Change-up for Netflix’s Narnia movie from Greta Gerwig. It’s now going February 12, 2027, instead of Thanksgiving this year, but that’s not all — it’s getting a full wide theatrical release window from the streamer. Bravo, Netflix.
Sneak previews in Imax will begin on February 10. The global wide release is February 12 with a Netflix drop on April 2.
Semi-technically, Narnia is the second wide theatrical release for Netflix after last August’s KPop Demon Hunters Singalong, which included all circuits sans No. 1 AMC. That pic delivered the streamer’s first No. 1 weekend take at the domestic B.O. with $19M.
Following Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros, sources say the streamer kicked about a wide theatrical release for Narnia. Gerwig always wanted it. A member of the cast was injured, we hear, which delayed production for six weeks. Narnia would not make its Thanksgiving Imax date, so the decision was made to head to February 12, 2027. I’m told this wasn’t a huddled-talks decision that came together with exhibitors over CinemaCon. It was always Plan B. Narnia will go up against Sony’s Elle and Dakota Fanning period movie Nightingale as well as Paramount’s untitled K-Pop move from director Benson Lee.
Entitled Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, it’s based on C.S. Lewis’ 1955 novel. The cast is led by newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell alongside Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith with Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep.
“Working with Netflix to bring this film to life has been extraordinary, and Imax continues to be an incredible partner. I cannot wait for people to see the film in theaters on February 12 and on Netflix on April 2,” said Gerwig in a statement.
“I was a child when I first read The Magician’s Nephew, and I fell in love with the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life,” added the 4x Oscar-nominated filmmaker. “I didn’t know that I would grow up to make films, but a universe built out of music is an idea that always lived in my heart. It is the honor of a lifetime to be asked to imagine it into being. Because of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, I believed in magic and hidden worlds and adventure. I believed that anywhere could be enchanted and that anyone could be swept up into an epic. That wonder and awe was available to everyone, even ordinary people like me. … It transformed me.”
Said an Imax rep in a statement: “From the outset, we got involved with Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew to support Greta Gerwig and see her vision realized to the fullest in Imax. The film’s delay until 2027 creates an opportunity to give Narnia an expanded, wide release with a full theatrical window; we support Greta and Netflix in pursuing that opportunity and are pleased Imax could help facilitate. We hope as many people in as many places as possible can experience what Greta is creating with this special film — particularly in its exclusive debut in Imax, as it was meant to be seen,”
The C. S. Lewis Company added: “It’s incredibly moving to see how deeply Greta Gerwig has embraced C. S. Lewis’s world and infused Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew with joy, heart and genuine love for the story. We’re so excited for audiences everywhere to experience her vision — and to share the magic of Narnia with a whole new generation.”
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is produced by Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, Vincent Sieber-Smith and Gerwig. The executive producers are Patricia Whitcher and Douglas Gresham and Melvin Adams for the C. S. Lewis Estate. The film is co-produced by Christine Crais.