Disney's The Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe movie is 20 years old this year. Despite two sequels eventually coming out in theaters, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the franchise never got to adapt the whole of The Chronicles of Narnia book series by C.W. Lewis. But now, enough time has passed for Netflix to try making its own set of Narnia movies, and they've hired Barbie director Greta Gerwig to helm them. While Netflix is often loathe to release its movies is theaters, her first Narnia film will get a (limited) theatrical release!
Netflix has released a few movies in theaters over the years. For instance, tick, tick…BOOM!, Army of the Dead and The Power of the Dog got limited theatrical releases. But mostly, new Netflix movies drop on the streaming service and there they remain, never to be experienced on the big screen.
But Gerwig has a steadfast belief that her Narnia movies should release in theatres. She's been fighting for the cause, and now she's managed to secure her first Narnia movie a two-week, global IMAX release. It's not much, but by Netflix's standards, it's somewhat substantial.
“Our core strategy is to give our members exclusive first round movies on Netflix,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Deadline. “The Narnia IMAX release is a release tactic. We routinely release movies and theaters a couple of weeks before to qualify for awards, to meet festival requirements and to prime the publicity pump a bit.”
"Mostly, I want to say I’m incredibly excited to be working with Greta on this movie. We’re super excited to get it into production so we can talk about how great this movie is, more so than which screens it’s on. She’s an incredible director, and this is a really exciting project."
Despite allowing Narnia two weeks in IMAX, Sarandos clarified that the release signifies “no change at all to our theatrical strategy.”
Greta Gerwig's first Narnia movie will release in 2026. She's expected to helm two movies in the burgeoning series. Beyond that, what's in store is a mystery. We don't even really know which of the Narnia books Gerwig is adapting for the screen for her first movie, although considering that The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is far and away the most famous of the novels, we wouldn't be surprised if that's what she tackles first. Further details — like who will play iconic characters like the White Witch, the Pevensie children, and the noble lion Aslan — have yet to be revealed, but we'll keep an ear out for news.
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