After months of silence, Netflix’s reimagining of C.S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” has revealed cast details, a release date and most surprisingly, a commitment to putting the saga in movie theaters.
Written and directed by Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig (Barbie), the first installment in the series, titled Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, will release in theaters nationwide on February 12, 2027 before hitting Netflix on April 2 the same year. Additionally, IMAX moviegoers will be able to see the film two days early, with sneak preview screenings on February 10.
Not only that, Netflix announced the cast of the film, including three time Oscar Winner Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Daniel Craig (Wake Up Dead Man) and Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go) alongside Emma Mackey, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell. Details on the characters they are playing are still under wraps.
Just in time for the 71st anniversary of the publishing of Lewis’s book, “The Magician’s Nephew,” Gerwig’s film will be the first big screen adaptation of the book. In 2005, Andrew Adamson directed a film adaptation, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the second book in the seven part saga.
“Working with Netflix to bring this film to life has been extraordinary and IMAX continues to be an incredible partner,” Gerwig said. “I was a child when I first read ‘The Magican’s Nephew’ and I fell in love with the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life.”
“I didn’t know that I would grow up to make films, but a universe built out of music is an idea that has always lived in my heart. It is the honor of a lifetime to be asked to imagine it into being. Because of C.S. Lewis’s ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ I believed in magic and hidden worlds and adventure. I believed that anywhere could be enchanted and that anyone could be swept up into an epic. That wonder and awe was available to everyone, even ordinary people like me… It transformed me.”
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew hits IMAX on February 10, 2027, all theaters nationwide on February 12 and on Netflix April 2.
