Greta Gerwig went from making Barbie the defining movie of 2023 to taking on one of fantasy literature’s most enduring worlds. After the billion-dollar success of Barbie, Netflix handed her the keys to The Chronicles of Narnia, with The Magician’s Nephew becoming her next major feature. It is a fascinating career pivot for a filmmaker whose work has always balanced meticulous period detail with big emotional swings.

Now, the scale of what Gerwig has built in Narnia is reportedly becoming just as extraordinary as the choice itself. 

 The Town podcast’s Matt Belloni reported on the production of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew cost $280 million. The report traces the number to Seamus McGarvey discussing the movie on a podcast, while his later masterclass comments painted an unusually tactile picture of the production, describing it as the “biggest budget hand-knitted project” and recalling a “dream of poetry” behind the filmmaking. 

That distinction, explained in the podcast, actually makes the story more interesting. Netflix would be spending roughly blockbuster-franchise money on a filmmaker whose signature has traditionally been character, texture and period detail rather than CGI spectacle. Yet The Magician’s Nephew demands exactly that collision of sensibilities. It is the origin story of Narnia, involving Digory and Polly, magical rings, the Wood Between the Worlds and the creation of the fantasy realm itself. 

And Gerwig has assembled an ensemble that feels almost deliberately designed to reassure anyone nervous about the scale: Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds and newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell. Netflix has also confirmed that the movie is being positioned as an epic adventure rather than a modest literary adaptation.

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The bigger question is what Netflix expects all that money to buy.

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will arrive in IMAX for previews on February 10, 2027, followed by a worldwide theatrical release on February 12. Netflix will then bring the film to its streaming service on April 2, 2027. The theatrical arrangement gives the movie a 49-day exclusive window, an unusually substantial commitment for Netflix. 

That window matters because Narnia represents something bigger than another expensive Netflix original. It is a test of whether the streamer can turn one of its marquee films into an actual theatrical event. Netflix has even partnered with Sony Pictures for international theatrical distribution, while retaining the wide North American rollout. 

Gerwig makes the experiment particularly fascinating. Barbie proved she could take an auteur sensibility and connect it with enormous mainstream audiences. Now Netflix is giving her one of the most recognizable fantasy properties in modern literature, a huge ensemble, extensive visual effects and a reported $280 million production canvas.

If The Magician’s Nephew works, Netflix gets something considerably more valuable than another streaming hit: a filmmaker-led franchise with genuine theatrical muscle.

For Gerwig, meanwhile, Narnia could become the defining proof that her filmmaking language can survive at blockbuster scale without losing its personality.

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What do you think of Netflix reportedly spending $280 million on Greta Gerwig’s Narnia? Share your thoughts in the comments.