All About “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew”, Greta Gerwig’s New Adaptation of the Classic Tale

Kelly AllenSun, October 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Daniel Craig in ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’Credit: Netflix/YouTubeThe trailer for the film dropped on Oct. 13 -

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is based on the chronological first book in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series

Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Emma Mackey and Carey Mulligan, among others, star in the fantasy film

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will debut in early 2027

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephewis opening a portal into the creation of a beloved, magical land.

The fantasy film from Greta Gerwig adapts C.S. Lewis’ 1955 novel The Magician’s Nephew, one of the seven books in the author’s Chronicles ofNarnia series. Although the book was the sixth to be published, it’s chronologically the first as it charts how the enchanting realm of Narnia came to exist.

Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Emma Mackey and Carey Mulligan star in the movie, among others. It is the first film adaptation of the Narnia books since the original movie trilogy that came out between 2005 and 2010.

In the trailer, which debuted on Oct. 13, Craig’s character introduces a pair of young friends to the reality that “hundreds” — or even an infinite number — of other worlds exist.

Here’s everything we know so far about Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, including the release date and trailer.

What is Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew about?

Emma Mackey in ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’Credit: Netflix/YouTube

According to Netflix’s Tudum, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will follow “a sweeping adventure that invites dreamers of all ages to experience the creation of Narnia.”

The film follows Lewis’ book The Magician’s Nephew, which is set 1,000 years before the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and centers on the lion Aslan’s creation of Narnia through song.

In the movie, two kids, Digory and Polly (David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell, respectively), learn that Digory’s Uncle Andrew (Craig) is a real magician. Uncle Andrew then introduces them to magic and they witness “a world born,” a.k.a Narnia, as the trailer suggests.

Who is directing Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew?

Greta Gerwig attends Netflix’s Narnia IMAX exclusive sneak peek event on Oct. 13, 2026 in New York CityCredit: Kevin Mazur/Getty

Gerwig wrote and directed Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.

During a Q&A, moderated by Stephen Colbert, at sneak peek of the movie on Oct. 13, the Barbie director discussed her enduring love of the Chronicles of Narnia books, which she reread often as a kid. “I don’t remember a time when I didn’t know the books,” she said.

Gerwig’s special ties to the stories go even deeper, sharing that the BBC’s The Chronicles of Narnia series was one of her first-ever exposures to TV. After Gerwig heard Netflix acquired the rights to the stories, she pitched her idea for an adaptation to the streamer’s CEO, Ted Sarandos, at a cocktail party, she said.

When the film’s title was announced in May, Gerwig released a statement about the specific book she chose to adapt.

“I was a child when I first read The Magician’s Nephew, and I fell in love with the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life,” she said in the statement.

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She continued, “I didn’t know that I would grow up to make films, but a universe built out of music is an idea that always lived in my heart.”

Gerwig added that Lewis’ books were the reason she “believed in magic and hidden worlds and adventure.” She continued, “I believed that anywhere could be enchanted and that anyone could be swept up into an epic. That wonder and awe was available to everyone, even ordinary people like me.”

Who is in the Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew cast?

Meryl Streep; Daniel Craig; Carey MulliganCredit: iMBC/Imazins via Getty; JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty; Karwai Tang/WireImage

At the movie’s sneak peek, Gerwig said that she screened thousands of kids for the roles of Digory and Polly, but McKenna and Campbell were chosen for the parts because of their natural instincts to take care of each other.

Meanwhile, Streep voices the lion known as Aslan. “I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” Gerwig told Empire in September 2026 of her search for Aslan. “Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight.”

She added that she “wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience” but she also wanted them to have the “capacity of fresh wonder, like a child.” She continued, “And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one.”

Craig, Mackey, Mulligan, Denise Gough, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Susan Wokoma also star in the film, per Deadline.

Is there a Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer?

The first trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew dropped on Oct. 13.

The trailer begins with Digory and Polly watching Uncle Andrew from a dilapidated rooftop as he looks at broken glass in a yard. Polly asks Digory if he’s “mad,” and Digory replies that his mom calls him a magician.

When the pair discover Uncle Andrew’s workshop, he confirms he’s truly a magician. Uncle Andrew then presents Digory with a ring, which introduces him to a multitude of magical realms. As the kids explore other worlds, they face dangerous obstacles and come to witness the birth of Narnia.

When will Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew premiere?

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will hit theaters on Feb. 12, 2027, and become available to stream on Netflix on April 2, 2027.

The movie is one of Netflix’s first-ever wide theatrical releases and marks the streamer’s first time solely putting a movie in theaters for at least 49 days.

At the movie’s Oct. 13 sneak peek, Gerwig said she hopes audiences will see the film in theaters more than once before watching it at home. She said, “I hope they say to themselves, ‘I love watching movies in a movie theater.’ ”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”