Bad News for Narnia Fans — Greta Gerwig’s ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ Hits a Major Setback

Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ has a new date, and the news comes bundled with a landmark shift in how Netflix plans to bring the film to audiences worldwide.

The film was originally set to open in IMAX theaters over Thanksgiving before heading to the streamer on Christmas Day, but will now receive a wide global theatrical release on February 12, 2027, followed by its Netflix debut on April 2.

According to Tudum, the delay was triggered by an on-set injury to a cast member that forced a six-week production shutdown, making the Thanksgiving window no longer viable.

This marks the first time Netflix will give a film a genuinely wide theatrical release with a full theatrical window, a significant departure from the streamer’s long-standing preference for short exclusive runs or simultaneous streaming debuts.

By moving to February, Netflix gives the film a wider berth in IMAX and a slightly longer run before the streaming premiere, avoiding the crowded Thanksgiving window packed with competing tentpoles.

Sneak previews exclusively in IMAX will begin on February 10, two days ahead of the wide global opening. The move signals that Netflix is willing to treat the film as a true theatrical event, and the involvement of IMAX in supporting the extended window only reinforces just how much industry muscle is behind this release.

The film stars newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell alongside an extraordinary ensemble that includes Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Daniel Craig, and Meryl Streep.

Streep voices Aslan, the cosmic lion whose song conjures the world of Narnia into existence. The original score is being composed by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who previously worked with Gerwig on ‘Barbie’.

Gerwig has spoken with unmistakable passion about the project. In a statement via Netflix Tudum, she described her lifelong connection to the source material, saying the concept of a lion singing a world into being was an idea that had lived in her heart since childhood, and that bringing it to the screen was “the honor of a lifetime.”

The adaptation takes a striking visual approach, with leaked set photos suggesting Gerwig has shifted the story from the Victorian London setting of C.S. Lewis’s novel to lavish post-war 1950s locations. The three ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ films from the 2000s collectively grossed well over $1 billion at the box office, setting a formidable benchmark for this new chapter in the franchise. With Gerwig at the helm and Netflix committing to its most expansive theatrical strategy to date, the pressure and the anticipation are both extraordinary.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!