Much like the Pevensie children, Netflix is opening doors to boldly wander into a much bigger world—the world of wider theatrical releases, that is.

In a major change to its planned rollout strategy for Greta Gerwig’s long-anticipated Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, the streamer has delayed the film to February 12, 2027—giving it a bigger theatrical run before an April 2 streaming debut. Originally, the plan was to give it a two-week limited release this Thanksgiving (only on IMAX screens in 1,000 theaters globally) before launching the film on streaming for Christmas.

Now hitting theaters 49 days before the film arrives on Netflix, the release will “match the scale and fandom of C. S. Lewis’s beloved books,” the streamer teased in an announcement that was otherwise light on specifics. Gerwig’s film is an adaptation of the sixth book in the legacy kidlit fantasy series, The Magician’s Nephew (which actually comes first in order of chronological events). 

As the reigning streaming champ, Netflix has unsurprisingly been hesitant about theatrical distribution for many years—with the exception of giving select films like Roma a qualifying run to be eligible for awards. 

But the company has started opening up and working more with exhibitors, particularly over the past year. The kids mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters broke tradition, with not one but two big-screen engagements in response to strong fan demand. This continued with TV shows like Stranger Things and One Piece that have leveraged their fandom to fill theaters with limited engagements for select episodes. Netflix’s quest to buy WB also meant co-CEO Ted Sarandos had to spend a lot of time easing industry concerns about the streamer’s history of keeping theatrical at arm’s length. 

This latest push is another sign, arguably the biggest, that the streamer could be changing up how it approaches hotly anticipated films with a four-quadrant reach. It’s quite a turn from how Netflix was discussing things as recently as early last year. During the streamer’s Q4 earnings call in January 2025, Sarandos even emphasized how the Narnia film’s (now-nixed) Thanksgiving rollout was not an indication that Netflix was changing up its business model. “No change at all to our theatrical strategy,” he said at the time. “Our core strategy is to give our members exclusive first-run movies on Netflix. The Narnia IMAX release is a release tactic.”

IMAX took the updated release in stride. “The film’s delay until 2027 creates an opportunity to give Narnia an expanded, wide release with a full theatrical window; we support Greta and Netflix in pursuing that opportunity and are pleased IMAX could help facilitate,” a representative for the company said, according to multiple outlets. “We hope as many people in as many places as possible can experience what Greta is creating with this special film—particularly in its exclusive debut in IMAX, as it was meant to be seen.”