Greta Gerwig, the director of “Lady Bird” and “Barbie,” has the chance to make a bit of Netflix history … if she can get the streamer to budge a little on its theatrical release policy. Gerwig is set to direct at least two films in a Netflix adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s fantasy novel series “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and while that’s a pretty big and potentially fun opportunity because those books are beloved and full of fantastic characters, Gerwig has been (politely) butting heads with the folks at Netflix over getting the films a theatrical release ever since she signed on.
Netflix announced that it had the rights and was planning to do something with the “Chronicles of Narnia” stories all the way back in 2018, but Gerwig jumping on was a game changer in terms of people’s interest following the massive success of “Barbie.” Now, Gerwig is trying to use a little of her status as a mega-popular filmmaker to get Netflix to do something it’s almost never done before: release one of its movies (specifically, her first “Chronicles of Narnia” adaptation) in IMAX theaters.
Gerwig’s Narnia adaptation could hit the biggest screens available
Even if Gerwig doesn’t get Netflix to agree to a traditional theatrical release for the first of her “Chronicles of Narnia” films, she seems to be eager to ensure people get to see it on the biggest screen possible. According to The Hollywood Reporter, IMAX and Netflix are in preliminary discussions to shoot Gerwig’s “Chronicles of Narnia” movies in the IMAX format, with plans to potentially unveil the first of her adaptations as a holiday event over Thanksgiving 2026 before putting it on the streamer the following Christmas. According to THR’s sources, Gerwig was the one who approached IMAX and spoke directly with CEO Rich Gelfond, trying to broker a deal that would ensure “Narnia” got at least some kind of theatrical rollout.
Seemingly only one other Netflix movie, the 2016 sequel “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,” has ever screened in extra-large format IMAX theaters, and even then it reportedly only showed in roughly 15 of them across the U.S.. The streamer has a contentious history with theatrical releases, even refusing to keep the ultra-popular Rian Johnson murder mystery “Glass Onion” in theaters for longer than a week because it wanted exclusivity for its streaming service subscribers. Hopefully, Gerwig can use her pull to get Netflix to budge a bit and we’ll get to see her vision of Aslan the Jesus-allegory lion, Mr. Tumnus the fabulous faun, and the other residents of Narnia in the biggest, loudest, and most gorgeous format available. If her first “Chronicles of Narnia” movie does well enough, it could even potentially change the streamer’s attitude towards theatrical releases, which might be more magical than Narnia itself.
/Film will bring you more on Gerwig’s “Chronicles of Narnia” adaptation as the story develops!
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