IMAX on ‘Narnia’ Deal: No Sequel Plans Discussed, But Hopes for Full Franchise
When it was first announced that Greta Gerwig would be taking over as the Writer/Director of Netflix’s Narnia project back in July of 2023, it was stated that she had signed on to write and direct “at least” two films.
Ever since then, speculation has run rampant as to what those two films may be; which books they would be based on, and indeed whether those two films would cover just one book or two.
Whilst the identity of the two films still remains very much shrouded in mystery, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond has now helped to shed at least some light on the situation. In a recent interview with Fox Business, Gelfond says that, for now, Netflix and IMAX remain focussed on just one film.
When asked about whether there were any plans in place for a “follow-up” to the film currently scheduled for Thanksgiving 2026, Gelfond replied:
The answer is I don’t know. You know, I’m sure Netflix knows, but it never came up in the negotiations. But one thing that did come up — I don’t even remember how it resolved itself — was if all this works, we’d like to do them, and I think they’re open to that. But I don’t know that it’s any more detailed than that.”
Gelfond also mentioned that he has had insight into Greta Gerwig’s plans for the film, and assured fans that it is going to be an amazing cinematic experience for both theatre viewers and home viewers alike.
You know I’ve gone through the plot with her — which is amazing — and how she’s gonna do it, and I think she’s going to create an IMAX experience and then a fantastic Netflix experience.”
Whilst Gelfond’s quotes still leave us none-the-wiser as to which books Gerwig is planning to adapt, it does seem to have dispelled the notion that her two films would be for one book split into two parts, as it sounds like the primary focus right now is on delivering just one self-contained cinematic experience.
Gelfond did though re-iterate that both Netflix and IMAX are viewing the Narnia project not just as a single movie, but as “a franchise”, and have high hopes for tackling further instalments in time, should the first prove to be a success.
Join the club IMAX – we’re all wanting more Narnia! Hopefully they’re starting with The Magician’s Nephew so then if it’s not a big success at least we’ve gotten to see a different book adapted.
Even by just releasing the first film in IMAX, it will increase the awareness of any following films on Netflix.
So I think from Netflix’s perspective, they might only want that to commit to one IMAX experience and then hope they can ride out the rest on their streaming platform. Though, good luck of convincing Gerwig to do that.
“You know I’ve gone through the plot with her — which is amazing — and how she’s gonna do it”
Fair to assume it involved more than simply going through the book’s synopsis because Gelfond seems to credit Gerwig with the plot… I don’t want to read too much into this (it’s possible he’s very unfamiliar with the Narnia books) but this would suggest that there may be some new/original aspects to Gerwig’s take.
I find it very odd that a second film wouldn’t have at least been brought up. If it’s Lion Witch Wardrobe, then you’d want to line up the cast right away so the children don’t age out of their roles too quickly.
I’d feel very confident in assuming the movie will be The Magician’s Nephew. As the “origin” book, it allows Gerwig to explore different themes and ideas, whereas a book like TLTWTW is so plot-heavy that there wouldn’t be much scope to go into any more of that in a single film. I’d also bet that Gerwig knows Narnia fans want something new.
@ImpendingDoom – I too was quite stuck by the “…and how she’s gonna do it” part, since it implies that, perhaps much like her Little Women, there is a certain cleverness to the “how” part.
Still too early to say exactly what, but there is definitely *something* yet to be revealed here
@ Impending Doom, I think ‘How’ is like how she will shoot the film and the influences and inspiration for the direction
For lady bird she spoke of how she wanted each frame to look like a photograph, like a memory and how the movie we were watching was not the movie taking place in Christine’s head
For Little Women she spoke of how it’s shot as the present and how the flash backs aren’t flashbacks but memories of how it was. Also how she wanted to blur the line between protagonist and writer and explore the themes that had not been as emphasized in the previous 8+ adaptations
For Barbie , stage musicals and dioramas and ‘Authentic Artificiality’
Since it has IMAX, the visual cinematic language and intent is far more important even more than before becoz it’s IMAX’s first Netflix collab, no one wants to spend $25 on a hideous looking, sounding film with a convoluted plot when they can just wait for it at home
Not much to worry about, at least not yet, but the over 1 yr of pre production seems to be a promising sign since she believes movies are made in prep and it’ll be her first experience shooting with IMAX cameras
@ Alex Anaro thanks for your thoughts! The ‘how’ makes compete sense, as you describe it.
My comment was more about how odd it is to credit the plot to Greta Gerwig rather than C.S. Lewis unless there are some fundamental changes made to the structure.
But this was a live interview and I very much doubt Gelfond has much knowledge of Narnia, so I’m not going to worry too much about it. Just something of note!
Filming in England? Totally mn
Pretty sure the Magician’s Nephew is the safest bet here. It can stand alone without an immediate sequel (none of the actors would need to reappear in future films, etc.) but could be the kickoff for something bigger should they decide that down the road.
Aaaaand we’re currently 671 days from getting to see whatever that is!
Why must they toy with us, just say you’re making MN and have done.
Well ya’ll better start planning that 2nd film because I think this will be a huge success. Obviously, it won’t even come close to Dawn Treader’s box office total ($410million) because of the limited release but it doesn’t have to.
Well, what Gelfond said was a bit of “media speak” lol, even though I am giving him the benefit of the doubt that it is true.
But I guess it is nice to see his strongly positive feelings about the movie. And it does seem like IMAX at this time would be happy to continue on this partnership with Netflix for a follow up Narnia movie, if the first is successful. That is good.
Imagine if they market this as “From the visionary behind the hit movie Barbie, comes the next family friendly fantasy world: Narnia”. hahaha.
It’s interesting to hear that Netflix and IMAX are primarily focused on just one Narnia film for now. When Gerwig first signed on for two movies, I assumed they’d be tackling a two-part adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or setting up a back-to-back release strategy. But Gelfond’s comments make it sound like Netflix is taking a more cautious approach—seeing how the first film performs before fully committing to a franchise.
That said, I’m excited that he got to hear Gerwig’s plans and seems genuinely enthusiastic about the story and visuals. The fact that they’re designing it as a big-screen IMAX experience is really encouraging. Now, the big question remains: which book are they starting with?