Netflix is breaking from its streaming service standard in a big way, as in IMAX.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be released in IMAX theaters worldwide for a 50-day window in 2027. And Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko was among the clutch of film critics and reporters who were granted a sneak peek of Barbie director Greta Gerwig’s latest in IMAX at AMC Lincoln Center in New York on Tuesday morning.
Netflix premiered the trailer, which fans can now see above, along with some behind-the-scenes footage. Plus, Gerwig herself was in attendance to answer some questions from Stephen Colbert.
Gerwig shared with the audience how C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books have been a huge influence on her, as they were read to her before she could read on her own. "I would not be who I am without these books," she told Colbert of her reverence.
Then, once she’d learned to read, she read them over and over, eventually reveling in the BBC TV series adaptation, of which she said, "No notes…I think it’s amazing and I love the beaver costumes."
To prepare for adapting The Magician’s Nephew, Gerwig tried to walk in Lewis's footsteps. She reread all the Narnia books, along with his other works and works by authors he loved. She traveled to his stomping grounds of in 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.”
What is Narnia: The Magician's Nephew?
The film, written and helmed by Gerwig, is based on The Magician's Nephew, the sixth novel in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series and the first in chronological order.
The book, which begins in 1900 — 40 years before the events of the first published Narnia novel — centers on 12-year-old Digory Kirke and his friend Polly Plummer, who travel to another world with the help of a mysterious ring. However, Gerwig’s version will shift the timeline to the 1950s, which could make for some curious obstacles if Netflix continues the film series. After all, World War II plays a key role in the next book chronologically (and the most iconic Narnia book), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie children stumble into Narnia after evacuating London during the Blitz, a sustained aerial bombing campaign carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe.
The book also unfurls the origin of Narnia, reaching back 1,000 years. To get a sense of how much of this story will be in Gerwig’s adaptation, take a look at the trailer above.
David McKenna, who recently played Piggy in Netflix’s miniseries adaptation of The Lord of the Flies, stars as Digory. Beatrice Campbell, who played young Lisle in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, will play Polly.
Gerwig's cast also boasts Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma.
Why is "Stairway to Heaven" in the Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer?
Gerwig noted to Colbert that Led Zeppelin rarely licenses this particular hit song. But she reached out to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to entreat them to allow Netflix to use the song 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." For her, this spoke to The Magician’s Nephew’s story, and Plant and Page, who she noted also adore Lewis’s works, agreed. "They too love C.S. Lewis and they have a reverence for his work," she revealed.
The key to Narnia for Gerwig is collaboration.
Speaking to Colbert, she explained how hundreds of artists came together to build Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, from the sets and costumes to the music and performances. To ensure that everyone felt welcome to collaborate, the acclaimed director took a page from artist William Kentridge, who made a silkscreen piece called "A Safe Space For Stupidity".
Gerwig made a similar sign to hang above her office and said many collaborators came forward — citing the sign as an encouragement.
Together, they’ve created not only a Narnia fit for IMAX, but also glimpses of many fantastical worlds that already had this critic tearing up in awe.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will open in IMAX and other theaters worldwide on Feb. 12, 2027, with sneak previews in IMAX beginning on Feb. 10, 2027. The film will debut on Netflix on April 2, 2027.
Additional reporting by Belen Edwards.