Netflix delays Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ movie for big theatrical push in 2027

Audiences will have to wait a few months longer to see “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” with the release date pushed back from Thanksgiving to February 12, 2027.

In addition to relaunching “Narnia” on big screens and serving as writer-director Greta Gerwig’s first film since “Barbie,” “The Magician’s Nephew” also looks like the next step in Netflix’s relationship with movie theaters — and it’s becoming an even bigger step with the delay.

The company had previously said “The Magician’s Nephew” would play exclusively on Imax screens for at least two weeks before a streaming release for Christmas. That would be an ambitious theatrical release by Netflix’s standards, but relatively limited compared to many other Hollywood blockbusters.

Now, Netflix says “The Magician’s Nephew” will begin exclusive Imax previews on February 10, 2027, followed by a wide global release in theaters on February 12. (In Netflix’s words, it will be a “global eventized release.”) The movie won’t start streaming until April 2.

The company’s announcement doesn’t get more specific about which theaters will be showing “The Magician’s Nephew,” but Imax released a statement noting that the delay will allow the film to have “a full theatrical window,” so the major theater chains are unlikely to complain

In fact, AMC Theatres recently highlighted the success of  its“Stranger Things” finale screenings and said it has plans for more collaborations with Netflix. At the same time, the streamer’s limited support for theatrical releases and its resistance to exclusive theatrical windows was reportedly a “dealbreaker” in negotiations with the creators of “Stranger Things,” who ultimately signed an exclusive deal with Paramount.

With a cast that includes Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep, “The Magician’s Nephew” adapts one of the later books in C.S. Lewis’ classic fantasy series —  a prequel that lays out the origins of Narnia.

In Netflix’s announcement, Gerwig said she first read the book as a child, when she “fell in love with the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life.”