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Twenty years after the release of Disney’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, another adaptation from C.S. Lewis’s famed children fantasy series will again make its way to theaters.
This time around, Netflix has tasked Greta Gerwig—the acclaimed director of Ladybird, Little Women, and Barbie—to helm a reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia. The first of the two confirmed adaptations will be The Magician’s Nephew, the sixth book in the series and the prequel to Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. “It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions,” Gerwig said of the book series in an interview with Time last year. “As a child, you accept the whole thing—that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic. I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them.”
Ahead, we break down everything we know about the adaptations so far.
Which books will Netflix adapt?
Gerwig is expected to bring The Magician’s Nephew to life as her first film adaptation from The Chronicles of Narnia, according to Nexus Point News. (The New Yorker previously confirmed that Gerwig’s partnership with Netflix will include at least two films, although the second book adaptation has not yet been reported.)
The Chronicles of Narnia includes seven books in total. Lewis first published The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1950, followed by several sequels: Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), The Silver Chair (1953), and The Horse and His Boy (1954). While The Magician’s Nephew was published in 1955, the book serves as a prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, exploring the origin of Narnia, the White Witch, professor Digory Kirke, and the magical wooden wardrobe that serves as a portal between the two worlds. Lewis wrapped up the book series with a seventh novel, The Last Battle, in 1956.
Over the years, the book series has been the focus of several onscreen adaptations. From 1988 to 1990, the BBC adapted The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair as television serials. Disney later released feature film adaptations of the first three books in publishing order from 2005 to 2010. Gerwig’s Netflix movie will be the first onscreen adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew.
When does the movie come out?
Netflix’s first Narnia adaptation will have its theatrical release on Thanksgiving 2026 (November 26). The movie will exclusively run in Imax theaters across 90 countries for two weeks, according to Deadline. Afterwards, the movie will be available to stream on Netflix.
Who is in the cast?
Gerwig’s vision of Narnia includes a stacked cast. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Carey Mulligan is in talks to play the mother of Digory Kirke, a young boy who eventually becomes the professor that opens his home to the Pevensie children during World War II. If Mulligan is confirmed, she will be the latest A-list star to join the roster, which so far reportedly includes Emma Mackey as Jadis, an evil sorceress later known as the White Witch; Meryl Streep as Aslan, the talking lion who serves as the ultimate guardian over Narnia; and Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew, a magician who causes Digory to first enter Narnia.
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