Narnia: The Magician's Nephew Director On The New Time Period
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Narnia: The Magician's Nephew Director On The New Time Period
Narnia: The Magician's Nephew director Greta Gerwig wanted to make a rock opera, and the new time period she is exploring.
Published Sat, 19 Sep 2026 17:16:08 -0500
by Kaitlyn Booth
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Article Summary
- Narnia: The Magician's Nephew shifts from the early 1900s to post-war 1950s Britain in Greta Gerwig's adaptation.
- Greta Gerwig says the new setting gives Digory and Polly fresh resonance through pain, loss, and imagination.
- Gerwig describes Narnia: The Magician's Nephew as a rock opera, inspired by Bowie, McCartney, and classic rock.
- The director links Narnia's music-born world to rock and roll, aiming for a big, transporting fantasy experience.
It was only a matter of time before a new adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia came to be. The last time this series was adapted for the big screen, it was pretty straightforward, but once Netflix announced it would be adapting it and bringing on Greta Gerwig to direct. We're finally getting some more specific details about the first film they are adapting, and Narnia: The Magician's Nephew is moving up in the timeline, not by a few years, but by a few decades. The original book took place in the early 1900s, but this one, takes place in, as described in a new interview with Empire, " post-war '50s Britain instead, young heroes Digory (David McKenna) and Polly (Beatrice Campbell) take on fresh resonance. After all, the kids of grey, muted 1950s Britain became the vibrant, ceaselessly imaginative '70s rock heroes that illuminated Gerwig's world."
"They had this relationship to pain and loss and something as unpromising as a bomb site, and they made a castle," Gerwig explained. "They made a universe. They made something you could live inside of. … I don't know how you went from David Jones to David Bowie unless you went to Narnia and you saw something."
Gerwig said that she wanted a "rock opera: and she wanted the film "to be big and transporting." The bones of the idea for Narnia: The Magician's Nephew were formed alongside Barbie during the pandemic, so maybe there will be some sort of crossover in terms of the vibes she brought to Barbie here as well. Gerwig went on to cite several musical artists that helped inspire the rock opera aspects of this project, "David Bowie saved my life. Paul McCartney saved my life. David Gilmour saved my life. Pete Townshend saved my life. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant… When I heard their music, I had this deep sense of [thinking], 'You're gonna be okay.' … Narnia is literally a world made out of music. It is a world sung to life by Aslan, and rock 'n' roll to me felt like a world made out of music." We're going in a new direction, which is no way a bad thing, because when you're adapting something that is foundational, like these books are, you have to swing big, or you could feel derivative. Me thinks this won't be that; it's just a matter of whether or not it's all going to come together.
Narnia: The Magician's Nephew – Summary, Cast List, Release Date
Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Greta Gerwig brings C. S. Lewis' beloved story The Magician's Nephew to the screen for the first time in a sweeping adventure that invites dreamers of all ages to experience the creation of Narnia.
Narnia: The Magician's Nephew is directed by Greta Gerwig with a screenplay by Gerwig. It stars David McKenna, Beatrice Campbell, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, with Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma. Narnia: The Magician's Nephew will be released in IMAX and in theaters worldwide on February 12, 2027, and it will stream on Netflix starting on April 2, 2027. There will be sneak preview screenings, only in IMAX, starting on February 10, 2027.
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