Cinema · 14 October 2026
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew Trailer Reveals Greta Gerwig’s New Fantasy Epic
The first full trailer for Greta Gerwig’s ***Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew*** has arrived, giving audiences their clearest look yet at Netflix’s ambitious return to the world created by C. S. Lewis.
The Narnia The Magician’s Nephew trailer reveals the origins of Narnia itself, following two children who are transported between worlds and ultimately witness the creation of the magical land that later becomes home to characters including Aslan and the White Witch.
Netflix has released the trailer in full through Tudum, ahead of a cinema release that will be considerably larger than the streaming company normally gives its original films.
Daniel Craig opens the door to another world
The story centres on Digory and Polly, played by newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell.
Daniel Craig plays Digory’s mysterious Uncle Andrew, whose experiments with magical rings allow people to travel between different worlds.
Those experiments lead the children to the Wood Between the Worlds, a mysterious place containing gateways to multiple realities.
Their journey eventually brings them into contact with Jadis, played by Emma Mackey, before they witness the birth of Narnia.
Netflix’s official cast announcement also confirms Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Meryl Streep, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough and Susan Wokoma among the film’s ensemble.
This is the first screen adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew
Although audiences have seen several Narnia stories adapted before, The Magician’s Nephew has never previously received a major film adaptation.
The novel was published in 1955 and serves as an origin story for the entire Narnia universe.
It explains how Narnia came into existence, how humans first entered the world and how several familiar elements from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe began.
That gives Gerwig the opportunity to restart the screen franchise without simply remaking the same story audiences already know.
The trailer leans heavily into that sense of discovery, moving through strange landscapes, magical portals and the earliest moments of Narnia’s creation.
Greta Gerwig has wanted to make Narnia for years
Gerwig wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film.
After the global success of Barbie, the scale of her next project attracted considerable attention, particularly when Netflix confirmed that she would be adapting C. S. Lewis rather than moving immediately into another contemporary comedy or drama.
Gerwig has explained that she first read The Magician’s Nephew as a child and was fascinated by the idea of a universe being created through music.
Music is also playing an unusually prominent role behind the scenes.
Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who previously worked with Gerwig on Barbie, are composing the original score.
Narnia is getting a proper cinema release
Perhaps the biggest surprise surrounding the project is how Netflix plans to release it.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will not simply appear on the streaming service.
Netflix has confirmed a worldwide theatrical release from 12 February 2027, with special IMAX previews beginning two days earlier.
The film will then arrive on Netflix on 2 April 2027.
That gives the movie an unusually substantial cinema window for a Netflix production and signals how significant the company considers the new Narnia franchise.
Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle distribution outside North America.
A new beginning for one of fantasy’s biggest worlds
The seven Chronicles of Narnia books have sold more than 120 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages.
Previous cinema adaptations beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe introduced another generation to the world, but the film series never reached all seven novels.
Gerwig’s version is effectively beginning again from the very start of Narnia’s internal history.
With the Narnia The Magician’s Nephew trailer now online, audiences finally have their first substantial indication of what that new version will look like.
The film reaches cinemas on 12 February 2027, before arriving on Netflix on 2 April.
