Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Has a $280M Budget, Making It One of Netflix’s Most Expensive Movies Ever

Many were surprised by Netflix’s decision to give Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” a wide theatrical rollout—a whopping 49-day exclusivity in theaters—on February 12, 2027, which happens to be Super Bowl weekend.

A few weeks later, The Town podcast’s Matt Belloni reported that he’d heard Gerwig’s “Narnia” might be “the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made.” It’s not like the streamer doesn’t spend an inordinate amount of money on some of its titles—every year, you’ll see a couple of $150–200M productions, most of them skipping theaters entirely—but “Narnia” goes beyond that.

We now have a number, courtesy of “Narnia” DP Seamus McGarvey, who, in a recent podcast appearance, casually remarked that the film had a $280M production budget.

Here’s where we might decipher what the actual number is. Currently, the most expensive movie Netflix has ever produced is “The Electric State,” which cost a mind-boggling $320M, reshoots included, followed by “The Irishman” at $225M, and “Red Notice” and “The Gray Man,” both of which cost $200M. “Narnia” could be somewhere in that range.

I know Ted Sarandos keeps saying theatrical is not the streamer’s “model,” but at some point, when spending this kind of cash on a single film, you’d like to get some return on that investment.

McGarvey more recently spoke at a masterclass about “Narnia,” with great glee, describing the production as “the biggest budget hand-knitted project,” and said that the filmmakers had “a dream of poetry in our souls” while working on the film.

“Narnia” is aiming for a PG rating and stars young performers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell, while Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey, Ciarán Hinds, and Carey Mulligan round out the ensemble. It will feature heavy VFX and showcase lavish post-war 1950s locations—the latter notably different from the Victorian London setting of C.S. Lewis’ novel. Instead, it appears Gerwig has shifted the story to the mid-20th century. Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt composed the score.

More curiously, reshoots with the main cast are currently underway at Shepperton Studios. There’s something about Netflix not being satisfied with a recently tested cut of “Narnia,” although that’s just a rumor that cannot be confirmed.