Netflix’s Narnia Movies to Begin with ‘The Magician’s Nephew’?
03/10/25: This article has been updated.
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NarniaWeb recently came across some information in which the title of Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Chronicles of Narnia adaptation was referred to as Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. That is all we can say at this time.
It remains to be seen if this is the final official title for the project, but it is yet another indicator of which book Gerwig and Netflix will be adapting for the big screen first.
Greta Gerwig also referenced The Magician’s Nephew back in one of her very first interviews about the project in November 2023.
Back in January, NarniaWeb first reported that a casting call had gone out to schools and drama agencies in the UK looking for “two children, a boy and a girl, to portray characters that are 10 or 11 years old.” which would align with the ages of Digory and Polly in The Magician’s Nephew.
The movie is set to be released on IMAX screens Thanksgiving 2026.
First comment. Good news. We need a fresh start. Hopeful the name is a just a “working title”.
The Chronicles of Narnia | The Magician’s Nephew
Finally!!! Yesss!!!!!!, IAM SO EXCITED❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Jason Isaacs Knew some how, how did he Know unless he’s playing Uncle Andrew
Gerwig Dealt with Philosophy in Barbie and The Magican’s Nephew is the Most Philosophical of all of the Narnia Books dealing with the Idea of Loss and Faith. It’s the Most Emotional and Darkest but also Comical of all the Narnia Books.
It’s the Only Narnia Novel set in a Historical Time, Seeing as she has Experienced working on Period Pieces Like Little Woman, I am Excited What Greta Does With This
I am Still Hoping for Timothy Dalton as Aslan
The Next Question is what is the Second Narnia Movie ? It’s Either The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe or The Silver Chair. We’ll see. I’ve been waiting for this for a year Now, So Excited to know which Book Greta is Adapting. I Say Greta Because it’s More Of Greta’s Then Netflix’s.
I am a “chrono order” partisan so I approve. Also I think LWW is overrated/mid. Also I think TMN is top-grade Narnia, and it was the first Narnia I ever read. Don’t botch this, Greta!
@Noah Cosgrove I wouldn’t say Magicians Nephew is the darkest, surely the end of the world in Last Battle claims that title?
And what reason do you have to suspect Silver Chair would be next? It seems an unlikely jump to me and the only reason it would be done would be to adapt material that we haven’t already seen in film. It’s much more likely to be Lion, Witch, Wardrobe logically speaking
Well when Netflix Bought Out The Rights To Narnia they announced The Silver Chair but it was cancelled. And To Be Honest I am More of hoping The Next one is The Silver Chair more than anything. It’s My favorite Narnia Book. I was Dyslexic as as a kid and Had a very hard Time with Reading, and The Silver Chair was the Very first Book I was Able To Accomplish, So It has Cinamental Value to me. But Your Right Moonlight Centuar Last Battle does have alot of Dark Elements.
I was Heart broken as a Kid When Netflix Cancelled The Silver Chair
The should be advertised as…
“The Magician’s Nephew: The Chronicles of Narnia”
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia”
And so on and so forth, for all the movies. Only the book title should be in the actual film, though. The Narnia subtitle would be for the posters, trailers and other advertising, and only there, as it should.
CONFIRMED AT LAST!
Not that this is a huge surprise, but it’s a relief to know our suspicions were correct and they weren’t going to pull anything weird with the chronology or casting.
629 days until release! (Assuming that aspect of the IMAX news still holds true).
While I’m still a Greta Gerwig skeptic, it will be interesting to see a Narnia story that’s never been adapted to the screen before. And it may work in her favor that longtime fans won’t be able to easily compare it to the BBC and Walden versions. We’ll see.
Wow!!!!!!! We’re probably getting an unfilmed book!! 🙂
This was the absolute best choice for the new franchise. Very excited about this!
While I am a staunch advocate for the original published order, I think another production of LWW would be redundant. Please just do MN well!
Great news!
Now this does start looking more and more official. Yay!
Sweet! Now I just need to figure out how to plant a toffee tree in my backyard in honor of this news.
It’s good to hear news. It is exciting that they are starting with the Magician’s Nephew and we get an adoption of one book that has not been made into a movie before. They have more room for creativity because it won’t be constantly compared to the Walden productions.
If the first movie really is going to be The Magician’s Nephew I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, MN is one of my favorite Narnia books and one of my favorite books period. I’d absolutely love to see a good movie adaptation. And, as I’ve mentioned before, I think it makes more sense as a Greta Gerwig movie than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She seems to want her stories to capture universal human experiences and what fits that description better than Digory and his family helplessly waiting for his sick mother to die? (Though you could say LWW makes more sense for her in that she gravitates towards ensemble stories, but I digress.) And I agree with those who say enough people know the story (or at least the premise) of LWW that MN could still work as a prequel.
But that raises the issue of what to do afterwards? If we’re acting on the assumption that everyone knows LWW, won’t it be boring to follow up a story they don’t necessarily know (MN) with one they do know? Is Netflix just going to take LWW as read and not adapt it? Or are they going to change the story beyond recognition? I’m also less confident about a secular production replicating the Christian themes of MN than those of LWW. I know fans were worried back when LWW was being adapted in the 2000s about secularization, but in my experience, the Christian themes of that story resonate with everybody. The Christian themes of MN are more challenging (and interesting IMO.)
I didn’t mean that to sound like there are no secular fans of The Magician’s Nephew BTW! There demonstrably are. There are fans of all worldviews. It’s such a great book, I’m more surprised when someone isn’t a fan of it. But there’s a difference between enjoy a work of art with a worldview with which you don’t agree and putting a worldview with which you don’t agree in your own work of art.
@Col Klink how about going from MN to HHB? Another story that the general public are less familiar with but it briefly brings back familiar characters (the Pevensies) so isn’t entirely alien
Didn’t know who this person was. So I googled her name. Looked at some images of her & read some articles about her, tryin’ to get an idea as to her character… And I regret doing so, for several reasons. But right now, all I can say about her is…
GET OUT OF MY HOUSE THIS MOMENT, YOU SHAMELESS HUSSY, OR I’LL SEND FOR THE POLICE
Haha! Of course I’m jesting, somewhat. But Aunt Letty was the real Queen, and she didn’t know how prophetic those words would one day be.
I’m hoping this is true… The Magician’s Nephew is long overdue for a film adaptation and Greta won’t have to worry about it being compared to someone else’s version. Once/If she establishes credibility with Narnia fans for TMN, then it will be easier to trust her on other Narnia projects.
im sooo exited i really hope that they start filming soon
@Moonlit_centaur I believe the only reason The Silver Chair was considered next after TVotDT is because Eustice is in it and that runs with the theme of the 3 movies we already have. I never actually read The Horse and His Boy, so I will have that read before that’s even an option for a movie. But it would be nice to be able to have all the movies in order. That’s been long overdue…