One of the biggest stories in Hollywood over the past month wasn’t centered around awards season or the Sundance Film Festival. No, it was the announcement that Netflix made a deal to screen Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia” on IMAX screens around the world for two weeks beginning on Thanksgiving Day in 2026. Gerwig, coming off of the $1.4 billion gross for “Barbie,” wanted a genuine theatrical component for her follow-up. She sort of got it. Now, the question is, will other high-profile filmmakers get the same treatment?
READ MORE: Netflix grants Gerta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ a two-week IMAX window
On Wednesday, Netflix previewed its upcoming content for the assembled media at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The Next on Netflix 2025 event was light on film content, but it did show a preview of Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of “Frankenstein” which the streamer is not releasing online at this time.
The first live-action film from del Toro since 2021 Best Picture nominee “Nightmare Alley,” has been a lifelong passion project. In a prepared video, del Toro remarked, “This film has been on my mind since I was a child — for fifty years. And I’ve been trying to make it for 20-25 years. In fact, some people may even think I am a little bit obsessed with Frankenstein. And they probably would be right. You see, over the decades, the character has fused with my soul in a way that it has become an autobiography. It doesn’t get more personal than this.”
During a very short Q&A session at the end of the hour-long event, The Playlist asked Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, if other films, such as “Frankenstein,” could get the “Narnia” treatment with IMAX. Especially since “Narnia” won’t arrive for another in theaters or on the service for 22 months. We believe her answer would be categorized as a “deflection.”
“I think first off it’s really exciting that Greta Gerwig is doing ‘Narnia.’ It’s so special and her vision for it and the creativity and we’re really excited,” Bajaria says. “And we routinely have Academy Award runs and qualifying runs for our movies and, for us, I’m very excited to actually partner with IMAX for ‘Narnia’ and I think that’s great partners to do that with. And so, it’s like each movie we sort of consider what that qualifying run is. IMAX, we think is a great partner and we’re excited to do it with ‘Narnia,’ but each movie is just kind of bespoke and that’s kind of how we go by it.”
Bajaria continues, “There is kind of no bigger filmmaker and I think the most important thing that has gotten lost so far, to be honest, is that Greta Gerwig is doing ‘Narnia’ and that’s incredibly exciting. And I know people are really only wanting to talk about the IMAX part and not everything else and this is actually incredible what this is going to be, but there will be time for that.”
“Frankenstein” features Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the monster as well as Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz.
“Frankenstein” arrives on Netflix in November.
