EXCLUSIVE: We just got wind after the Netflix earnings call that the viewership for the trailer of the streamer’s mega-wide theatrical release Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew from Greta Gerwig garnered more than 481.3 million views in its first seven days, according to WaveMetrix.
That seven-day traffic bests that of Gerwig’s Barbie (240M views), Wonka (237.2M views) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (281.6M views).
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trended at No. 1 on X and is still the No. 1 trending movie trailer on YouTube and NarniaFilm.com, which briefly crashed due to the influx of visits.
Narnia hits theaters February 12 stateside in what is an exclusive 49-day theatrical window to streaming. Sony is handling theatrical for the film overseas. The movie is one of many seismic movies for Netflix as it further embraces theatrical — look to longer windows in addition to reporting grosses. Its limited four-theater release of La Bola Negra in New York City and L.A. scored the second-best opening theater average ever for a non-English movie after Parasite with $69,000+
Gerwig debuted the Narnia trailer on October 13 in NYC at an exclusive Imax sneak-peek event. In conversation with Late Show host Stephen Colbert, she reflected on her lifelong connection to C.S. Lewis, her vision for the film, and the groundbreaking artistry behind the first screen adaptation of Narnia’s origin story.
The Magician’s Nephew trailer also made music history as it marked the first time Led Zeppelin ever granted a sync for “Stairway to Heaven” to be used in a film or trailer, a milestone that drove headlines from Deadline, Billboard, Rolling Stone and more.
Led Zeppelin posted the trailer on IG and guitarist-songwriter Jimmy Page praised Gerwig as “a powerhouse in the world of cinema,” adding, “I am thrilled that she chose ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in the trailer for her film.”
In her conversation with Colbert, Gerwig talked about meeting the Zeppelin band members, who are Lewis fans and saw the heart of the story in the film. “I was so moved that they allowed me to use the song,” she said.
“The whole thing was very fortuitous. It is about a spiritual journey. It’s about the true path of enlightenment and spirituality, and then this sort of path of false idols and the wrong roads you can go down. And I was like, this is exactly the story of this movie. It really is a spiritual quest and a spiritual journey,” she said. “So to me, this was the song that made sense to introduce this into the world. But, they have not let it be used in anything, so I was so moved that they allowed me to use the song and, and they did it because they saw the heart of the story in the film. And they too love C.S. Lewis and they have a reverence for his work. So it, it was very, it was the whole thing was very fortuitous. But I’m so happy that it got to be this song.”
To support the trailer launch, Netflix ran global paid media across social, linear + connected TV, and out-of-home. The trailer had a presence across TikTok, Reddit, Meta, X, Snap, Pinterest and YouTube. Linear included moments across early morning, late-night and Sunday NFL programming.
Said Netflix co-CEO Sarandos on Tuesday’s earnings call about Netflix’s new era of box office reporting and theatrical: “We’re really excited about where we sit now, of course, we have one week of public reporting of box office under our belt, and we’re real happy about it. So let’s check in again in about six months.”
“Our theatrical strategy has evolved.”
Narnia stars Emma Mackey, Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Denise Gough and Ciarán Hinds. Gerwig adapted the pic, whic is produced by Amy Pascal, Mark Gordon, Vincent Sieber and Gerwig.
Gerwig’s Barbie opened to $162M domestic and $356.3M worldwide. It wound up to becoming Warner Bros’ highest-grossing movie ever with $1.44 billion at the global box office.
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