Netflix's Chronicles Of Narnia Franchise Is Already Planning Far Ahead
Netflix is in this for the long haul.
Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia film series has all the ingredients to be another Harry-Potter-esque film series. There’s a proven source material: a classic series of children’s fantasy novels. Greta Gerwig is attached to write and direct at least the first two films, and she’s a filmmaker on board known for making crowd-pleasing blockbusters. Most importantly, Netflix has the resources to see this project out from start to finish.
But Gerwig’s involvement came with some strings. Netflix isn’t exactly known for putting butts in theater seats, as it's a streaming service that prioritizes home viewing. However, Gerwig’s success with Barbie allowed her to convince Netflix to do something unusual: allow her Narnia film to have a wide release in IMAX theaters a full two weeks before its release on streaming.
Now, we’re getting the finer details of that plan, and it reveals Netflix’s lofty goals for the entire saga.
The first Chronicles of Narnia movie will have an exclusive two-week theatrical release.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond spoke about the release of the Netflix film in an earnings call this week, describing balancing the wishes of Gerwig and Netflix as “complex.” However, he’s still looking forward to the Thanksgiving 2026 release. “This was a really great movie [for us] because I think there are like eight movies planned,” Gelfond said, according to Deadline. “And what IMAX does best is launch franchises and launch events, [and] this is the kind of movie that is very conducive to an IMAX release.”
This is the first time we’ve heard about the long-term plans for the franchise: eight movies in total for the seven-book series. The extra movie isn’t anything unusual: book adaptation series tend to split their final installments into multiple parts. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay were all split into two films, so it’s likely Narnia’s The Last Battle will follow that pattern.
Greta Gerwig will write and direct at least two movies in the Narnia series.
This is a great omen for Narnia fans, as it means Netflix is in this for the long haul. That’s not always the case with series like this. For example, the Divergent film series was intended to ride the post-Hunger-Games YA dystopian wave, but after poor box office numbers, its final chapter was completely scrapped. There’s also the case of the 2000s Disney adaptation of Narnia movies, which ended after three movies after the tragic passing of a producer. This could be the first complete big-screen adaptation of the entire Narnia saga.
The only question remaining is whether or not the seven Narnia movies to follow will have a similar theatrical release. Gelfond’s quote saying IMAX is conducive to “launching” franchises suggests this may be a one-off blockbuster moment to secure an audience before a future of streaming releases. But who knows, maybe a successful showing will prove that audiences really do come to that place for magic, even if it is magic performed by a talking lion.
