‘Magician’s Nephew’ Adaptation to Shoot at Manchester’s Victoria Baths, Scene to Take Place in the 1950s
A new casting call uncovered by NarniaWeb suggests that Netflix’s The Magician’s Nephew adaptation is looking to film at the Victoria Baths in Manchester towards the end of August 2025.
The casting call description reads:
We’re excited to share a fantastic opportunity for students to be involved in a Netflix production […] a prequel to a children’s fantasy book series, where two kids discover a portal to another world!
Although the advert uses a specific production codename to refer to the project, the description is unmistakably for The Magician’s Nephew. (similar codenames were also used on the three previous Narnia films and included aliases such as ‘The Hundred Year’s Winter’, ‘ Paravel’, ‘Toastie’, and ‘Invisible Army’).
The advert goes on to confirm an ongoing rumor which has been discussed at length in our Discord Group over the last few weeks – that the movie will feature scenes which take place in the 1950s, rather than being set entirely in 1900 as per the book.
The advert states that the production is looking for:
- 40 boys, aged 11–14
- Must be strong, confident swimmers
- Comfortable being topless in 1950s-style swimwear (Y-front Speedo-type trunks)
- Must have short, tidy hair to match the 1950s setting
At this stage, it is unclear how such a swimming scene, involving such a large number of children, would factor into the plot of The Magician’s Nephew. It is also unknown whether the time period of the entire story is being shifted forward to the 1950s, or whether this is only for certain scenes.
With production on the movie now well-and-truly in motion, stay tuned to NarniaWeb for all the latest information.
This is exactly the sort of news I expected to get notifications about via Facebook- excellent job Narnia Web social media team!
As for the news itself… why would they do that? Would this then put future films in the 1980s? It’s fairly fundamental to LWW that the Biltz be occurring; both as the reason the kids go to the country and the reason the Turkish Delight is so tempting.
It’s painful how little we know about this production — hard to wrap my head around how this scene would feature in The Magician’s Nephew.
I can’t wait, but do wish it was set like the timing of the book vs the 1950’s. I will watch it, this has been long awaited for filming with all the books starting in order, and watching the characters grow!
So… they’re filming The Last Battle first??? Let the theories begin!
Two possibilities I see:
1. There are 1955 scenes that bookend the movie featuring CS Lewis himself.
2. MN is set in 1955 because LWW will be set in present day.
Maybe the Wood Between the World’s can also do a bit of Earth time traveling, and before they go to Charn, Digory and Polly jump to the 50s and we get a Eustace cameo while he’s swimming.
I hope they don’t update the whole story to the 1950s. I don’t so much about changing the time period for the other books, but I feel like the time period for The Magician’s Nephew is important to the atmosphere of it.
I’m not worried though. I’m guessing the 1950s stuff is just for a framing device (though why the framing device would involve a bunch of boys in a swimming pool is beyond me. LOL.)
@Glumpuddle, I don’t see how LWW could be in 2026, if MN is in 1950s. That’s 70 years difference. In the books it is approximately 40 – 44 years different.
Maybe it’s just me, or whether this applies to everyone over 40, but I find that anything since the 1990s counts as the “present day”
Could this be for when he becomes the Professor at the end of the book?
I believe glumPufdle’s instincts are correct although I’d switch up the order. The Magician’s Nephew will be set in the 1950s, and LWW will be set in modern day England.
I think his first guess unlikely. A pool would be an odd setting for Lewis to be staged at. Why do you need 40+ boys in a pool for an adult Lewis to be shown? Most likely this is a school scene for Digory.
OK this is interesting but strange. My guess is either Glumpuddle’s Lewis scene theory is correct or it’s for a flashback… like perhaps it involves the Pevensies interacting with the Professor before the scene shifts back to his childhood. Not sure why the Professor would be there at the Baths though… maybe the scene with them would begin with a lively swimming scene for dramatic effect and then travel to wherever the Pevensies encounter the Professor.
This is of course assuming that this adaptation is trying to stick to the books.
If they are shooting end of Aug then where are the casting announcements because of rehearsals etc kinda like the secrecy in comparison to James Gunn and the constant online presence of DC movies but we should be getting some news soon
I’m not too worried, I think it’s just a framing device.
Pretty sure they are setting MN in the 50s and Digory swimming at school while worried about his mum and imagining ways he could escape mirrors what will later be the wood between the worlds.
… Huh??? O_o
I think it would nice to go back to Little women , a film set during the war, in which the girls actually engage with the implications of the war on a personal, familial, economic and societal level that added to the richness of the adaptation
The book MN is quite contained and the added richness of the timing when CS Lewis wrote it as well as the blurring of the lines between his own life and the text adds a richness necessary for adaptation
I’m certain Geta is aware of this and the necessity of this being early 1900 in order to make the connections to the war and colonized India, I would not worry much
Also Netflix having bought the rights to the whole series of books, intends to at least adapt the other books which one later and are affected by the WWII etc where the nostalgia of the 20th century is part of the selling point
In addition I don’t know if Greta will be beginning filming before Noah showcases Jay Kelly a film she’s also in, at Venice on 28 Aug without rehearsals!?!
And the pool seems to available for the shoot from 20Aug to 1Sept which would mean the cast has been rehearsing without anyone knowing or there aren’t rehearsals which would be implausible
If the swimmers are just background actors, eg extras, there might not be any rehearsal necessary. Maybe they just need kids to swim and hang around the pool, while other actors are shown in the foreground, actually acting.
Oh, and I just realised this is a swimming pool, and in the Wood Between the Worlds, there are also pools.
This is pretty strange but intriguing. I don’t see how a 1950’s swimming pool factors into the story AT ALL. The only thing I can imagine working is if Gerwig is planning to show a short scene with Eustace, Edmund, and Peter swimming sometime before The Last Battle and either of the Kings begins to tell Eustace the story of Charm and Narnia’s beginning, which they learned from the Professor. Though there are many better and less roundabout ways of introducing the story, aren’t there? Whatever happens, it will be an interesting take.
How about we leave the stories how they were written. This will be a complete FLOP. Either do them right by CS Lewis’s books or don’t do them at all. Lewis would be disappointed.
These will be set in the way the books were, if they are going to mess it up like the Harry Potter series, it will sink fast.
This story taking place in the 50s rather than the early 1900’s would cause a detriment to much of the storyline for The Magician’s Nephew.
I would imagine writers would not want to leave the part out with Jadis on top of the Caddy carriage treating it like it’s her chariot with the horse Strawberry who later becomes Fledge, (the first winged horse in Narnia). That would be a really dynamic shot and if it’s set in the 50s, that would have to be left out for accuracy for the time period.
It breaks my heart to think that they would stray from the story this far.
What. On. Earth?????
If they set The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in modern day, we’ll literally have come full circle back to the 90’s when Paramount attempted to make a modern adaptation of Narnia set in modern day. I do not want to see that actually happen. If they do this, it will make Rings of Power look like a masterpiece. Ew.
The Pevensies and the rest of the friends of Narnia are dead in 1949 so why would there be a flashback to the 50s unless it’s Susan finally accepting Narnia is real again, perhaps sharing the stories with her children?
What if they’re making something of a documentary version of The Magician’s Nephew? It would make sense since the book was first published in the 1950’s. Part of the movie will show C.S. Lewis writing the novel and what influenced it and other parts will show the scenes in the books as if it were a regular movie. It’s actually a very cool idea to my mind, but a bit of a disappointment to those who were wanting something like the Walden/Disney movies (but hopefully better).
Maybe a stupid question but did swimwear really look that different in 1950 as compared to 1900? Maybe they just wrote it to confuse fans? Maybe they set it at the beginning of WWI?
Also, weren’t baths also used for sick people? Maybe Digory went there with his mom for recovery? Haha no idea
It seems likely that this is the gym at the Experiment House, the school attended by Jill and Eustace in 1950’s…at the beginning of The Silver Chair.
Rock and Roll, people! Rock and Roll!
Guys, can we all get over the “framing device” theory. The film is set in the 50s; it’s time to accept that. I’m disappointed too, but we can’t keep clutching at straws.
That’s completely inaccurate. You cannot fundamentally change the entirety of a long established book series’ world. It is absolutely impossible for it to be set in the 1950s. Up to this point they were pushing it with a female Aslan. Now this. Im out. I loved the Narnia books as a child and it will absolutely confuse a young reader to change something that needs to be the same.
Considering the female Aslan was never confirmed, I can overlook that (until we know for sure). But I am extremely disappointed by the modernising of Narnia. There is absolutely no reason for moving this story to the 50s.
I have a question regarding like the production of the film is does anyone know how much is given to produce it? I just wanted to ask because like given the certain observed changes like the possible setting of 1950s is probably due to conversation back and forth from the production regarding where the money is being spent? To clarify what I mean is that usually the production of a film is like preparing for a wedding venue where you have to factor how the wedding looks based on the certain decorations and elements being factored before seeing the sum of the whole cost of the venue. It possible originally they might have leaned on the Victorian setting but the issues would raise:
1 ) Where or which location give of Victorian vibes? Is the space available as in no other filming company is using it during the planned schedule for the filming? Is it does not exist do we have CGI it and if so how much is CGI and at what cost? Also, if put in Victorian era will there be enough clothes of that time to be made and at what cost or is there extra clothes from old films/ shows that exist that can be reused or are they being rented for other filming companies currently?
This questioning might have factor in leading to the 1950s setting:
1 ) Are there available locations to set it in 1950s when factoring CGI stuff? Are there reasonable budget to make clothes or rent from old clothes from old shows and films that exist that can be cheap for us?
I know I am just focusing on like the parts of Earth in the Magician Nephew and, but this thinking could apply to certain factors say with Charn or the creation of Narnia
Also, I was wondering if we have been given a certain amount of money to produce this film, then what production factor you rank is more important to invest the given money you have which also mean other factors of the film have to adjust to the change. I have this feeling the factor that Rank #1 would be the CGI of the Creation of Narnia and Charn (and a bit of earth) cause if we know the book being filmed is Magician Nephew and reading the book and knowing how the book unfold, would it not be expected that the importance because the CGI factor of the film as that would be a definitive factor in how the films looks and given using Vistavision/35mm the precision of the look of the film must be secured. That why I wanted to know ( if anyone who work with CGI before have insights) could estimate the cost based on the film being Magician Nephew the amount of CGI, props and setting production, makeup and clothes, music, locations area, crew and extras, and other factor would cost just out of curiosity?