Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Just Changed the Streaming Game With Netflix’s First-Ever Wide Theatrical Release
Netflix has made a move that nobody in the industry saw coming, and it signals a genuinely new chapter for the streaming giant. The company announced it will put Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ into wide theatrical release globally, where it will play exclusively for more than 45 days, including in IMAX, marking a historic first for the streamer.
The film, now dated for February 12, 2027, will have IMAX sneak previews beginning February 10, with the Netflix streaming debut to follow on April 2. The window far exceeds what anyone expected from a platform that built its entire identity on keeping audiences at home. Netflix said it chose a wide theatrical strategy for ‘Narnia’ specifically because of the beloved fantasy franchise’s broad appeal across generations and geographies.
The film was originally scheduled to open exclusively in IMAX for just two weeks starting on Thanksgiving before the plan changed. Behind the scenes, a production delay was triggered when a cast member was injured, pushing the shoot back by six weeks and making the Thanksgiving IMAX window impossible to meet. Rather than scrambling for a workaround, Netflix used the setback as an opening to do something far more ambitious.
Written and directed by Gerwig, the adaptation is the first cinematic take on C.S. Lewis’ 1955 novel, which tells the origin story of Narnia itself. The film is led by newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell alongside Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, with Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep rounding out the ensemble. That cast alone is reason enough for audiences to demand a proper theatrical experience, and it seems Netflix finally agreed.
Gerwig said in a statement shared with Deadline, “I cannot wait for people to see the film in theaters on February 12 and on Netflix on April 2,” adding that she fell in love with “the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life” when she first read the book as a child.
The industry’s response was swift and warm. Cinema United President Michael O’Leary called it “welcome news,” stating that ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ is a film audiences will want to see on the big screen, and that now they will have that opportunity. IMAX was equally enthusiastic, with the company expressing its hope that as many people in as many places as possible can experience Gerwig’s vision the way it was meant to be seen.
Netflix has been gradually warming to theatrical exhibition, releasing a sing-along version of its animated hit ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ in theaters last year, and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos signaled during the pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery that the company would honor the traditional 45-day exclusivity window for future releases. With ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’, that shift has now become something official, bold, and very hard to ignore.
