I would've preferred an episodic series, but I'm glad that we're getting some news at least!

Between this and the Greta Gerwig rumor, I'm beginning to wonder if they are releasing these news tidbits in order to personally quell our recent speculations that the project is dead. 

@rose "Narnia and Dahl" is either from a reporter's notes (!) or it's the way it was said, because people know 'Narnia' more than the name Lewis, but they know Roald Dahl.

It's Christmas day, and when I decide to check out Narnia Web, we finally get Narnia movie news! (Funny, since I had been in the mood to rewatch the first Walden adaptation due to the season haha). Anyway, Netflix possibly going theatrical is really interesting. And the idea of seeing Narnia on the big screen again gives me chills (in a good way!) 

It will be interesting to see whether Netflix can truly commit to the Theatrical Release model as a viable option for its content going forward.

To date, Netflix has only really tended to release films in the cinema in order to meet the minimum requirements necessary for Oscar Nominations (though apparently since Covid the Academy have been less strict on the requirement for nominees to have been physically released in cinemas)

Either way, when you look at the list of Netflix produced movies at the boxoffice, you see award winning films like Roma, The Irishman, Two Popes, Power of the Dog, and Don't Look Up making next-to-nothing by Hollywood standards.

https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/theatrical-distributors/netflix

More recently it does seem they've been giving movies a slightly wider Theatrical Release with things like Knives Out 2 and Matilda at least making "some" money, but in the grand scheme of things its still a long-long world away from the hundreds of millions of dollars that the 3 Walden Narnia movies pulled in.

Without a cinematic release, it really does put a cap on the budget they can invest in the project - aside from the aforementioned Oscar-bait dramas, the majority of Netflix's in house movies have a decidedly cheap look-and-feel to them... so much so that several commentators have done some fairly in-depth articles on why it is that Netflix productions tend to have such a noticeablly low quality aesthetic to them.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ake3j5/why-does-everything-on-netflix-look-like-that

Some of these reasons are kind of interesting technical reasons about the nature of how online streaming works, but in terms of the more traditional budget elements, it is essentially that without a sizeable boxoffice revenue to fall back on, you not only need to reduce the upfront cost you can spend on the production, but a larger proportion of your budget also has to go to the actors.

Usually actors would sign contracts whereby they are compensated with a percentage of the final boxoffice take, or from downstream DVD sales - therefore without that to offer them, you have to fork out the cash upfront, meaning you get a lot less "bang for your buck" even on a modestly budgeted production.

If they really want to go full-on high budget with Narnia, then a Theatrical Release might be a necessity.

Posted by: @icarus

If they really want to go full-on high budget with Narnia, then a Theatrical Release might be a necessity.

Thanks for that analysis!

It's true Netflix films (& most shows on streaming platforms in general) have a certain feel to them. I'd almost call it a believability issue? I don't think I've seen convincing CG, even in their big-budget titles. Which is strange because they often have similarly sized budgets to Walden's LWW, whose Aslan still holds up incredibly well.

More recently it does seem they've been giving movies a slightly wider Theatrical Release with things like Knives Out 2 and Matilda at least making "some" money, but in the grand scheme of things its still a long-long world away from the hundreds of millions of dollars that the 3 Walden Narnia movies pulled in.

Matilda the Musical: $25.5 million

Knives Out 2: $15 million

Peanuts in comparison. 

I really wish they would do a tv series as well. I could just see how each big moment could be one episode. The books are so about moving from one interesting idea to the next.

With Greta Gerwig officially attached, I feel quite confident we'll see this iteration of Narnia on the big-screen. I don't know where Netflix's theatre strategy will be in 3 years time, but I suspect that making films is part of what Gerwig negotiated when dealing with Netflix.

@impending-doom 

It will certainly be exciting to see Narnia on the big screen again! I wonder that those who can't go to the cinemas, they can stream it at home. I also kind of wonder if Netflix will eventually release physical copies (DVD or Blu-Ray) of their original films or series.

I actually would like to see a Narnia movie in a theater since there hasn’t been any in my area in a long time. It was at least ten years ago that Voyage of the Dawn Treader was playing in my area. I like to preview movies by watching them in a local theater before deciding if I want to own them.  I remember liking Dawn Treader in spite of the negative criticism it received.   Viewing the movie on a big screen is the best way to evaluate it for yourself. And it is a much different experience than watching a program on television. 🙂

If Gerwig's Narnia finally gets released, does anyone believe we won't see it in theatres? Not that I think Netflix should expect Barbie numbers (or anywhere close), but I have a hard time envisioning Netflix withholding Narnia from a wide release.

@impending-doom I think it could go either way. One thing I'm also wondering about, is the extent of the release if Netflix did choose to give it one. Would it be like Glass Onion where it was only in cinemas for week before its release on the platform?

Another film to look out for would be Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which is produced and distributed by Apple TV+ alongside Paramount Pictures. It'll have a wide release before its release on streaming. So if that goes well, maybe Netflix will consider it but that film might be in a unique situation due to Scorsese being involved as well as Paramount. So I'm wondering if a theatrical release will depend on whatever deal Greta has or can make.

I wonder if the new Narnia movies would be part of the Fathom Events. It would be in theaters for about a couple of weeks, and if it is successful enough, it could go for a bit longer.

Posted by: @rilianix

I think it could go either way. One thing I'm also wondering about, is the extent of the release if Netflix did choose to give it one. Would it be like Glass Onion where it was only in cinemas for week before its release on the platform?

I think this would make sense given their current strategy. But Netflix could only release Glass Onion to less than 700 theatres because of that small window of showings. They reportedly even had to sweeten the pot with theatre chains to make it work. For refrence, Barbie released in 4,243 theaters.

So I hope we can see a change to allow for a wider release.

If the movie is a theater presentation it may be shown only once in my area. That is what happened with The Most Reluctant Convert. I almost missed it and ended up buying it on Blu-ray. I don’t like it when movies are shown only once.  As I remember the Walden films were shown multiple times in my local theater. If the new movie is made for the small screen there may be more chances of seeing it, but I am not in a rush to subscribe to Netflix. I kind of wish it would be on a TV series like Masterpiece on PBS. But I doubt if that would ever happen. That would seem almost too good to be true. 

New unconfirmed development; Greta Gerwig also wants a theatrical release! 

https://www.narniaweb.com/2024/10/greta-gerwig-wants-narnia-on-the-big-screen-but-is-netflix-on-board/