In what has been the worst stored secret since Woody Allen performed Michael’s Pub in NYC, Greta Gerwig’s streaming adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, is getting an unique two-week Imax international run in 90 nations throughout 1,000 auditoriums upfront of the pic’s drop on Netflix.
Narnia will launch in Imax on Thanksgiving Day 2026 (Nov. 26) and debut on Netflix on Christmas Day 2026. Currently, the opposite movies booked round Thanksgiving 2026 are Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and an untitled Warner Bros occasion title (each Nov. 20, 2026) and an untitled Disney animation movie on Nov. 25, 2026. During the latest Thanksgiving vacation stretch (and into Christmas) there was a large jockey by studios for Imax and PLF screens with Moana 2 and Wicked. The similar might be true for subsequent yr’s vacation.
No particular and clear phrase but if Narnia goes wider or if the streamer will scream their grosses to the sky like they do with their weekly international viewership numbers, however the final time Netflix made a giant splash on screens over Thanksgiving was for Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Movie, in 2022 which was a part of a $400M acquisition package deal, and grossed solely $15M in its first week unique run in what was a restricted (lower than 900 theaters), largely bought out stunt, a month earlier than winding up on the service. (Johnson’s unique 2019 MRC movie Knives Out made $165.3M home, $312.8M international in its theatrical run by way of Lionsgate).
It has been on the market that Gerwig has been yeaning a theatrical run for Narnia, the query is whether or not Netflix utterly caves to a large launch. Does Netflix even cave to the calls for of different filmmakers for an Imax run on their movies? For movement image studios, Imax screens are a vital ingredient to opening weekend success, and now a streamer, which doesn’t even decide to extensive theatrical runs, is shifting in on their turf. Hmmm. Some rival movement image studio executives have been guessing that Netflix would buckle and commit absolutely to theatrical. At the tip of the day, the large display for the OTT service has been used as a tool to remind subscribers to look at movies house. In addition, Netflix has used theatrical to qualify their titles with the Oscars. Netflix operates and books large display traditional venues The Paris in NYC and the American Cinematheque Egyptian Theatre in LA.
It’s not the primary time that Imax has teamed with Netflix or for that matter, a streamer. Imax labored with Netflix on the day-and-date launch of 2016’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. They additionally had been concerned in a choose Imax run of Paul Thomas Anderson’s musical brief Anima in June 2019. Imax was additionally a part of streamer Apple’s extensive theatrical releases for Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon.
“The partnership underscores the worth of Imax as a world occasion platform and reinforces its relationships with the world’s best filmmakers. It additionally demonstrates Imax’s dedication to bringing distinctive occasions and experiences to its followers and exhibition companions world wide,” reads a bullet level in a launch.
In 2018, Netflix introduced it might develop new sequence and movie initiatives based mostly on C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia sequence and introduced Gerwig on board in 2020. It’s Gerwig’s following as much as delivering Warner Bros. their highest grossing movie ever, Barbie ($1.44 billion) which additionally scored an Oscar win for Billie Eilish and Finneas unique music “What Was I Made For?”
Content Source: deadline.com