Sony Pictures Entertainment is set to handle the international theatrical rollout of Greta Gerwig’s new film “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” on behalf of Netflix.
THR reports that the movie is set to be Netflix’s first wide theatrical release and its first foray into releasing a movie into cinemas exclusively for a minimum of 45 days.
Netflix will handle domestic distribution for the movie, which was originally scheduled to be released exclusively on 1,000 IMAX screens at Thanksgiving for a one-month run ahead of a Netflix premiere at Christmas.
When the 45-day window was announced, plans changed with the film now getting a wide theatrical release in the United States in February next year. AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Cineplex, Marcus and Harkins, and many regional and independent theaters are all expected to play the film.
In a statement, the streamer says: “Netflix and Sony Pictures have a strong track record of partnership, including their landmark global pay-1 licensing deal under which SPE’s feature films stream on Netflix worldwide — an industry-first for pay-1 — following their full theatrical and home entertainment windows.”
Written for the screen and directed by Gerwig, the project marks the first-ever screen adaptation of C. S. Lewis’s “The Magician’s Nephew” and stars David McKenna, Beatrice Campbell, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Daniel Craig, and Meryl Streep.
