Netflix’s upcoming movie “Narnia” will launch completely in Imax theaters for 2 weeks worldwide, the streamer confirmed Friday.
The movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, will play on 1,000 to 1,800 Imax screens, based on an individual accustomed to the deal who wished to stay nameless. It can be launched in theaters on Thanksgiving 2026 and can premiere on Netflix on Christmas.
The deal marks a fragile balancing act for Netflix, as a result of the corporate’s enterprise mannequin is targeted on rising streaming subscriptions. While Netflix has launched movies theatrically earlier than qualifying for awards, the streamer sometimes goals to launch them rapidly on its streaming service to fulfill its tens of millions of subscribers.
But some Hollywood expertise would fairly see their work seem on the large display screen. A consultant for Gerwig didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Puck gross sales level reported first on the Imax-Netflix deal.
This is Imax’s first deal for a theatrical window for a Netflix narrative function. A Netflix documentary, “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” additionally screened theatrically on Imax final yr.
The movie is predicated on “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis. It is an epic story with Christian overtones a few magical world and the 4 brothers who uncover it and rule it as kings and queens. The seven Narnia books have offered greater than 115 million copies worldwide.
Some analysts have stated that bringing the epic story to Imax screens is smart given the breadth of the fantasy world and the stunningly anticipated visible nature of the movie. There is prone to be important fandom across the movie as properly.
The final three Narnia movies, launched theatrically in 2005, 2008 and 2010 by Disney and twentieth Century Fox, generated $537.7 million within the United States and Canada, based on inflation-unadjusted knowledge from Comscore.
Most film studios enable a window of a minimum of just a few weeks earlier than making movies obtainable by way of digital viewing, with bigger movies typically getting an extended interval of theatrical exclusivity. Netflix’s two-week window is taken into account quick by comparability.
Netflix executives have defended its film technique. Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos stated in an earnings presentation in October that the streamer’s high 10 movies launched on Netflix have greater than 100 million views.
“Our need is to proceed so as to add worth to our shoppers in trade for his or her subscription,” Sarandos stated. “We consider that not making them wait months to see the film everyone seems to be speaking about provides that worth.”
It can be tough for a movie to interrupt by means of the streamer’s in depth content material library. Netflix’s high movies of all time are the motion movie “Red Notice,” the darkish comedy “Don’t Look Up” and the sci-fi movie “The Adam Project,” all movies launched in 2021 or 2022.
Times author Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
