Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ could head to IMAX as well as Netflix
Before the release of Barbie, director Greta Gerwig signed a two-film deal with Netflix for the adaptation of popular fantasy series Narnia. Gerwig reportedly agreed to direct the films prior to the colossal success of Barbie, with the terms of the contract allegedly not providing enough creative freedom to reflect her status in Hollywood.
Barbie was released during July, 2023, quickly becoming synonymous with Barbenheimer due to its accidental release on the same day as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. It marked one of the biggest opening weekends for a film and was Warner Bro’s highest-grossing film, surpassing Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Since then, Gerwig has become one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. Many have speculated about her next project and whether she’ll continue to do studio work or return to her roots of making independent films. However, the speculation quickly subsided when it was revealed that Gerwig would collaborate with Netflix on Narnia.
Despite creative freedom that Netflix supposedly offer to directors, it has been reported that Gerwig is unhappy with the conditions of release for Narnia and fighting for theatrical distribution. This has been an age long battle with many filmmakers, with directors like Richard Linklater, Rian Johnson and Mike Flanagan expressing concern for the studio’s reluctance to distribute their films in cinemas.
Notably, Martin Scorsese was one of the few directors given the privilege of a theatrical release with The Irishman, which was shown in a select few cinemas.
However, many have criticised Netflix’s model and its insistence on only streaming its new releases. It has been alleged that Netflix’s business model is not suited to working with established filmmakers when it denies them the ability to have a theatrical release. Many directors have grown frustrated at the studio’s inflexibility and chosen to work with other studios that will offer them this freedom.
Mike Flanagan previously worked with Netflix on multiple series such as The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, but has recently signed a deal with Amazon Studios to direct the Carrie adaptation after a long and public dispute with Netflix over their business model.
Perhaps Gerwig will be the one to sway the studio on their philosophy, with the director in talks with IMAX to screen Narnia on 200 screens, potentially before its release on Netflix. This would be an interesting advancement for the studio, potentially marking a new era for the company by evolving with the times.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, IMAX have already agreed to screen the film, and the decision now lays in hands of Netflix to approve the deal. However, a similar situation occurred prior to the release of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, in which the CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, called the limited theatrical release of the film “an experiment”.
Since then, the studio has not agreed to any substantial theatrical releases of their films, which came as a surprise after Hitman, which hit 1.5billion minutes watched within its first seven days on the streaming platform. The details of Gerwig’s production are being kept under wraps, but hopefully, Netflix will agree to her terms, and audiences will have the option to watch Narnia on the big screen.