Greta Gerwig's 'Narnia' Is Netflix's First Major IMAX Debut
The Chronicles Of Narnia Key Art
Walt Disney Pictures
When Netflix transitioned to streaming originals in 2013, it made the move to " disrupt" the entertainment industry. It's certainly done that: destroying cable, sending multiple successful production studios into bankruptcy, and changing how the average person consumes television. But it's also been forced to concede that its ideas failed on many fronts — including adding commercials, live-streaming broadcasts, and moving away from binge drops (while refusing to admit they are absolutely terrible for most shows). Now, Greta Gerwig has won a significant victory, forcing Netflix to put her big-budget Narnia films in theaters for a six-week run, a tacit admission that "straight to streaming" is the new "straight to DVD."
Netflix has been weirdly stubborn in admitting its "we don't need theaters" schtick is backfiring the same way binge-releasing highly-anticipated seasons of Stranger Things and Bridgerton has hamstrung their most significant hits by reducing the amount of cultural oxygen they receive. (Deciding to randomly split the seasons into two or three parts without consulting your show creators is not a solution.) In the last year, Netflix has lost out on multiple high-profile projects it was bidding on — and offering millions of dollars more for — because it would not commit to doing a theatrical run of any meaningful length. (Putting films in the theaters for a week is not a meaningful amount of time.)
Among the movies that Netflix's stance has lost are Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, which chose Warner Bros. instead despite being offered an order of magnitude less money, and Peter Morgan's Patriots. The latter was supposed to become a Netflix film after the streaming service sponsored its Broadway limited run, but it is now in limbo because Morgan wants a theatrical release to give it a chance at Oscar gold. And Daniel Craig, star of the Knives Out series, may be unable to pull the third film, Wake Up Dead Man, from Netflix's grasp. However, after that nonsensical "one week release" for Glass Onion, he's openly campaigning to anyone who will listen that Netflix needs to put the film on the big screen for a real run.
According to reports, Gerwig got almost everything she wanted: The film will debut in the U.S. on the big screen over Thanksgiving weekend in 2026 and then land on streaming Christmas weekend, giving the film an exclusive global four-week run in theaters. And I do mean big screen—Gerwig has agreed that the film will play exclusively in IMAX theaters during that run. While that automatically limits the number of screenings, it maximizes box office profits for those who make money when the film does well in theaters since IMAX tickets are significantly more expensive.
It also forced Netflix to commit to those four weeks of screenings since most IMAX plexes only have one or two theaters, effectively blocking the competition from the higher-profit screeners for the 2026 holiday window. (That might sound weird, but Oppenheimer nabbing all the IMAX screens in the summer of 2023 effectively doomed Tom Cruise's latest Mission Impossible.) However, it gives Netflix a fig leaf in future negotiations since other filmmakers will demand the same deal now that it has seen Gerwig get it. The IMAX-only release is an "Event" due to the holiday-themed, family-friendly nature of the film and the immersive fantasy aspects.
Whether or not Netflix's attempt to pretend this is a one-time, never-to-be-repeated deal by "event-icizing" it will work remains to be seen. (We'll know how well Netflix succeeds in this with how long a theatrical run Wake Up Dead Man gets.) However, the Barbenheimer box office proved the power of turning a theatrical release into an "event," so perhaps Netflix will be assuaged as it finds itself forced to make this sort of deal that it can at least make these movies box office hits simply by agreeing to put them there.
Greta Gerwig's first installment of her Narnia franchise will debut in IMAX theaters the week of November 23, 2026, and move to Netflix the week of December 21, 2026.
