Netflix announces Sony Pictures as international distributor of Greta Gerwig's 'Narnia'

The new film adaptation of Narnia from the screenwriter and director Greta Gerwig (Barbie, Lady Bird) y Netflixtitled Narnia: The Magician’s Nephewhas just confirmed very good news for theatrical release plans.

Netflix will be partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainmentto go Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew to theaters, in all markets outside the United States. It will then be Sony Pictures the studio in charge of the global launch of the film in the international marketwhile Netflix will be in charge of distribution in theaters in the United States.

Narnia: The Wizard's Nephewwill mark Netflix's first major theatrical release, and its first foray into exclusive theatrical release for a minimum of 45 days. It was originally scheduled to premiere on November 26 exclusively on 1,000 IMAX screens, followed by its Netflix debut on December 25, but was postponed to 2027.

The traditional theatrical release was something that Gerwig fought for, and after some internal disputes with Netflix, the filmmaker was able to be granted wide release on the big screen, including IMAX screens.

The streamer shared the following in a press release:

“Netflix and Sony Pictures have a strong history of collaboration, including their historic global pay-per-use licensing agreement, through which SPE films are streamed on Netflix around the world – an industry first for this format – following their full theatrical and home release.”

Regarding its distribution in the United States, the company announced:

“The film will play in major theater chains including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Cineplex, Marcus and Harkins, as well as thousands of regional and independent theaters.”

The magician's nephew It is the sixth novel in the CS Lewis saga, published in May 1955, and the first in chronological order of the saga. It works as a prequel to the most famous Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The setting will move forward a few years, to the 1950s, instead of the early 20th century as in the books.

In this installment, Diogry Kirke and Polly Plummer embark on an otherworldly adventure and witness the creation of Narnia along the way. Thanks to the magical incursions of their uncle Andrew, they free the evil White Witch.

The film brings together debutants David McKenna y Beatrice Campbell with a stellar cast that includes Emma Mackey (Sex Education, Barbie) as Jadis, the White Witch, Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) as Digory Kirke's mother, Daniel Craig (Knives Out, Skyfall) as Andrew Ketterley, Denise Gough (Andor), Kobna Holdbrook-Smithy Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan, the Great Lion, King of Kings.

Greta Gerwig, Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, and Vincent Sieber-Smith are producers, with executive producers including Patricia Whitcher, Douglas Gresham, and Melvin Adams.

The new trilogy of Narnia was announced by Netflix in 2018, adding Gerwig as writer and director in 2020.

Narnia is Gerwig's third solo directorial project, and her first since the 2023 hit, Barbie –WB's highest-grossing film with $1.44 billion. His other two films were acclaimed Lady Bird (2017) y Little Women (2019).