Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ First Look Confirms It’s Unlike Any Netflix Movie Before It

Netflix has spent years building out its film business, but it has always kept a cautious distance from traditional wide theatrical releases, preferring to send most of its biggest titles straight to streaming with only minimal theater time. That approach has made the streamer’s occasional theatrical experiments feel like genuine events whenever they happen.

Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s beloved Narnia series has been in the works for years, with Netflix having acquired the rights to the book series back in 2018. The film adapts ‘The Magician’s Nephew,’ the origin story chronicling the creation of Narnia itself, marking the first-ever screen adaptation of that particular novel and following a trilogy of earlier Narnia films produced by Walden Media.

Netflix has now shared a new first look at the film, confirming that ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ will open in theaters worldwide, including IMAX, on February 12, 2027, before arriving on Netflix on April 2, 2027. The announcement frames the release as a true cinematic event designed to match the scale and multi-generational fandom built up around Lewis’s original books.

Experience the creation of Narnia, as filmmaker Greta Gerwig brings to life C. S. Lewis’s beloved story The Magician’s Nephew for the first time. In theaters worldwide February 12, 2027 pic.twitter.com/LzkRw4qQaV

— Netflix (@netflix) September 16, 2026

That theatrical push represents a genuine first for the streamer. The film is set to be Netflix’s first wide theatrical release and its first movie to receive a full 45-day exclusive theatrical window, a significant departure from the platform’s historically cautious approach to giving its original films extended time on the big screen before streaming.

The film pairs newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell in the lead roles of Diggory and Polly with an ensemble that includes Emma Mackey as Jadis, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, and Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep in supporting roles. Mark Ronson, who previously worked with Gerwig on ‘Barbie,’ returns to score the film alongside Andrew Wyatt.

The release date itself reflects a notable shift from the film’s original plans. ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ had initially been slated for a Thanksgiving 2026 release exclusively in IMAX, but the date moved to February 2027 after a cast member’s injury delayed production by six weeks, giving Netflix the opportunity to expand the release into a wider, full theatrical window that Gerwig had wanted from the start.

IMAX praised the decision to move forward with the expanded release, noting its excitement to help realize Gerwig’s vision as fully as possible on the big screen. With Netflix continuing to test the waters of theatrical distribution following the success of last year’s ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ sing-along screenings, ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ looks positioned to be one of the streamer’s most significant theatrical experiments yet.

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