Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ Trailer Racks Up 481 Million Views in First Week

The wardrobe door has barely opened, and audiences are already rushing through it. The first trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, director Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s beloved fantasy prequel, has generated more than 481 million views across platforms in its first seven days, according to figures from analytics firm WaveMetrix reported on Tuesday.

Bigger Than Barbie’s First Week

To put that number in perspective, the launch comfortably outpaced the first-week trailer totals recorded for Gerwig’s own Barbie, as well as for Wonka and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. While social-media view counts vary wildly in how they are calculated, the scale of the response signals that Netflix has achieved its first objective: making a new Narnia film feel like a genuine cinematic event rather than another title quietly appearing on a streaming homepage.

The trailer itself offers clues to the enthusiasm. Rather than returning immediately to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Gerwig has chosen to adapt the creation story of Narnia, following the young Digory and Polly as a magical world is born. The footage is set to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” pairing iconic rock with images of a fantasy realm audiences have loved for generations.

A Very Un-Netflix Release Plan

Perhaps most striking is how the film will reach audiences. In a sharp break from the streamer’s usual strategy, The Magician’s Nephew will open in IMAX previews on February 10, 2027, before expanding into regular theatres on February 12 — with its Netflix streaming premiere not arriving until April 2. That is a genuine theatrical window, not the brief qualifying run the company has typically granted its prestige titles.

The scale of the bet is considerable. Narnia is not being positioned as a one-off literary adaptation but as the foundation of a theatrical-scale fantasy franchise — and if trailer views are any indication, the audience is ready to return.

Source: The Chairshot