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At a time when adaptations of classic works often stir controversy—from HBO’s new Harry Potter series and Disney’s live-action Snow White to Amazon’s notorious The Rings of Power—a forthcoming film version of C.S. Lewis’s bestselling novel, The Screwtape Letters, promises something different: a faithful rendering of the much-loved satirical work.

The Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA) recently announced that acclaimed theatre actor and Lewis interpreter Max McLean will lead the project, marking the first time The Screwtape Letters has been adapted as a feature film.

Originally published in 1942, The Screwtape Letters remains one of Lewis’s most widely read books, still selling around 150,000 copies each year.

The novel presents a series of fictional letters in which Screwtape, a senior demon, counsels his nephew Wormwood on how to lead a human soul away from God.

For example:

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

The amateurish suggestions in your last letter warn me that it is high time for me to write to you fully on the painful subject of prayer. […]

The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether. […]

If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intention. Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves.

(C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters)

Through its wit and irony, the book offers profound insights into prayer, temptation, spiritual warfare, and the Christian life.

The Screwtape Letters (1942) was dedicated to Lewis’s friend J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Picture by Adrian Age via Flickr.

Faithful on Stage: A Proven Track Record

The New York-based Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA) has already proven its ability to adapt The Screwtape Letters with integrity and creativity. Its acclaimed stage production has been performed across the U.S. and internationally for nearly two decades, drawing praise from critics and audiences alike. The company has emphasised its commitment to a “faithful stage adaptation” that preserves the book’s Christian message.

The 90-minute performance has been widely commended for capturing the essence of Lewis’s novel in an engaging and accessible format. In a 2012 review for Mythprint, David Bratman observed that “the text of the adaptation is based almost entirely strictly on Lewis’s words,” despite some necessary selection and rearrangement.

Critics have praised not only the production’s theological faithfulness but also its theatrical quality.

Mike D’Virgilio, writing for The American Culture, remarked:

“The FPA Theatre Company certainly merits praise for daring to take on a dense but short book that turns upside down the biggest subject in the world, and turn it into a play… That they have made a success of it is truly impressive, and that they have done so on a clearly quite tight budget is even more so.”

From Stage to Screen: A New Adaptation

Max McLean, founder and artistic director of the Fellowship for Performing Arts, said he was “thrilled” to have secured the rights from The C.S. Lewis Company to adapt The Screwtape Letters for the big screen.

This will not be FPA’s first foray into film adaptation related to Lewis. In 2021, the company released The Most Reluctant Convert, which tells the compelling story of Lewis’s journey from atheism to Christianity—an experience he reflects on in his spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy (1955).

The film received positive reviews from critics, with McLean’s performance as the older C.S. Lewis described as “universally praised” by Wikipedia—a promising sign for the upcoming Screwtape adaptation.

At the time of writing, no specific details have been announced regarding casting, production schedule, or release date for the new film.

Liam Neeson, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, and Georgie Henley in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). Image via IMDB.

Narnia Reimagined? The Netflix Controversy

The news arrives amid mounting controversy over Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming chronological adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia, with reports suggesting Netflix may develop as many as eight films for the franchise.

The project faces high expectations following Walden Media’s earlier adaptations—The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008), and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)—the first of which was both a critical and commercial success.

Gerwig’s reimagining has already drawn criticism after reports emerged that Meryl Streep may be cast as the voice of Aslan, the male lion who represents Jesus Christ in Lewis’s Christian allegory.

As Laura Kelly recently noted, many viewers are understandably “alarmed about Gerwig tarnishing the franchise’s legacy,” particularly in the wake of Disney’s live-action remake Snow White (2025), which bombed at the box office and sparked backlash over its reinterpretation of classic material.

Nonetheless, Gerwig brings serious artistic credibility. Her past films have enjoyed significant critical and commercial success: Lady Bird (2017) became A24’s highest-grossing release at the time; Little Women (2019) earned six Academy Award nominations and a BAFTA win; and Barbie (2023) grossed $1.447 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the fourteenth highest of all time.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who respectively portrayed Barbie and Ken in the Gerwig’s Barbie (2023). Images via Wikimedia Commons: 1) By P. Lovell and 2) By Raph_PH.

Looking Ahead: Screwtape on the Big Screen

It remains to be seen whether Gerwig’s The Chronicles of Narnia will make a serious effort to stay true to Lewis’s iconic novels—or whether it will become just another modern “reimagining” that strips away the soul and intent of the original story.

By contrast, the signs for McLean’s The Screwtape Letters are far more promising, given the Fellowship for Performing Arts’ proven record of faithfulness to Lewis’s vision.

This project offers a rare opportunity to bring Lewis’s theological, practical, and spiritual insights to life on screen, introducing a new generation of viewers to the depth and wisdom of his Christian imagination.

The consistent success of Max McLean and the Fellowship for Performing Arts in adapting Lewis’s works gives hope that the forthcoming film will preserve both the theological richness and the Christian character of the original novel.

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Image of Lewis via screenshot of YouTube.