First look at the reimagined Aslan in Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, from Empire's exclusive cover story

Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Movie Sets a 2027 Release Date, and Its First Look at Aslan Is Nothing Like You Remember

September 17, 2026 Noah

Netflix has finally put a date on Greta Gerwig’s Narnia adaptation, and paired it with a startling first look at Aslan. On September 16, Netflix confirmed that Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will hit IMAX and theaters worldwide on February 12, 2027, with IMAX-only sneak previews starting two days earlier, before arriving on Netflix on April 2, 2027. It’s the first time C.S. Lewis’s sixth Narnia book, the one that explains how the world was created in the first place, has ever made it to the screen.

A Cast Built Around Two Unknowns

Gerwig’s version pairs newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell, playing Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, the two children whose accidental trip between worlds kicks off the story, with a heavily stacked supporting cast. Emma Mackey plays Jadis, the witch who will eventually become Narnia’s White Witch; Daniel Craig is Digory’s reckless Uncle Andrew; and Carey Mulligan plays Digory’s ailing mother, Mabel Kirke. Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma round out the ensemble, though Netflix hasn’t confirmed all of their characters yet.

And then there’s Aslan. Meryl Streep voices the lion this time around, the first time a woman has taken on the role; Liam Neeson voiced him across the 2000s film trilogy. Aslan is still written and referred to as male within the story itself, so this is a voice casting choice rather than a change to the character.

Writer/director Greta Gerwig on the set of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew

Greta Gerwig, seen here on set, wrote and directed the film herself, her first project since 2023’s Barbie.

“A Cosmic Lion Singing the World to Life”

Gerwig has described the project as something that’s been with her since childhood. What hooked her, she said in Netflix’s announcement, was “a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life,” a direct nod to the book’s climax, where Aslan sings Narnia into existence. That musical idea carries straight into the score, composed by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, the same duo behind Barbie’s soundtrack.

The design goes further than the music. In an exclusive cover story, Empire revealed Aslan’s reworked look, mismatched eyes and bold red markings drawing on David Bowie’s aesthetic, and Gerwig pitched her overall approach as “a rock opera.” She’s cited a run of 1960s and 70s British rock musicians, Bowie, Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant, as touchstones for the film’s tone, though it isn’t being billed as a literal musical. Some set reporting has also pointed to the story being shifted from the book’s original setting to postwar 1950s Britain, though Netflix hasn’t confirmed that detail itself.

When and Where to Watch It

Netflix will handle the film’s release domestically, while Sony Pictures Entertainment distributes it internationally outside North America, an unusual split for a Netflix original that reflects how big a swing this is meant to be. The push makes sense given the source material: The Chronicles of Narnia’s seven books have sold more than 120 million copies across 70 countries and been translated into over 60 languages since the first one arrived in 1950.

Here’s the release schedule so far: