IMAX chief Rich Gelfond wants you to know one thing: Greta Gerwig’s take on The Magician’s Nephew (from Narnia) is going to change cinema forever. At IMAX’s first-ever Investors Day in New York, he hyped the Netflix-backed Narnia adaptation like it was going to rewrite filmmaking. His words: Gerwig’s movie will “change the world” and “create a cultural event.” Those are big words.
Gelfond described the score as modern and loud, tipping his hat to Pink Floyd and The Doors. Producer Amy Pascal already teased the same thing in 2024, calling the project rooted in “rock and roll.” Mark Ronson—yes, the same guy who helped turn Barbie into a pop anthem machine—is in charge of the music. He’s clearly not being hired to deliver a sleepy fantasy choir.
Gelfond doubled down: “This is not your mother’s or your grandmother’s Narnia… The music in it is unbelievably contemporary music, which IMAX fans like.” So imagine Aslan roaring with a psychedelic guitar solo backing him. Wild mental image, but I’m intrigued.
There’s one little snag. About 350 IMAX screens exist in the U.S., and some theater chains are already boycotting the film. So how exactly does one “change the world” when the world can’t all fit in those seats? Gelfond didn’t quite elaborate on that.
Gerwig started filming back in August, swapping Victorian London for a post-war 1950s setting packed with extras and grand streetscapes. It’s a noticeable shift from C.S. Lewis’ original vision. Then again, nobody expected the director behind Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie to play it safe. Gerwig doesn’t do automatic fidelity to the page.
Casting rumours are interesting too: Emma Mackey, Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew, Carey Mulligan circling a mystery role, and Meryl Streep possibly voicing Aslan (what?). Netflix hasn’t confirmed a thing, so for now, call it rumors.
Greta Gerwig’s new Narnia movie lands with a 28-day IMAX-exclusive release window in November 2026. Whether it actually shifts culture forever remains to be seen. But Gerwig has everyone’s attention.
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