio and Television Foundation, which produced the animated version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe on CBS in 1979.
Confirmation from director Greta Gerwig last week that Streep was cast to voice Aslan in The Magician's Nephew prompted a torrent of negative reaction from many Christian fans, some of whom suggested that gender-swapping the Christ-like lion is an affront to the classic Christian allegory. Baehr suggested that Lewis' family share in that critical assessment, noting he recently visited Gresham's son, Tim Gresham, in Sydney, Australia.
"Theologically this is a tremendous heresy and it's a tremendous problem. … So it shouldn't happen," Baehr said of Streep's casting. "C.S. Lewis would be turning over his grave. His family is very upset about it, and I think we should be upset about it." Baehr stopped short of offering details on his claim that the Gresham family are attempting to take back the reins of The C.S.
Lewis Company, which closed a multi-year deal with Netflix in 2018 to develop new series and film projects based on The Chronicles of Narnia. "They did a big campaign. They're trying to regain control of The C.S. Lewis Company in order that," Baehr said before cutting himself off.