With Netflix’s cinema release deal with IMAX reportedly dead, director Greta Gerwig could be about to depart the streaming firm’s upcoming Narnia movies.
In October, director Greta Gerwig was reportedly using her post-Barbie clout to try to persuade Netflix to give her planned Narnia films a cinema release. Gerwig wouldn’t be the first filmmaker to try and fail in this endeavour, and plenty of filmmakers have expressed frustration in the past about the company’s refusal to make a run in cinemas as part of its distribution model.
Perhaps because of the incredible success of Barbie, or whether the company’s new Head of Film, Dan Lin, is more receptive, or simply because it’s a good idea, speculation was rife that Netflix was prepared to do a deal with IMAX and put the film into cinemas on its large screen format.
Rumours suggested that Gerwig might try to step away from the project if her demands weren’t met, and she publicly hinted that the process was proving difficult, admitting that the adaptation had been giving her ‘nightmares.’ According to Empire City, other major studios have taken a dim view of Netflix being granted access to the limited IMAX schedule when the company refuses to support the wider theatrical business – and unsurprisingly, so have cinema operators.
Given that IMAX won’t want to vex both ends of its business pipeline, that means the Netflix deal for the Narnia films is likely dead and as such, the report suggests that Gerwig could soon exit the project. If true, this is probably the best option for Gerwig given that off the back of Barbie she could (and likely still can) enjoy the freedom to pursue any project she wants to.
The director would probably prefer not to be chained to a small screen production for the next five years. A production which – due to Netflix’s seeming aversion to wide cinema releases – won’t have the kind of cultural impact that will further her career as a filmmaker.
When you couple this with Christopher Nolan’s move to Universal a couple of years back, and Emerald Fennell and Margot Robbie’s straight-up refusal to sell their planned take on Wuthering Heights to streamers, there’s a sense that there might be a change in the air.
If the industry’s top creators continue their solidarity on this front, it certainly won’t hurt the continued future of the theatrical experience. We’ll bring you more on this story as it unfolds.
