After Greta Gerwig fought for a theatrical release of her The Chronicles of Narnia remake at Netflix, she has now been guaranteed a unique deal. Before the fantasy hit ends up in a streaming subscription, it will be shown on 1,000 IMAX screens worldwide for two weeks – an absolute Netflix novelty that sent cinema lovers and streaming cynics into joyful uproar. But don’t get excited too soon: According to Netflix This doesn’t change anything for future projects.
Narnia remains unique for Netflix: cinema and streaming rules should not change
As Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos explained to Deadline, Narnia is in theaters “no change in cinema strategy” from Netflix:
Our core strategy is to show our subscribers exclusive films on Netflix. The Narnia IMAX release is a publishing tactic. We routinely release films in cinemas a few weeks in advance in order to qualify for awards, fulfill festival requirements and get the PR pump going a little. In the case of Narnia, it is a two-week special event that is different from all other campaigns. Finally has no one at home has one Screen the size of an IMAX screen.
For Sarandos, working with Barbie director Greta Gerwig is something special:
What I want to say most of all is that I’m looking forward to working with Greta on this film. We’re looking forward to starting production so we can talk about it, how great the film turned out, rather than what screen it was shown on. She’s a great director and it’s an exciting project.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether this “Special event“, as Sarandos called it, will really remain so unique and special in the future. Gerwig has signed for two Narnia films. It can therefore almost be expected that the sequel to Part 1 will also receive a similar IMAX run – assuming, of course, that the experiment is worth it for Netflix in the end.
That other filmmakers also get a piece of the cake and that Gerwig treatment want to get can also be expected. So despite Sarandos’ words, there is still a faint hope that we might see more Netflix films on the big screen for longer than a week in the future.
When will Greta Gerwig’s fantasy film be released in cinemas and on Netflix?
The IMAX release of Gerwig’s Narnia film has been set for Thanksgiving 2026, specifically the November 26, 2026. Since the US holiday falls on a Thursday, the German IMAX launch is likely on the same day. The fantasy hit will finally appear on Netflix about four weeks later, just in time for Christmas, with a streaming subscription.
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