Greta Gerwig is giving audiences an unconventional take on the world of Narnia, drawing on the music and visual style of 1960s and 1970s British rock and David Bowie for her upcoming film, “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.”
In a first look at the film, the “Barbie” and “Little Women” director described the film as a “rock opera” rather than a conventional fantasy adaptation, with the filmmaker seeking to make the origin story “big and transporting.”
The film will be released in IMAX and cinemas worldwide on February 12, 2027, with IMAX sneak previews beginning February 10, before streaming on Netflix on April 2.
Mixing magic and Bowie
Gerwig, who directed “Barbie,” said her approach was shaped by C. S. Lewis’ depiction of Narnia as a world brought into existence through music.
“I wanted a rock opera. I wanted it to be big and transporting,” Gerwig said in an interview with Empire.
“Narnia is literally a world made out of music,” she said. “It is a world sung to life by Aslan, and rock ’n’ roll to me felt like a world made out of music.”
Although the film is not a musical, its rock-opera influence is expected to bring elements of glam rock into the fantasy setting, with David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era serving as a notable visual reference.
Netflix’s first look at Aslan, the cosmic lion who sings Narnia into existence, shows the character with heterochromic eyes and a red-striped visage inspired by Bowie’s iconic persona.
“Universe built out of music“
Gerwig said her connection to “The Magician’s Nephew” dates to childhood, when she became fascinated by the idea of a cosmic lion creating a world through song.
“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.
“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,” she added.
“The Magician’s Nephew” is chronologically the first book in Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia,” serving as a prequel detailing the creation of Narnia.
It will be the first time the book is adapted to the big screen, as Walden Media’s film series only managed to adapt “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Prince Caspian”, and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” before plans for “The Silver Chair” were abandoned.
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Meryl Streep stars as Aslan
The cast of Gerwig’s “The Magician’s Nephew” will be headed by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who will be the voice behind Aslan.
The film also stars newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell alongside Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Daniel Craig.
Gerwig said she wanted an actor for Aslan who could combine authority, emotional depth and childlike wonder.
“I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” she said.
“Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight. I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one.”
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