Movies
Greta Gerwig has claimed an early win with her next directorial project, aka Narnia. Netflix’s earnings call revealed that the first trailer for her adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s classic has shattered a viewership record set by her own blockbuster, signalling massive audience anticipation.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer got more than double of Barbie’s views
The numbers tell a striking story. According to WaveMetrix data shared during Netflix’s earnings call, the Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer pulled in 481.3 million views within its first seven days. That total more than doubles the 240 million views that the Barbie trailer got in the same timeframe.
The Greta Gerwig project also outpaced rival trailers including Wonka at 237.2 million and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie at 281.6 million. Audiences pushed the preview to No. 1 on X, and it still holds the top spot among trending movie trailers on YouTube. Traffic overwhelmed NarniaFilm.com so heavily that the site briefly went down. Netflix debuted the trailer on October 13 at an IMAX sneak-peek event in New York City. Gerwig spoke with Stephen Colbert about her personal history with Lewis’s work and her approach to filming the origin story for the first time on screen.
The preview also broke new ground in music licensing. Led Zeppelin permitted “Stairway to Heaven” for a film trailer for the first time ever. Jimmy Page publicly called Gerwig “a powerhouse in the world of cinema.” Gerwig told Colbert she felt “so moved that they allowed me to use the song,” noting the band members revere Lewis and recognized the story’s spiritual core. Netflix backed the launch with worldwide paid media spanning TikTok, Reddit, Meta, X, Snap, Pinterest, YouTube, connected TV, and NFL programming (via Deadline).
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew releases in theaters on February 12 under an exclusive 49-day theatrical window before streaming. Sony oversees international distribution. The cast includes Emma Mackey, Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Denise Gough, and Ciarán Hinds.
