Key Highlights:
- Netflix is departing from its traditional streaming-first model, granting Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew an exclusive 50-day worldwide theatrical window in IMAX starting February 2027.
- Gerwig revealed key creative changes during an AMC Lincoln Center presentation hosted by Stephen Colbert, including shifting the story’s original 1900 setting to the 1950s.
- The star-studded production features David McKenna, Beatrice Campbell, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Daniel Craig, and Meryl Streep, with Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” licensed for the trailer.
Greta Gerwig Showcases ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ Ahead of 2027 IMAX Release
In a major shift away from its standard direct-to-consumer streaming framework, Netflix is heading to giant screens. The platform announced that Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be released in IMAX theaters worldwide for an extended 50-day window in 2027. Ahead of the wide launch, sneak previews will commence in IMAX on February 10, 2027, followed by an official opening in IMAX and other theaters worldwide on February 12, 2027. Following the theatrical exclusivity run, the film will make its streaming debut on Netflix on April 2, 2027.
The first look arrived Tuesday morning during a special sneak peek event hosted at the AMC Lincoln Center in New York. Film critics and reporters viewed the newly released trailer alongside behind-the-scenes footage before director Greta Gerwig, coming off the global success of Barbie, took the stage for a conversation with Stephen Colbert.
Inside Gerwig’s Deep Creative Connection to C.S. Lewis
Addressing the audience at AMC Lincoln Center, Gerwig detailed her profound lifelong bond with the classic fantasy series by C.S. Lewis, noting that family members read the tales to her before she could read for herself. I would not be who I am without these books,
she told Colbert of her reverence.
After learning to read, she revisited the books constantly and developed an affection for the BBC TV series adaptation. Reflecting on the vintage television project, Gerwig quipped, No notes…I think it’s amazing and I love the beaver costumes.
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To prepare for bringing the origin novel to life, Gerwig undertook an extensive research process. Beyond rereading the entire Chronicles of Narnia catalog, she studied other books written by Lewis as well as works from authors who shaped his perspective. Her preparation led her to Lewis’s historical stomping grounds across Oxford, Cambridge, and Belfast to align myself to what his interior life would be.
She also ate a lot of Turkish Delight in prep for this film.
Plot Updates, Timeline Shift, and Ensemble Cast
Written and directed by Gerwig, the upcoming feature serves as an adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, the sixth novel published in Lewis’s fantasy saga and the first entry in chronological order. In the original text, the narrative begins in 1900—four decades prior to the timeline of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—and follows 12-year-old Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who journey into alternate realms using enchanted rings while chronicling the 1,000-year-old origin of Narnia.
Gerwig’s screen adaptation introduces a major alteration: shifting the chronological setting from the turn of the century to the 1950s. This temporal adjustment creates intriguing narrative implications for any subsequent adaptations by Netflix. In Lewis’s canon, World War II forms the foundational backdrop of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which the Pevensie children escape London during the Blitz—the sustained aerial bombardment executed by the Nazi German Luftwaffe—before finding the magical wardrobe.
Leading the young ensemble, David McKenna (who portrayed Piggy in Netflix’s miniseries The Lord of the Flies) plays Digory, alongside Beatrice Campbell (young Lisle in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme) as Polly Plummer. The cast also features Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma.
Securing Led Zeppelin and Fostering Creative Freedom
The film’s trailer features the rare inclusion of Led Zeppelin’s seminal track “Stairway to Heaven.” Gerwig addressed Colbert on how unusual it was to secure the rights, as the rock legends infrequently license that specific song. She reached out directly to band members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to request permission to include the track in the Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer.
It’s an epic song,
she explained. It’s about a spiritual journey…false idols and the wrong roads you can go down.
Gerwig found an organic alignment between the music and the literary journey, noting that Plant and Page shared her deep admiration for Lewis. They too love C.S. Lewis and they have a reverence for his work,
she revealed.
To orchestrate the hundreds of artisans contributing to the complex production—from visual sets and wardrobes to performances and score—Gerwig drew inspiration from South African artist William Kentridge, who produced a silkscreen work entitled “A Safe Space For Stupidity”. Gerwig hung a replica of the phrase above her office door, establishing an open environment where creative collaborators felt encouraged to take artistic risks.
Why This Matters
Netflix’s commitment to a 50-day global IMAX theatrical window represents a significant evolution in its theatrical release strategy. Traditionally protective of its proprietary subscription window, the streaming giant has occasionally offered truncated or limited platform releases for prestige titles. Granting Gerwig an expansive, multi-week global rollout in high-end premium large-format (PLF) auditoriums underscores the commercial scale Netflix expects from the fantasy franchise.
Additionally, Gerwig’s decision to modernize the story’s timeframe to the 1950s marks a noticeable departure from Lewis’s original timeline. How the creative team reconciles this chronological transition with the World War II origins of later Narnia storylines will be a major focal point for audiences and franchise scholars as production progresses toward 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ be released?
Sneak previews in IMAX begin on February 10, 2027. The movie will debut worldwide in IMAX and standard theaters on February 12, 2027, fulfilling a 50-day theatrical exclusivity run before streaming on Netflix on April 2, 2027.
Who stars in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ film?
David McKenna stars as Digory Kirke and Beatrice Campbell portrays Polly Plummer. The supporting cast includes Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, Emma Mackey, Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma.
How does the movie differ from C.S. Lewis’s original book?
While the original 1955 novel is set in London around the year 1900, Gerwig’s feature adaptation shifts the time period into the 1950s, restructuring the timeline that originally positioned Digory’s childhood decades ahead of the 1940s Blitz portrayed in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
