Netflix and IMAX partner on Greta Gerwig’s Narnia

After months of negotiations, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix will have an exclusive run on IMAX screens before it debuts on streaming.

The Big Picture: Netflix has toyed with theatrical over the years, either so films could qualify for Oscars (Roma, The Irishman) or to eventize some very big investments (Knives Out: Glass Onion, Army of the Dead). But the Narnia deal is the biggest bet yet and the first to include premium-format screens worldwide, potentially marking a new era for the company.

Behind The Scenes: After the monster success of Barbie, Gerwig has used her clout to make a (so far) one-of-a-kind deal.

• Narnia will be released in IMAX on November 26th, 2026 — Thanksgiving week, one of the biggest weeks for moviegoing — before debuting on Netflix on Christmas Day.
• It’ll have an exclusive two-week run playing in 90 countries across 1,000 screens, with a third week possible if the movie rakes in revenue. It may also expand to some non-IMAX screens.
• Interestingly, the movie will be branded as a Netflix/IMAX film from the get-go — seemingly the first time the streamer has shared branding with another distributor.

The Future: What Hollywood wants to know is if the IMAX release is just a stunt or foreshadowing similar deals with top filmmakers, especially after losing some projects to those who chose less money, so they could have a theatrical debut. Only time will tell. But Netflix is riding on Narnia becoming a major franchise, which the streamer doesn’t have a lot of in comparison to other studios, so it could’ve just been a perfect storm of elements.

But if Netflix is open to making more deals like this with the top 1% of filmmakers, it may be hard for theatrically-minded directors to ignore the draw of getting both the biggest screens and the biggest streamer.